On a mission

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After breaking the bus journey at Cardwell, where we saw mudskippers on the beach and were delighted to see Saltwater Croc warning signs, we arrived in Mission Beach with the sole intention of doing nothing for a few days after all the travel and adventure (and expense).

We found a nice little hostel (with cheap rooms) in the rainforest near to the beach and settled down to some serious reading. For activity, we both learned to kick a Aussie rules football, honed our frisbee skills and I even taught Emma to spin-pass a rugby ball (no mean feat!). We saw some huge spiders and (thankfully) avoided the green tree snake who lived in the tree above the BBQ. We also had great fun feeding the flies and mosquitos (despite super-strength insect repellent).

Thursday was the 11th anniversary of the day we met (and incidentally the first time it had fallen on a Thursday in those 11 years). One thing I have so far omitted to mention is that Mission beach also has some amazing skydiving with views over the Great Barrier Reef and rainforest as well as dramatic landings on the beach. So on Wednesday we signed up to jump on Thursday and booked our bus to Cairns on Friday!

Thursday morning. 7am. The weather has been fantastic all week. Now it is raining, the sky is grey and the clouds are thick.

Thursday morning. 11am. We are having brunch outside watching the rain and the winds have picked up (the weather forecast says 25km/hr).

Thursday afternoon. 1pm. The bus arrives from the skydiving school. High winds and thick cloud. "Sorry, there is no way we can jump today." We rebook for Friday morning and go the the local pub for a meal instead.

Friday morning. See Thursday morning. Gotta catch the bus anyway. Somebody, somewhere does not want us to skydive! We get a refund and leave town, dejected. At least steak and chips at the pub was nice.

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