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After spedning quite a long time in Cairns and suffiently killing enough time, we finally began our journey down the East Coast of Australia and nearer to our rendevous with Kirsty aka Koo.
Our first (or technically second stop) on the East Coast was Mission Beach. To be completly honest this was a stop that our travel agent in Peter Pan's had suggested we stop off at on the way and therefore were not too sure what we would find.
As our Greyhound bus pulled into a very small bus station (a forecoart with a roof, big enough for one bus) in near enough the middle of no where, the driver told us that we had arrived in Mission Beach. From what we could see there was not much going on and there was defiently not a beach any where to be seen. The weather was like that of a Autumn day in England (wet and windy) and as we made our way off the bus, the next thing would be trying to find the hostel we were staying at, 'Absolute Backpackers.' We were very pleased to find 'Jerermy' waiting for us with a shuttle bus to the hostel. Due to the lack of, well anything, we assumed that this free shuttle would take us on the final part of our journey and to Mission Beach. How wrong we were. The bus journey lasted all of 30 seconds and as we pulled into our hostel,'Jerermy'shared the follwing information with us (in a French accent)
"When the weather is like this....there is nothing to do!"
Not the most encouraging words we have heard on our travels.
The hostel itself was pretty nice, quite small but but it had a decent size kitchen, free table tennis, nice common / DVD room, swimming pool and ample outside seating, luckily this was under cover. Our dorm room was located slightly off the hostel and pretty plain, but it was clean so no complints there. We dumped our bags and refusing to be dishearted by our introduction to Mission Beach, we braved the wind and rain and headed back up to the bus station (this time by foot) and up to the local (and only) supernarket, Woolworths.
We bought some food for lunch and dinner for the next couple of nights and headed back to the hostel, not before being stranded at Woolies for a good 20 minutes due to the rain becoming heavier.
After eating and watching the rain for some time, we saw that "Fun with Jerermy" was being had a 7:30pm that evening. After asking reception we found out this was just drinking and chatting to fellow backpackers. There really was nothing else to do and no where else to explore so we headed to the off licence and purchased some goon.
We did nothing else with our day except cook up a tasty sausage pasta dish (although the sausages out here are beef and not the tastiest we have ever had, Belle actually can not stand them) and settled in for some "Fun with Jerermy" getting to know some of the other backpackers.
When people say "It's a small world" it really is true. That night chatting to a guy from Scotland (I, Matt found out) had been in the navy with a friend I grew up with (Jason Gemmell aka Gemface to those who know him) and the Scot had even been to Tadley to visit Jason.Belle also met a a lad from Wakefield which is where she went to school, about 8 miles from her house in Leeds. Here we were, half way around the world and bumping into people with mutual friends and people from 'just round the corner' from us.
Our next and last day at Mission Beach started with fairly similar weather as the first, however after some breakfast the weather cleared up and gave us the opportunity to go and explore. We did the obvious and headed down the beach itself (there really is not much else).
A walk of about 15 minutes and we managed to find the beach which before didnt seem to exist. I had been optomisitc and chucked some swim shorts on (and persuaded Joe as well, just in case), Belle on the other hand had ruled out a dip. Although the weather was alot nicer than the previous day it was still slightly cloudy and had a stiff sea brezze. Taking one look at the sea, which was pretty choppy and rather chilly, myself and Joe quickly came to the decision to pass on this occasion. 1 - 0 Belle.
As we strolled down the beach we came across quite a lot of felled palm trees, all of which looked to be from natural causes rather than tree surgeons. It was then we realised that the cyclone which hit Australia had battered Mission Beach. Once we noticed one tree, alot followed and you could really see some of the remaining devistation. Every cloud and all that, as the tree's became climbing frames and several attempts of 'self timer' pictures took place, some succesful, some not so. The beach itself was was one long, long strip of sand which went on as far as the eye could see (in both directions). A line of palm trees (and / or the remains of palm trees) was met by soft sand, followed by the sea...and that was Mission Beach. After about 3 hours down the beach we decided to head back in anticipation of the nights entertainment, the free BBQ. Not so much entertainment, however when the town you are staying in is that small it counts.
Myself and Belle snapped up the free BBQ while Joe went to go and meet a friend he had worked with previously. Rather predictably the free BBQ consisted of 2 of Belle's favourite beef sausages, along with some salad, potatos and bread. Despite the sausages it wasn't too bad and most importantly it was FREE, a rarity in Australia. A lazy evening followed, void of any goon, chatting to our new Canadian room mate Andy, (who was clever enough to pre - book a rafting trip for the following day) and reading.
I think it is fair to say that we were all glad to be spending just 2 nights at Mission Beach. If the weather is rubbish then there really is very little to do. If the sun is out or at least its not raining, there are other things to do with the most popular activities being rafting or sky diving, but for backpackrs who are just visiting to take in the scenery and explore Mission Beach, 2 nights are enough.
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