We left Sarina on Wednesday and had a really leisurely drive to Mission Beach.Our first stop was in Townsville for a casual walk along The Strand. It has been many years since either of us has been to Townsville and we were really impressed with what has been happening on the foreshore. They are gearing up for a special program of activities and one of them was the displays of sculptures and art work along The Strand. There was everything from sand sculptures, metallic sharks and fish to crocheted and knitted coral and sea creatures. It was also great to see the 'Saint' still painted on the side of Castle Hill.We ended up in Cardwell for lunch. What an amazing transformation the foreshore has had since the last cyclone. It is such a draw card for travellers.
Our journey then took us to Mission Beach and a mission of our own - to see one of the elusive cassowaries! John thinks it's just ploy to get people to come to the north, as we have spent the last couple of days finding much evidence that they have been around, but have seen none. The Davidson Plum seeds in the droppings are a dead give!
We arrived at our friends place easily enough and after settling in went for the necessary walk to the beach. How wonderful to step out onto the beach and look across to Dunk Island, then to follow the beach all the way up to a creek and the setting sun. Our friends put us on the path to checking for croc tracks and more importantly, croc lookout. So far we haven't seen evidence of either (luckily).
The day ended with a fishing expedition to the creek and surf. While we didn't catch anything we could keep we really enjoyed the peace and calm.
