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Day Thirty Three - August 9th, 2013
Bingil Bay (Mission Beach) to Cairns
We awoke to the sounds of the rainforest and a pretty wet tent. We'd only popped up the single skin, and it doesn't hold up well to dew. Nevertheless, we were ready to take on the day and got everything ready whilst leaving the tent in the sun to dry off.
We headed upstairs to the camp kitchen to polish off some of the free breakfast. The Jackaroo Hostel certainly didn't know what they had coming - we devoured and destroyed the spread. Feeling suitably full, we hit the road for the short trip to Cairns. The drive was straightforward, and despite the never ending roadworks, we made good time.
We texted Ben and Megan to get the scoop on their campsite in Cairns. It's so great to have them paving the way for us by finding good campgrounds! We've scratched each others backs since meeting in Noosa, finding the best spots up the coast as we have taken over each other from time to time.
We pulled into Sunland Leisure Park around 11am, and paid the $26 for a POWERED SITE!! They only have powered, and at a cheaper rate than we have been paying for unpowered, we were more than happy to rig up our tent with a plug. Ben and Megan were on the site opposite so we had a good catch up while they washed their van ready for a buyers viewing later in the day.
We set up the tents and unloaded the car for the first time in a while. We put on three loads of washing and took advantage of the hot sun to dry everything. We met the couple on the site next to B&M, who are from Devon. They (Tanya and Chris, both 26) actually live only 30 meters away from Ben in England! They've just driven from Adelaide up through the outback to Katherine, and across to Cairns. We sat and picked their brains, from roos and road trains to snakes and petrol usage. It was really great to talk to someone who was speaking from experience, and we really tried to absorb everything they told us.
We figured we should finally get down to doing our tax refund which we have been putting off since we left Manly. We're both going to get around $2000 back each, and wanted to get the ball rolling so that we don't have to think about it once we leave to go into the outback. After two phone calls, several Internet visits and a trip to the campsite reception to use the printer and scanner (we were only charged a dollar - much cheaper than an Internet cafe), we had it done! Can't wait for it to be back in our account!
With the daylight pretty much faded from a long day of menial jobs, we headed to Coles for some food. We had a drive around Cairns, and saw the centre of the town. I'm not too taken with it so far, but am looking forwards exploring tomorrow.
Ben managed to sell his van today, so we celebrated with him and Megan, Tanya and Chris with a nice meal and a good chat.
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