One of the places that I had ear marked on this trip was Mission Beach. Although I had lived only a few hours from it growing up I had never actually been there. But I had heard great things about the sleepy little beachside town, especially of the campsite situated along the coconut tree and rainforest beachfront.
I was determined to get us prime position so actually called and booked early August for a beachside spot. The gentleman told me he had just had a cancellation so could fit us in late August so we booked it in and planned the next part of the trip around that. So after packing up from Mungulla station we headed off north for the 1.5 hour journey. We may have stopped off for another antipasto plate in Ingham first 😊. This was eaten in another sleepy seaside town of Cardwell. With views over Hinchinbrook Island it brought back lovely memories of our 5 day hike around the island.
On arrival to Mission beach caravan park we quickly realised that we had jagged a great spot but in order to fully capitalise on the location, we were jammed in with a whole bunch of other people. But we knew that was going to be the case so hoped that our neighbours were nice people and quiet 😂.
We met one of them in minutes. A man called Andrew who popped his head around and introduced himself and another neighbour who proceeded to tell us that our camper needed moving because if it rained it would flood our covered area. So we obliged and were thankful for the handy tip. Realising quite quickly that the campsite was full of return travellers, some over 20 years so the place had a mini community vibe.
We quickly set up as the sun was shining but we didn’t know for how long as the forecast for the 5 days we were there was not looking great so we were determined to view this famous beach where the rainforest meets the sea. It didn’t disappoint. Beautiful blue water and deep green foliage meeting the sand. It looked like paradise. The sand is really hard packed so there were groups of people playing boules and riding bikes up and down the beach. It felt very like we were on a tropical holiday.
Over the coming days, we expected to wake up to rain, however it never eventuated. The only thing we had to worry about was the fact that our sight was unpowered and we were mostly in shade so getting enough solar to power our batteries was difficult. We were not supposed to run our generator but we put it out near the beach when the tide was high so the waves drowned out the noise.
Yoga, book reading and playing games on the beach were the top priorities for our stay. We managed to fit them all in. Along with morning coffee from a local cafe and afternoon ice creams where we had to downsize from 2 scoops to one due of the shear size of them.
The town of Mission beach is made up of two streets of little shops with a tavern, fruit store, a few cafes, restaurants and boutique clothes stores. It is really very eclectic and ramshackle but beautiful and original. It lacks the big development same sameness you get in places down near us. We have both been quite taken by it.
Most of the cafes/restaurants are only open Thursday to Sunday which we thought was a lifestyle choice though after talking to a few locals this is due to the impact COVID has had on the backpacker scene. Yes the caravan parks are full of grey nomads but they are unfortunately pretty tight with their spending. I think most of the places are hanging on by a thread. Fingers crossed the borders open soon.
After three days of no sun due to the shade of our campsite and batteries already depleted from Mungalla station we had to make the decision to move on and try and get a powered sight as our batteries were running really low and we couldn’t run the generator all day. So we packed up and moved about 5 kms south to another caravan sight down the way. Not quite on the beach but the 50 metre walk wasn’t that bad. The place was called Wongaling beach which is sandwiched in between Mission and South Mission beach.
Again picturesque views of the islands, green foliage meeting the yellow of the sand meeting the blue of the ocean. Day one at our new campsite and we managed to see a juvenile cassowary which was pretty special. Unfortunately the parents did not seem to be around as they have the distinguished blue and red heads but you can’t see everything all the time. 😁
Tim managed his first bike since BC (before Cryptococcal) which was a great achievement and made even better considering it was along the beach. We then had to batten down the hatches as a big storm hit us with lots of rain and wind and we may have had a slight mishap at about 4.30am when the awning collected water which pulled down one of the poles which then proceeded to dump about 20 litres of water into the camper trailer! Luckily it was the couch end so it was cleaned up relatively quickly after a few dollars spent at the washer and dryer and we still had a dry bed. I think if it had of been the bed end we would have called it and packed up and moved to an Airbnb for a few days while it dried. But fortunately we didn’t have to do that and we spent a good 24hours sat inside reading books and relaxing. Griff also made it inside as his little area was unliveable due to all the rain.
We survived that and luckily the sun came out for a few more days to mostly dry everything. Mission beach has definitely charmed us and we would highly recommend if you were looking for a sleepy tropical holiday without the hustle and bustle. We will definitely be back. S
