Just off the coast of Townsville lies a low-key slice of paradise called Magnetic Island and it’s the perfect destination if you’re seeking a laidback mini-break.

We chose the destination because we were seeking a budget-friendly Queensland island to escape the winter chill.

We landed in sunny Townsville in the late afternoon, checked our bags and walked to The Ville Resort for sunset drinks at The Quarterdeck bar.

It was a stunning start to our adventure, as we watched the sky filled with gorgeous colours that perfectly matched my Aperol Spritz.

We had been hoping to have dinner at the hottest restaurant in town, Miss Song’s at The Ville, but it had booked out eons before I tried to book earlier in the week, so we headed to Jam Corner for a degustation dinner instead … poor us … with matching wines, including a glass of French bubbles to kick off the festivities.

Our favourite dish of the night was the bug and reef fish tortellini with blue swimmer crab and chive oil. Luxe!

The staff at Jam Corner were lovely – we particularly enjoyed talking to the waitress who raved about how much she was enjoying the “cold” weather on what we regarded as a balmy night. Townsville was absolutely jumping, it was great to see so many people out enjoying their Saturday night.

The restaurant was only a few hundred metres away from our hotel and we went to bed feeling pretty thrilled with our first visit to Townsville.

The next morning, the weekly farmers’ market was livening up the street right in front of our hotel. We settled at an outdoor table with the Sunday papers to drink excellent coffee from the Piccolo Pedlar and eat Sri Lankan street food from The Kottu Hut. We loved the chicken kottu roti – diced roti bread stir-fried with scrambled egg, onions, chillies, spices, vegetables and chicken.

After a lazy hour or so at the markets we checked out of our hotel and headed to the ferry terminal for our transfer to Magnetic Island.

Magnetic Island – or Maggie as it’s known to the locals – is an easy 20-minute ferry ride from Townsville and has a casual, relaxed vibe that makes you feel immediately at home.

It reminded me of my beloved childhood holidays in Hawks Nest at my grandparents’ house.

There are two fancy resorts at the Magnetic Island Marina – Peppers Blue and the Mercure Grand. We booked three nights at Peppers Blue, in a large, comfortable room with a king-sized bed and lounge area with TV, which was handy as Magnetic Island is pretty quiet after dark.

Most accommodation on the island is either modest holiday houses and apartments, plus there’s a camping ground at Horseshoe Bay.

Our balcony overlooked the ferry terminal carpark, which initially seemed a bit meh but actually turned out to be fun, we became obsessed with watching the ferries come and go.

It was perfectly located to the main bus stop, the IGA supermarket and bottle shop was across the road and there were a few handy spots to pick up a morning coffee.

There was also a picturesque hotel bar area on the wharf for enjoying happy hour drinks.

The only thing the marina lacked was diversity of dining options. Our hotel had a fancy restaurant with $49 steaks on the menu or there was a popular fish and chip joint across the road.

Everywhere else was a bit of a trek. A pizza joint would go off like a frog in a sock in Nelly Bay.

We crammed a lot into our three days on the island. The highlights included snorkelling at the Florence Bay reef, which was filled with darting tropical fish, giant clams, a few beautiful coral bommies and flashes of purple hard coral. Fortunately there were no scary box jellyfish or those deadly little irukandji to be seen, as they are usually only around from October to May. We were still a bit nervy though, so didn’t snorkel for too long.

I would have liked to return to Florence Bay to explore the reef more, but it was a bit of a trek to get there and we ran out of time.

We also enjoyed a few bush walks, including hiking through a black boy forest, checking out the amazing views and koala spotting at the Forts lookout. Magnetic Island has one of the largest native populations of koalas in Queensland.

Getting up close with rock wallabies at sunset at Geoffrey Bay was amazing. They love sitting on the warm rocks and being fed carrots by visitors – although we went empty handed because feeding them isn’t encouraged. The wallabies were so curious and clambered within centimeters of us.

Booking a stunning sunset cruise on a yacht called The Pilgrim was our favourite adventure of the trip. The yacht departed from the marina next to our hotel and we relaxed on bean bags on the deck, sipping organic Tamburlaine wines and eating superb local Gallo macadamia cheese.

I excitedly told the passengers and crew that our friend Michele Heibel designed the labels on the wine – they were very impressed!

It was glorious to be out on the ocean together as the sun dipped behind the hills and turned the sky purple and pink in the fading light.

If you don’t manage a Pilgrim cruise you can still try the divine macadamia cheese during your stay – its’s sold at the deli attached to the petrol station in Arcadia.

My tips for a trip to Magnetic Island:

• Pack walking shoes – it’s an active holiday destination rather than a lying on the beach one – although you can do that too! Most hiking trails are well maintained and offer superb scenery. Many of the best beaches – such as Arthur Bay and Florence Bay – are only accessible on foot through a fair stretch of bushland.
• Don’t hire a car as it is very expensive and not necessary. We booked one for a day and it was a waste of money as there were very limited places it could travel due to a lot of spots being inaccessible without a 4WD – our car hire place didn’t allow any of its vehicles to go off road.
• Catch the bus – the service is frequent, friendly and cheap at around $7 for a day ticket. Just remember to bring small denominations of cash with you as its the only way to purchase your tickets from the driver. (I could have done without them asking if we were concession fares though …)
• Book your boat excursions in advance. We didn’t and virtually everything was totally booked out – we were lucky to fluke two spots on The Pilgrim, but we missed out on doing a day snorkelling trip.
• Plan your restaurant meals. We went on many wild goose chases – restaurants that were billed as being open were shut due to illness, staffing issues, running out of food or other unexplained reasons. Call ahead to save yourself a wasted trip.

Overall the food that we ate during our time on Magnetic Island wasn’t memorable. We had an old-fashioned prawn curry at SOS Seafood Cafe that we enjoyed and the crab cakes at the Arcadia Hotel brought back happy memories of the fish patties at my Nan’s place.

I’d have loved to try the Sri Lankan curry van at the old golf course, but it was only open on Friday and Saturday nights. We went to the vegan dosa van in Nelly Bay, but they sold out just as we arrived; while a friend recommended outdoor Mexican joint called Man Friday, but it was shut the whole time we were there.

The lack of dining options didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for Magnetic Island. We had a lovely, relaxed getaway and ran out of time to tick everything off my list for the visit. I missed out on a swim at Alma Bay – which is patrolled and has gentle waves – and I would have loved to climb to Sail Rock in Picnic Bay to watch the sunset.

But all too soon it was time to return to the mainland.

After docking, we caught a cab from the ferry terminal with our luggage to Longboard, which is located on The Strand in Townsville. It was the perfect spot for a farewell lunch by the sea, looking out across the sparkling water at Magnetic Island.

Longboard was very cool, all bright colours and funky decor. The menu is fun too, with a Tex Mex flavour – ribs, soft tacos and burgers.

We sipped ciders and supped on grilled fish tacos before making our way reluctantly back to the airport and the real world.

As we waited for our plane to depart we were already planning our next trip to Townsville – we loved our winter escape there … we’re not sure how we’d handle a humid summer one though!