Magnetic Island became
Gilligan’s Island when a planned visit by up to 1500
tourists failed to take
place because
“ bad weather ” prevented boats taking on passengers from a
cruise ship and depositing them in the “safe harbour ”.
The island , population about
2300 , had
been revved up
for days about the big
event and locals had been asked
to
dress up in bright shirts and togas to greet the
tourists , answer questions . The hospitality industry geared up
, hoping for heavy trading ,
a special cruise ship market was arranged for Horseshoe Bay. Art , jewellery , Thai tucker,
colourful cup cakes , imported
Indonesian bling and other temptations were prepared en masse
.
The animated one-man Carribbean band player would almost certainly have been on
deck . Over at
the Marlin Bar, the young ,
casual dishwasher, with a
penchant for writing , would have picked up many ideas for plots as he scrubbed a mountain of crockery . It is not known if the
French restaurant,
which also dabbles on the
side in Aussie hamburgers , planned to
offer tres bon island specialities created just for the tourists. The tourists were going to witness the release of a turtle back into the sea after undergoing R and R on the island . Prayers were said in many residences the night before the ship's arrival for a cash killing
the following day. Overnight, however, there was
heavy rain and
strong winds .
Down at the safe harbour terminal ,
early next morning
, people , buses and
hire cars ( including a
stretch Jeep ) braced themselves
for the invasion , which would have been greater than
that of the
US armed assault on the
tiny Caribbean island, Grenada ,
part of the British
Commonwealth , in October 1983. But no... Word
came through that the visit had been cancelled because strong wind made it dangerous to transfer passengers from the P. & O. vessel to Sealink ferries .
