Wongaling Beach

After our stay in Millaa Millaa our next stop was Mission Beach where we were to meet up with our friends Kate and Mike.  We chose the Dunk Island View Caravan Park at Wongaling Beach on a recommendation from a friend and it was a great recommendation.  The park was well maintained with lots of shady areas and the sites were grassed with good size slabs.  The sites were also well spaced with bushes between each site and they were also very long sites that gave us ample room for van and vehicle. 

 The only negative about Wongaling Beach is that it is a drive to go anywhere.  There are no shops within walking distance and the stinger nets are at  North and South Mission Beaches but not Wongaling. However it was only a small negative in the scheme of things.

We arrived around lunchtime the day before our friends and by the time we had unpacked the van, had a bite of lunch and a mini nap it was time to make our way to South Mission Beach for a swim in the balmy waters.  It was pure bliss to rock gently up and down with the waves.  The following day I had an appointment with my skin doctor in Cairns so we woke early and gave ourself plenty of time to have breakfast at one of the little cafes near my doctors office before my appointment.  (Pleased to say that I got a clear on the sun spot that my doctor was concerned about).  After the doctor, it was a trip to Cairns Central and then Bunnings before finally heading the car south again for the two hour drive back to Mission Beach.  By the time we arrived at the van park our friends had arrived and set up their own camp.

We made a bit of a plan over drinks that evening to visit Tully (Kate's home town) and the Tully Gorge the following day which ended up being a little cloudy so it was a good day to be in the car.  We thoroughly enjoyed the tour around Tully where Kate took us to all her old haunts and to the house that she grew up in along with her five siblings.  Tully Gorge was an eye opener.  I had read a lot about it but it is an extremely lovely drive up to the power station at the top of the gorge.  The road crosses the Tully River that is a favourite place to go white river rafting when the water level is high.  Philip wants to do this sometime but I will have to renege on that one!  We had a photo shoot on the bridge over the river.

The following day Kate organised a boat tour for us.  We boarded the Island Spirit for a 3 Island Tour visiting the privately owned Timana Island, the luxury Bedarra Island with a stay at the resort there costing around $3000/night and finally Dunk Island that was devastated by cyclone Yasi in 2011.  We stayed on Dunk for around an hour and a half.  We had packed a picnic hamper so we devoured this and then went for a swim in the warm tropical waters.  Surprisingly there are no marine stingers around Dunk Island.  Our tour took around three and a half hours and it was money well spent.  Our kiwi tour guide was very well informed and as we were the only customers on board the boat we had his undivided attention!

There are some private homes on Bedarra selling around the $7m mark.

The very exclusive Bedarra Island Resort. This is as close as we were allowed.

Dunk Island

Back at our campsite that evening we were visited by the resident male Cassowary and his three chicks.  It is the first time I have ever seen one of these magnificent birds in the wild. What a treat.