Mission Beach.....PARADISE!

The drive from Paronella Park to Mission Beach was quick, real quick.  We had just got comfy in the Patrol, when 45 minutes down the road we arrived in a small lazy beach side town, Mission Beach. We had decided to head to the council caravan park, which a few travellers had told us about.  We pulled up to be greeted by a friendly lady, telling us it was $20 per night, power and water included. We snapped up a good site, sadly not on the beach, but only still a stones throw from it.  We only booked in for 3 days, wanting to test it out before booking in for longer.  Can't believe people check into the park across the road, which was $50-$60 per night, when they could have this beauty for far cheaper and better beach access.  

Now l must warn you that our time in Mission Beach was so relaxed that we didn't get up to anything terribly exciting, so there will be less reading required in this post and more photos to be envious of!! Lol

The narrow bridge we had to cross just
outside of Paronella Park...very tight!

Lines and lines of banana trees....

Short trip but the girls still had fun with 'Valerie', Boo's
cabbage patch kid!  Buckle in for safety!

Sugar Cane field work in progress....

Our camp for the next few weeks.....

Our gorgeous views of the beach!!!  Gonna be hard..

After setting up, the weather was slightly scorching, so it was a no brainer to head to the beach for the rest of the day and cool off.  I instantly got a feeling of joy with this place, sometimes such places just attract a certain emotion of happiness.  I couldn't wait to spend my time lazing the days away on this glorious beach!

Tropical paradise!

Some people do it tough!!

Dunk Island in the horizon...

One day we decided to head off to South Mission beach to do a coastal walk, the Kennedy Coastal Track.  There are heaps of little walking tracks to keep you amused around this place. l have taken to doing some walks through a forest track which l really enjoy, and had hoped to run into a cassowary, but sadly, no sightings!  Anyway, we took off, the weather was so humid, many of our family weren't as keen as l to be out doing a walk, but they just had to suck it up.  It wasn't too difficult, we had a mixture of dirt tracks, boarded bridges and stone stairs.  Unfortunately, on the way back l had a thong blowout so had to do the rest barefoot, which didn't worry me until we got to the hot bitumen road to the Patrol at the end!

Obviously Meg dressed for the walk, dress and thongs!
Such a girl...lol

Boo thought she heard a noise in the
distance, but sadly, no cassowary!

Lush forest...

Panoramic views of the coastal walk.....

My walking attire at the end....

On the drive back to our camp we had to stop and take a pic with the "Big Cassowary", the only way we would get up close and personal with one out here!

On yet another glorious morning we decided to take the bikes for a spin up around town and out to the markets.  Was a pretty warm morning, but was good to be out as a family in the open air.  As we walked around the markets, the sun blared down to leave us in a moist sweat.  What better way to cool off but with slush's, which quickly melted down to cool liquid!

Mission Beach markets, real community spirit!

Much of our time was spent doing school work in the morning then the girls would either play with their Lego or be down on the beach playing in their make shift cubby house made of palm leaves.  The warm sunny days were endless with calm warm temperature ocean waters.  My mornings were spent doing some form of exercise whether that be a massive 10-20km bike ride to South Mission Beach or the purple pub at XXXX or by hitting the pavements with long walks.  My hip was still playing up and not allowing me to run, so walks had to be it.  In the afternoons I would laze on the beach towel and knock over many books whilst sipping on my glass of wine, being totally relaxed in this paradise. 

Marty woke early one day and headed to the beach to catch the sunrise! So
used to seeing the sun set OVER the ocean since being in WA.  Strange to see it
RISING!

Lego fun.....

Our natural playground in paradise!

The girls found this cubby house and fell in love, great time waster!

What a life....

Imagination at it's best....

Frisbee fun with dad!!!

Telly time.....sister cuddle time too!

The joys of having to do school!

Boring school time, look closely under Boo's
legs.....

Gotta keep your eye out for creepy crawlies when doing
school outside!

Sand castle fun on the beach!

Boo just loves her books...

Meg's turn for the dishes....

Long days, all tuckered out!

Found Meg had crawled into Boo's bunk bed.....she just adores

her big sister!

We had met some new people who were our next door neighbours, Donna and Craig. They were so much fun and are in Mission Beach on a work stop.  So great to meet new people for a change and they were a breath of fresh air.  We also had the pleasure of meeting a top bloke, later known to us as Poppa Smurf, or Geoff to those who weren't close to him.  Now get the mental picture of a bronzed tanned 60+ year old with balding head with a white beard.  This alone is not too funny, but now picture this same guy wearing nothing but budgie smugglers on for most of the day and now it is a tad comedic.  This transferred into his nature at being such a funny, crazy bloke who loved life and it was contagious.  These three new mates were such fun to be around, and was great to be around people who didn't take life to seriously and knew how to have a great time with simple pleasures.  One night we even sat around a make shift fire, it had been such a long time, and besides the van smelling like camp smoke for the next 24 hours, it was awesome.

Bout time Marty did some work!

The girls met some new playmates over the weeks, ones that could keep them amused, stopping them whinging at us which was equally as pleasing.  One day l went down on the beach to find them having a sand sculpting competition, they all looked so fantastic.  All their little mates were also travelling around Oz, which meant they had little interest in electronics and more interest in making their own fun whether that be down at the beach or making up concerts.  The girls had a great time meeting new kids, but they were so excited when Big Bertha pulled in after a week of us being at Mission Beach.

Coolest looking Mermaid l've ever seen!

More friends found and sharing watermelon snacks....

There were squeals and hugs had on the arrival of the Gough's.  We hadn't seen them for such a long time, since Broome!  They had left us there and headed over to conquer the territory and then Cape York.  We were so excited to be seeing them again, we thought our paths wouldn't cross again seeing they were on the slow trek home.  We spent the next week and a half catching up, exploring the area with them, having many great beach sessions and also catching up on Games of Thrones!! Yes you heard it, me and Sacha had many afternoons locking ourselves away in Big Bertha while the kids amused themselves outside and the blokes tinkered with their toys, while we caught up on the tantalizing tales of Games!!!

Yay!!! Lexie, Boo, Angus and Meg, together again!

The Goughs curse us yet again with storm clouds approaching...
they carry the curse, being rain makers!!!

Can you see the rain out at sea??

What do you do when it rains??? You bake
cookies. Meg loved this time with Sacha..

A fun day out with the Gough family was when we all headed out, venturing to Tully to check out the town and the local sugar can factory, only one of three factories that still run guided tours up here in FNQ, as the locals call this area, or Far North Queensland to the rest of Australia.  We arrived in Tully to be greeted by this huge monstrous gumboot, the famous "Golden Gumboot". It is 79m tall which represents "the amount of rainfall the town had had in 1950, and the slogan for Tully is its "A pretty wet place!!!  We took to the staircase climb up the gumboot to have a view of the town, the kids loved it, thought they would fall over the edge a few times they dangles so much!

That's one big gumboot!!!

Gotta love it when kids hang over the edge of
extremely tall objects!!!

View from top of the gumboot...

Town centre of Tully...blink and you'd miss it! lol

The Tully Sugar Cane guided tour was brilliant.  I will never put a spoon full of sugar in my coffee without thinking of what length was taken to produce this added sweetness to my caffeine fix.  The lady that run the tour was a born local who's father had produced sugar can for decades.  She gave a great verbal history to the place and the plight of hardships these farmers are still having to cope with, weather it be cyclones or droughts.

After our half hour history and safety lesson, we kitted up in our high viz outfits and hard hats and set out in the heat to walk amongst the working factory.  I will never forget the smell of the factory, it was disgusting.  I think l anticipated smelling sweetness throughout, but just smelt the burnt by product from the sugar cane, the molasses.  Was pretty cool seeing the sugar cane trains rolling in, emptying their carts and seeing it being processed throughout the mill.  I loved seeing the burning furnaces, such heat!  I also love seeing the "stakes" in full swing with thick white smoke pouring up in the sky, I think overall, the tour was worth it for the low cost of $55 per family and it took 2 hours to complete.

Love our new look???

Sugar cane bins...

Bins going into the tipper...

Caught you in the act Angus, lol!

Slush....yuck!

Vertical panoramic view of the stacks!

Bit noisy!

Hot furnace...looks awesome though!

Meg's had enough...bit hot for the old girl!

After the factory tour we headed out the road to the Tully Gorge National Park for a sausage sizzle and cool off in the creek.  Was a bit disastrous but we got through it.  First the BBQs wouldn't work, luckily we had our gas burners in the Patrol with cooking gear to fry them up.  After the feed we took to the water which was so flippin cold, but we still braved it as it was better than over heating in this humid tropic weather.  Overall, a great way to end a fabulous outing with our travelling buddies....

Bit cold Boo???

The kids get along so well.....

One night Duncan had told me that there was an awesome full moon expected, so we took to the beach with our SLR cameras to try and capture the magic.  The kids all naturally followed so we also captured their fun too...  

Kids come out to see what all the fuss is about!

Love the slow movement of water in this pic...

Mystic pic...

Great reflections....

Thanks to "Poppa Smurf", the Goughs and us had a brilliant morning out in the water with his paddle board and our kayak.  I had always wanted to have a go of these, which l have done on this trip whilst on the Gibb River Road, but l was a tad under the influence on that occasion.  So it was nice to see that l was equally as unco-ordinated whilst being totally sober!  I had many times of falling off, but managed to get better and better as the morning went on.  The bloody kids got up and did it with ease.  Meg even showing off walking up and down the bloody board, not even falling off! Pays to be a lightweight!  LOL  Think Sacha took the cake at being the most memorable, and equally as unco-ordinated.  Still she did improve.....was able to stand up for a few seconds! 

Crystal clear water.....

Me getting up on the board....

Off l go.....

Our beach.....paradise!

Dunk Island in the distance....

Meg's turn....

Boo loved it!

Lexie was a natural!

Angus wasn't so sure, but loved it in the end...

Meg's paddle time...

Most funniest of all, Sacha's turn!  

Off she goes, hopefully she can get back ok!!! Lol

One of my most memorable times in Mission Beach would have to be Melbourne Cup Day.  This was the most amazing Melbourne Cup experience of my life. Boo, Lexie and Meg all had fun dressing up for the event!  We headed to Bingil Bay Purple Cafe for the day with the Goughs, Donna and Craig and Poppa Smurf.  Along with them we had invited other travelling families that we had mingled with at the caravan park to come and join us too.  This was such a small township, but as many would know, small towns breed big fun.  That it was.  The owner of the pub put on a great day with fashion on the field, race sweeps and even their own version of horse racing using fishing rods and wooden crafted horses.  We all had a fantastic time, even the kids. The best part of the day would have to have been the fishing rod races.  Teams were picked, horses were drawn and the street was cleared for the race to begin.  Then as soon as the race was blasted to start the people that lined the street were cheering loudly as the horses sped down the road being pulled by the person at the other end winding the fishing reel.  Such laughter, fun and cheers.  Ozzie larrikkinism fun had and everyone mingled joining in with the fun.  The kids even got to have a race of their own, with Meg and Lexie winning the race, and a can of soft drink as their prize!!!

Girls loved dressing up for the day...Lexie even
made her own fascinator!

Inside Bingil Bay Cafe....

Of course the kids are amused with electronics!

Craig and Donna....

"Donna's Delight" crew draw their horse! 

Race time!

                                             

And Donna's Delight came in 1st!!! 

Time for 'Fashions on the Field'!

Geoff ('aka Poppa Smurf') strutting his stuff!

Dunc enjoying a small drink!

Another race...

Noice fella's!

Kids race time!

Surprise surprise, Dunc with another beer!

On your marks, set, GO!!!

Meg and Lexie win!!!

Reaping her wins!

The Bingil Bay Cafe owner ended up
shouting all the kids a freebie!!

On our travels we have come to accept that kids staging concerts are a part of this life, and when heaps of kids get together, especially girls, then another concert is to be performed.  Now l love the thought of how cool it is for these kids to be using their imagination and creativity to stand up and put on these dance numbers, but after tens and tens of concerts, my amazement has now dwindled to fake enthusiasm.  So l stand and watch, putting a smile on my dial for the kids and a big cheer at the end.  Well done girls!

With our time coming to an end in this paradise town, we had yet ventured out for a meal so decided to join the Mission Beach Trailer Park Trash down at the local for a night out! "The Fish Inn" was the place to go for a delicious meal, awesome atmosphere and a cold beer.  It was a great little restaurant which obviously the locals support as it was filled in the early hours.  We enjoyed happy hour a bit too much, thankfully the delicious meal soaked up some of the grog!  We even enjoyed a boogy on the self made dance floor, Boo even joining in for a dance with her crazed mum! Lol

The Mission Beach Trailer Park Trash Crew....

Bloody photo bombers!!!

All class fella's

These four have had a blast catching up again...

...Superb meal...

The Fish Bar....venue....

On our last night we all came together for our 'last supper'.  We all brought a plate, and with the many trundles we all had, ended up being able to seat together, although banishing the kids to the camp kitchen table was a great idea! lol...  Simplicity is the key to life we have come to realise.  We all just enjoyed a drink, meal and the company of others to celebrate our time together. I will definitely miss this place and treasure the memories created with the new friends we have formed!

Awesome last meal together!

Kookaburra even wanted to join us!

As we packed up and were ready to hit the road, Marty and l got a nice little surprise for our 12th wedding anniversary.  Boo, Meg and Lexie had made these gorgeous cards for us, so sweet.  Great lasting memory of our last time with the Goughs on this leg of the trip.  They were off to Paronella Park and we were setting off to Mackay, in search of work and l had a job interview in a few days at the local hospital.  Hugs were given out again, and once on the road we were reflecting at how much we have enjoyed their company when l got a text from Sacha with a bloody picture of a blurred cassowary running off the road in front of them.  Now l was cursing them!!! lol

Such a lovely surprise.....

Boys in front of the rigs before departure.....

We will surely miss this little paradise and our new friends we have made here.  Such great memories and we now feel totally relaxed and refreshed to start the leg down south in search of work.....yes l know, l promised to cut down on swearing, but with all our adventures of late and our overseas trip, we now were needing to top the cash kitty up again.  We have done seven months on the road with no working, and let me tell you, it has been an absolute blast!!! Time has gone so quickly, but l am ready to stop for a little and work.....

Yeah right....beware my ass, reckon their a myth! lol

Back on the road again....

Bell Xxx