Australia: Mission Beach and Townsville
- Will Boddington
- Apr 9, 2019
- 3 min read
We were amazed to be able to park not only right next to Mission Beach, but also for free! We made lunch quickly in the back of the van then went for a swim in the beach's stinger protected area and watched several skydivers float down from the sky. Originally we had planned to also skydive here, but as we had both been ill recently, we decided to leave it until later in our trip. Instead, we walked down along the beach to Clump Point viewpoint, before heading back and looking in the Visitor Information Centre near the beach for some leaflets and inspiration for our trip.
We stayed the night for free behind a pub called the Feluga Hotel, about 20km away from Mission Beach, and went in to have a quick drink in return for the free accommodation. We turned out to be the only people in the pub and ended up talking with the owners for a few hours while watching the Commonwealth Games. After the much-needed cider each, we decided to try a local beer each too which were both good. Around 10pm we called it a night and headed back to the van. We were entertained for a while by about a hundred cane toads of varying sizes who had gathered around the light we'd parked next to, trying to catch some flies and mosquitoes.
In the morning we headed to a walk just north of Mission Beach, and walked up to a viewpoint where you could see over Mission Beach to the many islands just off the coast. One of the information signs along the way warned us to look out for stinger trees - apparently even the plants in Australia want to try and hurt you!
To cool down afterwards, we took a swim in a local swim hole the pub landlord had recommended to us, Alligators Nest; luckily not named because of the animals! We had lunch sat by the side of the van in the sun before driving down to Townsville.
While we were in Townsville, there were lots of events going on because of the Commonwealth Games happening further down the coast, so we ended up staying a few nights in the area. We drove up to Castle Hill lookout and spent some time in Castle Town shopping mall replacing our well-worn wardrobes, as well as spending quite a bit of time in the Riverway Lagoon, a really nice outdoor swimming pool just out of town. We spent the evenings in Strand Park listening to the local bands playing as part of the Games festival, and one night went to a free comedy show in Queen's Garden.
Townsville is the gateway to Magnetic Island, so while we were there we made the journey across to the island for a day. There was the option of hiring a mini jeep for the day to travel around (no other way to describe them - they were Barbie cars!) - but we opted for the cheaper option of the island bus. Our first stop was Bremner point to see the rock wallabies. They were very friendly -unfortunately they were used to being fed by tourists - but it meant we got some really nice photos of them.
Next, we headed up to Bungalow Bay Koala Park to meet and hold some koalas and other locals including a baby crocodile, various skinks and lizards, a snake and a wombat.
Our next stop would have been Forts Circuit walk to try and see some koalas in the wild, but unfortunately we ran out of time and decided to head back to the van and make a start on the next part of our road trip instead.
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