The beach at Alma Bay , Magnetic Island , recently suffered extensive damage from the vast amount of debris washed down the creek that empties into the sea. When our Shipping Reporter landed with a party of Marines to inspect the popular strip of sand , he discovered that the Alma Creek spillway area looked as if it had been subjected to a pre-invasion pounding by naval guns , rock foundations washed away . The bridge over the creek was still closed off to the public and has been so for almost a year.
Masses of leaves , sticks and stones were visible in a chain of gouged out pools running down to the sea .Another huge debris mound , apparently to be trucked away, could be seen .
The part clean up left behind what looked like the parallel tracks of many tanks from one end of the beach to the other . Our sharp eyed waterfront roundsman noticed that the tall pine tree atop which there has been a bird of prey nest for years , has an increased lean to starboard , future eaglets likely to suffer from seasickness in a blow .
As usual , the mainland media were deep inside their bunkers, and did not hear the sounds of battle on one of the so called pristine beaches in Townsville's Jewel in the Crown .
The Townsville Bulletin ran a story about residents affected by storm damage in a particular part of Horseshoe Bay , but did not mention Alma Bay , which is similar to Sydney's famous County Bondi , whose damage , you would think , would rate a mention in the mainland media.
The beach at Alma Bay was popular with the late author, historian and anthropologist , Inga Clendinnen , and her philosopher husband , John , who escaped Melbourne's winters by living on the island. They featured in bathers soaking up the sun at Alma Bay, watching trainee scuba divers enter the water in the 2010 book Magnetic Island-A sense of place , by Vandhana.
