Mission Beach

Well, so much for relaxation.  In our two days here at Mission Beach, we’ve somehow managed to clock up in excess of 25km on foot. 

In fairness, though our Fraser/Whitsunday’s week was hectic in the sense that we had no breather between the two, they were hardly the most taxing of trips.  As Anna made quite clear in our last post, pretty much all we did on the Whitsundays was eat and lounge about on a sundeck.  With some token snorkelling thrown in to ensure that the limbs still worked …

Mission Beach, for most travellers/backpackers, is merely an adventure stop, renowned for its beach landing skydives and highly rated rafting at the nearby Tully River.  Having haemorrhaged money in our short stay Down Under, we opted to put the adrenalin rushes on ice until New Zealand.  So, instead of doing the sensible thing (i.e. nothing – we did, after all, have 14km of beach to lie on), we decided to walk.  A lot.

As above, Mission Beach spans over 14km so we thought we’d explore a bit of it.  14km later …  No, just kidding.  We managed to conquer just over a 1/3 before getting kind of bored.  Which just shows how easy it is to become complacent in your surroundings out here – what would we give to have access to a comparable beach back home?!?  And look how empty it is – it was like this the entire way!!

So that was day one.  On our second day we took a ‘water taxi’ to nearby Dunk Island.  An upscale/quasi-exclusive resort island, all that Dunk had to offer us poor folk was some excellent walking tracks.  We took the ‘island circuit’ through rainforest and secluded beaches, affording us some awesome views and more mind-bendingly clear waters.

When we weren’t walking, we were reading (and making friends with the local pets).  If you’re not up for dicing with death, then Mission Beach doesn’t offer an awful lot besides.  Why did we come here, you rightly ask.  The accommodation was thrown in with our Fraser/Whitsundays package!  But it’s been pleasant.  And though not relaxing in all aspects (our legs hurt), it has been refreshing to have a couple of days not having to be somewhere or do something. 

This afternoon, we are heading up to Cairns, our final stop in Australia.  It’s been a short stay, but most definitely sweet …