We awoke to rain in the morning in Cairns but this soon disappeared and the weather was hot but not too humid. We spent the day wandering around the town and water front seeing a huge super yacht with its own helicopter and boats and on googling it found out it belonged to a billionaire and when built years ago it was worth £65million. How the other half live. When we first visited Cairns years ago the waterfront was just mangroves but has now be revamped to a beautiful area with a big artificial type beach and pool and BBQ's, a very popular place. We then stocked up the van ready to begin our journey south.
We had been told to stay at Mission Beach which we had never really heard of so arriving there we booked into a seaside motor camp close to everything that looked ok from the road. Big mistake! Some of the full time campers there were a bit odd looking and when we looked on Wiki Camps reviews of the site some were not very complimentary. Dogs were running free and the facilities were yuck so we opted to use our van shower. The walk along the beach after double locking the van was really nice but early next morning we were out of there like scolded dingo's! Our mistake but lesson learned check things out more thoroughly. Driving further south we discovered South Mission Beach which looked absolutely fabulous so we booked into a really nice motor camp for one night after checking it out carefully right opposite a awesome beach. The weather was perfect with a nice sea breeze to keep the humidity down and we made good use of the fabulous motor camp pool. This area is a little way off the main highway but is apparently a holiday destination for people from Cairns and Townsville with lots of new homes and baches most having nice well kept gardens with the whole area being very tidy. It is opposite Dunk Island where Cyclone Yasi destroyed the resort there in 2011. There are only a few shops restaurants and motor camps which make this tropical paradise a hidden gem. There are lots of signs warning of Cassowaries crossing the roads as there is a healthy population of these rare birds in this area and they often are seen in the camp. We did not see any but there were lots of wallabies hopping across roads and all through people's front gardens and although protected they are considered a pest. We only stayed three days as the van was booked in for a set of new tyres in Townsville on Monday which was just as well as we would probably still be there. When we purchased the van the tyres were about 1/2 worn so after more than 30,000 trouble free km's I think she deserves them and hopefully they will make the van easier to sell before we head home. We awoke in Townsville in the morning to the worst rain you could imagine. They even said on the news it was very unusual as September is usually a very dry month. After having a drive around the town we dropped the van off and fortunately there was a small shopping centre close by as it started pouring again and we had to fill in time as the tyres got sorted. Steph and I always seem to be nursing a fresh lot of insect bites most days regardless of what spray we use but I guess paradise always has a downside and believe it or not we are even looking forward to slightly cooler temperatures as we head further south without that horrible sticky humidity.
Bye for now