Mission half accomplished

Hi all and hearty greetings from Mission Beach. Another quick update of our exploits over the last few weeks.

Arriving in Tropical North Queensland after weeks driving through the outback we noticed an obvious change in the scenery. As we headed north up the coast from Townsville we were driving through fields of waving sugar Cane, banana plantations and fields of pineapples. On the inland side jagged mountain ranges were clad with misty rainforests which in some places tumbled almost to the sea. Very similar to Fiji which is no surprise as we are on the same latitude. The weather too was hot and steamy even though this is the start of the 'dry' season. It all made a pleasant change.

Cairns was to be our base for a couple of weeks. Cairns is a fairly big tourist city with wide palm fringed US-grid style roads with plenty of motels, hotels pubs and clubs. It's also a busy harbour/port and self styled 'gateway to the Great Barrier Reef'. However, as the reef is one and a half times the length of Britain it's one of many access points to the reef.

Highlights of our stay in Cairns were afternoons spent on Yorkey's Knob (It's a beach!), A trip to Kuranda National Park in the Atherton Tablelands and a dive trip to the reef.

We reached Kuranda by a scenic steam train ride up the mountains and through primary rain forest passing countless waterfalls and great vistas across Cairns and to the reef beyond. Once at Kuranda it was all about the animals. I was mobbed by some parrots who proceeded to rip the buttons from my shirt. We saw loads of brightly coloured butterflies including the electric blue Ulysees and Tina got to tick off another item on her 'must do' list and cuddle a koala. As you can see from the photo, Hogan was quite big for a Koala but he was named after Paul Hogan rather than Hulk. According to Tina " He was gorgeous - soft and very warm - I loved him". Our return trip was via a sky gondola (like a ski lift) skimming the tops of the rainforest canopy in silence and watching for the birdlife in the treetops just inches from our feet.

Our trip to the barrier reef was very enjoyable and surprisingly good value. We took a catamaran from Cairns and sailed for two and a half hours to a tint speck of sand called Michaelmas Cay. Here we got to ride around the reef in a semi-submersible sub. This was a great opportunity for divers and non divers to view the reef up close. We saw turtles, rays, bat-fish, huge clams and all the normal reef life and corals up close. After this I did my dive. To be honest, as I was only down for 20 minutes I didn't see much more than from the sub or from snorkeling later on but it was a great experience to say that I've dived on the Great Barrier Reef.

Our 2 weeks in Cairns seemed to fly by and pretty soon we were heading the one and a half hours south to Mission Beach. There are four small hamlets that make up Mission Beach set along 14 km of beach in the middle of tropical wetlands and National Parks. It's a pretty laid back kind of place with just a collection of cafes, bars and restaurants serving the luxury holiday apartments that line the beachfront. Our apartment, although not luxury, is set back 30 metres from the beach and backs onto World Heritage Rainforest.

We spend our days taking it easy. Early morning runs along the beach are followed by leisurely breakfasts consisting of locally grown fruit. Afternoons are usually spent messing about in the surf or on the beach or going for a walk through the rainforests. These rainforests are the home to the Cassowary but despite it being a 1.8 m tall flightless bird, we still haven't seen one. It's all pretty relaxing and if it's starting to sound a bit too healthy a life-style, don't worry, we make sure we off-set this with regular intakes of VB and Sugar Cane Rum!

We have 2 weeks left in Mission Beach and our plan then is to head back to Cairns and hopefully sell the car. Once this is done and we know how much time we have left we'll plan our next move.

Unfortunately no Calamity Corner this time. It would appear that being back on 'familiar' domestic ground has curtailed our buffoonery for the time being. However, we're sure that this will only be temporary and we hope to resume normal service next time around.

Until then, take care all.
Love and stuff
D&T

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