Mission Beach and Townsville

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After 2/3 hours on the bus, we arrived at Mission Beach in boiling hot sunshine. It had rained on and off while we had been in Cairns (as it is the tropical wet season at the moment in the north of australia) but as nice as it was to be dry, the humidity was just as intense as Asia, with it being so close to the equator still.

Our hostel was about 30 metres from the beach and luckily had air-conditioning. We spent the first day just walking and relaxing on the beach and were astounded how empty it was - we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. Mission Beach itself was really small, literally just a village by the beach. This was nice as we felt like we were experiencing rural australia a bit more by going off the beaten track a little. We also saw a 'herd' of wild wallabes grazing under a tree and another one later one which was bouncing around someone's garden.

On the next day we went and explored the rainforest which surrounded the area after being told it was a nice walk to do near the hostel. Soon after entering though, the track deteriorated slightly and we didn't stay in there for long after seeing loads of massive spiders, which were hanging from their webs over the paths!

We spent more time relaxing on the beach before moving on to Townsville, which was a really pretty place, with another nice beachfront. It is slightly off the tourist trail compared to other places, and it was nice to get a more authentic feel of the country. We only stayed here for one night though, as there wasn't a lot to do.

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