Travelling Australia's East Coast - Queensland Part III

Mission Beach - Cairns - Great Barrier Reef 

This account follows:  


My Love of  Travelling Part 5  - Queensland Part II
http://stephendcook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/travelling-australias-east-coast.html

My Love of Travelling Part 6 - Queensland Part III 


The final leg of our east coast month long trip took Richard and I to Mission Beach (A on map) and then on to Cairns (purple flag).

   
Mission Beach provided another opportunity to hook up with our travelling friends as Henry and Miles also stayed a night. The hostel we stayed in offered a free jug of orange and vodka which certainly helped numb the immense wisdom tooth pain I was suffering. In fact Richard had to remove me from the dance floor on our first night as I was apparently 'scaring' people.
Mission Beach is a beautiful place (see below) but for me there was a sad feeling that we were nearing the end of our journey and in a few days it would all be over. Richard cheered me up no end when he told of his tale of a long walk he took which included wading through water. Upon reaching the other side he remembered reading there could be crocs about and he was cacking himself when making the return journey. Thankfully he wasn't eaten. 

Cairns


Our final destination was Cairns where we met up with a lot of the Fraser Island guys and took a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef on an old sailing boat, a trip that we got as part of the Fraser Island/ Whitsunday Cruise booking.

Having been excited about visiting the Great Barrier Reef for years, the reality was a massive disappointment. Much of the coral was dead in the area we visited which was probably a big indicator of the impact of tourism. My mind was taken back 6 months to Fiji when I snorkelled on the coral coast and the amazing colours and rich diversity I witnessed there. I remembered thinking "if it's this good here - the Great Barrier Reef will be amazing".
There were plenty of spectacular fish to look at though and the best bit was when Richard legged it up onto the little sand island screaming shark and looking terrified. It was only a harmless Reef Shark.

The evenings were rowdy in the Woolshed bar and I'm ashamed to say we terrorised the staff in McDonalds for a couple of nights after the pub. And then it was over and I had a flight to catch to Perth.

With the exception of a couple of weeks when I travelled to South Australia and the red centre, Rich and I had spent 4 months together and were joined at the hip for one month travelling up the east coast. In fact we had spent so long together that we could read each other's minds. It was also a significant parting as Rich also hadn't travelled 'alone' before so I also felt a bit paternal!
The end of our Australian adventure was nigh and I jumped in a cab for the airport feeling excited about my trip to stay with family friends in Perth (and then another adventure to Africa) but also a little sad at leaving my great friend on the east coast.
It really had been quite an incredible month of travelling and partying. We met some awesome people and visited some amazing places. Quite simply, along with my month in New Zealand, the East coast trip was one of the best months of my life.


Next up... Perth