Monday, September 6, continued...

When the tide went out we were able to do a reef walk, seemed so strange to realize we were walking on the reef, but as long as you stay on the sand and off the coral, no damage is done.  Interesting to see all the strange critters like these big sea cucumbers and beautiful clam shells. 

Unfortunately we had to leave the island today, but it's been very relaxing and low-key.  There are no locks on the doors so no keys to bother with, and they say there has never been a problem with theft.  Everyone was very friendly and there is a fairly large marine research station on the island, associated with the University of Queensland. 

We took the boat back to the mainland, then drove to a small, historic town called Marysborough.  I booked a hotel that was described as being quaint and historic, but turned out to be a derelict, falling down, positively scary place and we felt lucky to wake up the next morning without having been bludgeoned in our sleep.  When we tried to check in, there was no one at the desk, and although we kept calling the number, no one responded, so we left to get some dinner.  However, Marysborough basically rolls up the sidewalks at 6:00pm because there was not a restaurant open, which explained why no one was manning the hotel desk - after all, it was almost dark outside!  If there had been anything else availbable, we would not have gone back to the hotel, but since it appeared to be the only place in town, we checked in and held our breath.  The hotel apparently has a rather large number of "permanent residents" and the sign on the soda machine said, "If you continue to put slugs in, the owners of the machine have threatened to take it out - you have been warned!"  Very high class clientele.  Anyway, we left as quickly as possible the next morning, and headed for Hervey Bay.