Once upon a time three brave explorers set off on an adventure to a faraway land. They were carried by a trusty steed and rode the wind down the coast in the twinkling sunlight...
All lies. Our steed wasn't trusty. She was a leopard print campervan (affectionately named "Kat Slater") that was so old she had a choke. The sun was blazing, which made sleeping inside what was essentially a tin can quite an issue. We weren't headed for a faraway land either - Mission beach is only an hour or so down the coast. Oh, and we weren't brave. Everyone here speaks English.
But we were off at least in our little van of death, and en route we made a detour to Josephine Falls which was slightly busier than the first time I went there i.e. there were more than two people in the water. The freezing water compensated for the vans broken air con and suitably refreshed we carried on our merry way.
I don't have any pictures from Mission, because within 5 minutes of arriving I bumped into my lovely friend Dave who then became everyone elses friend by buying about 18 rounds within an hour. There might not be any pictorial evidence but I can assure you that we had a brilliant time, but did require a fry up from the Earlybird Cafe the next day. And we didn't spend much time at all on the beach itself either...
Stop number two was Magnetic Island via Townsville where we arrived later than planned due to beer induced sleepiness, and then missed our next ferry after buying important supplies from K-Mart. No, don't worry, I mean actual important supplies. Like two dooners to sleep on in the camper, rendering it a place you might actually be able to sleep.
We used the opportunity to take a pretty precarious drive (see: knackered van) up to the top of Castle Hill and see some lovely views of Townsville and the island we were about to visit. The highlight of the trip for me was shouting "YOU CAN DO IT" at passing walkers as we descended. I've done it many times so I knew they probably needed some encouragement.
Finally, finally, we made it on to a ferry. The very last delayed ferry that got us to our campsite after dark causing us to accidentally choose a spot that was also home to hundreds of thousands of ants. Slightly freaked out by the noises coming from the trees around them, I assured Chris and Bridget that I hadn't brought them to some jungle horror movie location and that it would look okay in the light...
Thankfully the next morning we awoke to blue skies and proceeded to spend out entire day floating around the pool.
Or napping in hammocks.
Or drinking beer and floating around in the pool.
Or sat by the pool watching The Sopranos on our iPad (this was mostly just Chris).
That night we entered the trivia night and somehow managed to come a solid second place. Our proudest moment however was winning the best name competition. It had to be apocalypse themed so we went for the brilliant "I'm a celebrity Armageddon me outta here". The prize was beer, which we enjoyed immensely, and we then spent a good few hours playing with our mosquito candle and a weird long exposure night setting on my camera.
Rawr, fire breathing dragon!
The next day we repeated the "pool floating" until lunchtime, before packing up and heading back to the mainland in time for a Wednesday night sail with the lovely Mick and Val. Chris and Bridget probably didn't believe me when I replied "beer" to their question of "what do we need for sailing?" but I was proven right in the end. Thanks for a lovely night guys - and for a bed! We appreciated it after...oh God...only two nights in the camper...
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