Blogs from Mission Beach, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 7

Two months later…a lot has happened, but little has changed. We arrived in Mission Beach at the end of May, and have been in the rainforest here ever since. We’re wwoofing at the Sanctuary Retreat, a gorgeous eco lodge set up high in the middle of the rainforest and overlooking the turquoise waters of the Coral Sea. It’s by far our favourite spot in Australia so far, and one of the most beautiful and unique places we’ve ever been. We’ve been sleeping in a mesh-walled hut for the past two months, which offers little in the way of privacy from the rainforest, and has been an incredible experience all on its own. Day and night, the creatures of the rainforest create an amazing orchestra of sound. One of the best parts about being here is the ... read more

Hey Guys, Well for those who were concerned- We survived it!! We had the most amazing day, the weather was gorgeous the water was clear and the river was violent!! We started off this morning nice and early by getting kitted up. We hired some rather attractive sandals and had to wear a nice yellow life jacket and red helmet- we looked special! we made our way down to the river where we were put into groups and introduced to our guide Karen. After a quick safety chat we started on our first rapids- he alarm clock rapids, so named because they wake you right up. It was rough but our guide was good and we managed not to fall out to much. On the next few rapids Sophie got a nice set of bruises on ... read more

Mit Einbruch der Dunkelheit sind wir in Mission Beach angekommen. Wir haben uns zunächst auf der Tankstelle - die Touristeninformation hatte bereits geschlossen - nach den günstigsten Campingplätzen in der Umgebung erkundigt. Der Tankwart verriet uns, dass es etwas außerhalb von Mission Beach einen gratis Campingplatz gibt. Da die anderen Campingplätze in Mission Beach ohnehin entweder ausgebucht oder zu teuer waren, beschlossen wir die Nacht dort zu verbringen. Am nächste Morgen wachten wir im Paradis auf. Den Campingplatz befand sich direkt am Strand, lediglich von einigen Palmen getrennt, die weit über den Sand ragten, reichlich Kokosnüsse trugen und selbstverständlich auch etwas Schatten boten - es empfiehlt sich aber nicht direkt unter einer Kokuspalme zu liegen. Der Ocean, Himmelblau und angenehm warm, perfekt zum Schwimmen. Übrigens, der vermeintliche Geheimtipp hatte sich ... read more

Hello everyone! We arrived in Mission Beach on April 13th and are leaving here tomorrow, April 17th. We haven't done too much while we've been here since there really isn't much to do. The hostel we're staying at is a 20 minute drive from the town itself and is in the middle of a rain forest. It's pretty cool because it looks like a tree house and it has a nice pool but it can be pretty boring since there's no TV and nothing to do other than lay by the pool (when it's not raining) and read. I guess the wildlife does provide a bit of entertainment though in a disgusting kind of way - there are millions of bugs in our hostel and they're all humongous. We've seen giant grasshoppers (at least as big ... read more

Day 72 Mission Beach This morning we go on a search to see a cassowary, they are flightless birds (like emus) which can grow to over 6 feet tall. The endangered species live in the forest areas around Mission Beach so we went for a walk to Lacy Creek where they can be commonly seen. Once again we did not see any although we did see some large spiders and lots of mosquito's! Heading south we stop in Tully, this town is known as the wettest place in Australia and we agree, as we arrived in torrential rain and it lasted for hours. We continued to Ingham where we called into McDonalds and took advantage of their free wireless internet! Oliver's cousin Stuart now lives in Townsville so this is where we head to meet him ... read more