My Dearly Beloved, DB, takes delight in planning random trips to places we haven’t explored together. This time it was to Magnetic Island/Yunbenum 8km off the Townsville coast in North Queensland.

Cpt James Cook, in 1770, blamed his ship’s proximity to the island for disturbing his compasses and decided the granite formation must be magnetic and labelled it as such. No evidence for the claim has been found. That hasn’t stopped the mystique for continuing even to the point of calling it Australia’s Bermuda Triangle thanks to the number of ships that have foundered nearby.

I first travelled to the island in 1973 with a fellow teacher education student, about 16 months after Cyclone Althea damaged upwards of 90% of local buildings. The depressing and heart-wrenching scenes still evident then, have morphed into a resilient community of modern accommodations and passionate people in 2026.

Seventy-five percent of the island is held as national parks, so over the next few posts, I’ll cover the Yunbenun I experienced this time with DB to share it.