Carins to Mission Beach

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Hello all.
Thanks for the notes G Fran, and no we are not renting a car, but instead taking a bus down the coast. And yesterday we took that bus down to Mission Beach which is 2hr south of Cairns. We even got to watch Star Trek VI during the ride! I love public transportation 😊 We got to our hostel which luckily enough was walking distance from the bus stop, and then we walked along the gorgeous beach for an hour to get to the town center. We had to make sure to time our walk along the beach with low tide because if we traveled that route during high tide we would have to wade through a crocodile infested river. I'm not even joking. We were also warned against swimming in the ocean because there are box jelly fish that kill you within 20 min, and tiny stinger jellies that can kill you, but most likely will only cause excruciating pain in your muscles. I don't know if you would have let me come here if you knew all of that beforehand grandma Fran 😊
I'm really not at all worried about the creatures in this environment though. As long as you are aware of the dangers and are conscious of your surroundings there is no need problem. It's like driving your car. There is always a risk of an accident, but if you are vigilant you should be fine for the most part.
After walking along the beach I had a nice sunburn on my back that was outlined by my backpack straps. I made sure to lather on some Aloe Vera and cover up.
We were pleasantly surprised upon returning to our hostel, to see a sign advertising free wine and cheese and a local bar. It was a tough call, but we decided to take up the offer. And yes it was true, we got free boxed wine with cheese and crackers. Free food and drink is so delicious.
Today we did a hike through a jungle. I'm not exactly sure what differentiates a jungle from a rain forest because they both seem to be very moist and dense with overgrowth. Anyone know?
It was officially the first jungle I have been in and it was hot! I now know how many sweat pours exist on my body, and let me tell you, there are a lot more than you might think.
What I liked about this hike compared to the many hikes I did in New Zealand, was that there was a lot more activity in the forest. Butterfly's could be seen every few feet, lizards scurried off to the side of the path, birds called to one another in the trees, flies buzzed in my ear. We even saw a cassowary, which is like an emu, but with a blue colorful head.
After the walk we had to hitch hike back to our hostel. It was incredibly hot and we were running low on water so we wanted to get back quickly. However, we started walking in the wrong direction. I started to suspect that we were not going the right way when I saw mountains in the distance that I had not seen near the coast and roads that did not match our map. After about 20 min a couple of girls stopped who promptly told us that we were traveling in the wrong direction. Luckily for us though, another car stopped within a couple minutes to take us almost to our doorstep.
After our trek we relaxed at the hostel, went out for some free wine and cheese, and slowly walked home along the beach. All in all, it was a very nice day.

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Comments

[kamdab]

kam the man
yo dan, word. i've been sick, plus got food poisoning (hate food). have a good christmas.