What is Magnetic Island?
Magnetic Island is a granite island about eight kilometres off Townsville in Queensland, known for wild koalas, rock wallabies, bays and a historic WWII fort walk.
Captain James Cook named the island in 1770 because he thought it affected his ship's compass. Later checks found no magnetic effect, but the name stuck.
More than half of the island is protected as national park. The Forts Walk passes Second World War gun emplacements and is one of the best places in Australia to see koalas in the wild.
Island life
Ferries from Townsville take about 20 minutes. Visitors travel by bus, bicycle or rental car to bays such as Horseshoe Bay, Arthur Bay and Alma Bay.
Rock wallabies at Geoffrey Bay are used to visitors. The island has around 2,000 residents and fringing coral reefs for snorkelling.
Most residents live in the small settlements of Picnic Bay, Nelly Bay, Arcadia and Horseshoe Bay. Walking tracks connect many of the bays, and snorkel trails at Geoffrey Bay and Nelly Bay show fish, corals and historic shipwrecks.
Did You Know?
Locals call the island Maggie.