Travelling up to Mission Beach for a family wedding provided the perfect excuse for Jessica Cornish to have a three-day mini adventure centred around the stunning shore lines of Mission Beach and Bingil Bay. From the roaming wildlife to the picturesque scenery, it is a perfect part of the world to relax and catch a break from our every day busy lives.
EARLIER this year, my second cousin married his partner of 40 years in Northern Queensland, Mission Beach; so obviously it was a perfect opportunity for my travel buddy Matt and I to have a cheeky getaway to the tropics.
The first couple of days were spent at Castaways Resort, where the wedding was held on the Saturday evening.
The Mission Beach resort backed onto 14 kilometres of fine white sand and inviting blue water, while closer to the accommodation the resort boasted a reasonably priced bar, a pristine blue lap pool and a recreational pool for plebs like me.
It was certainly picturesque but freezing. Not even the children from Melbourne could brave the arctic like conditions of the pool water.
Despite the prickly pools, they still featured heavily in our two days dedicated to resort style relaxation in conjunction with $10 pina coladas.
After our short interlude with luxury living we were scheduled to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. However, as destiny had it we didn’t have enough people to run the trip.
A few members of my crew-to-be went on the same trip a few days before and had been planning on going twice. However, on their first adventure out to sea an older Dutch man in their crew had a heart attack out on the reef. Forty-five grueling minutes of CPR were administered by a passenger, but the man could not be saved. The passengers on board were understandably traumatised witnessing such a scene and decided not to repeat the same snorkel trip a few days later.
In a wild panic and not able to justify another day sitting by an artificial pool I looked for another activity in the Mission Beach area.
I toyed with the idea of white water rafting in near by Tully Gorge, but we recently did this in Bali so that was off the list, plus we decided to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns later in week.
But then I found an old crusty brochure stuffed in to a plastic display booklet lying on a table, which had a schedule for a water taxi travelling to nearby Dunk Island.
It was inexpensive and seemed like an ideal last minute day trip. So we sprung in to the supermarket, bought some bottles of water, protein balls and bananas and set off to the island with a set pick up and drop off time.
The water taxi was rough and slammed harshly into the choppy waters.
There were only four of us on the boat. Upon arrival at Dunk Island it was quickly apparent that what once was once a hustling and bustling resort island was no longer. Ascending the thrashing boat I quickly realised there was nothing on the island, the phrase, “what would you take to a deserted island” came to mind and I probably would have packed more than protein balls.
Still optimistic and filled with enthusiasm at this point, Matt and I trekked easterly across the shoreline to start the nine kilometre jungle trek, labelled the Island Circuit.
We walked along the coarse sand enmeshed with brittle coral and shells and noticed the abandoned resort that still stood opposite the shoreline. The eerie building lingered in time with trees and vines growing through the floorboards and ceiling. The resort was destroyed by cyclone Yasi that wreaked havoc across the region in 2011 and has never been rebuilt.
We left the beach and headed inland into the thick rainforest canopy to continue the Island Circuit trek. After a few minutes a large bright green snake slithered across the path a few centimeters in front of my feet wrapped in my maroon sandals. I screamed and jumped; basically I did all the things they say you should never do when confronted with a snake. Moments later I regained my sense of self and trekked on, another eight kilometres to go.
Within a few minutes a second large brown snake hissed across the small and unkempt path and wiped its body into the thick scrub.
Again I screamed and this time instinctively grabbed Matt from behind me and swished him in front of me. Again, not one of my finest moments.
From that point on, every time I heard the slightest crack of a leaf or movement in the bush, which was mostly bush hens, I would gasp or scream.
Matt could cope with the snakes but not my melodramas, so riddled in fear we decided to cut the hike short.
We made it to the lookout point and power walked back down and played cards in the shade until the water taxi returned and swiftly took us back to Mission Beach.
Retrospectively, the island was beautiful and classified as a World Heritage Site that we truly had to ourselves. Maybe hiking books and a satellite phone would have made us feel a bit more at ease.
Alas, after our unexpectedly stressful, yet memorable day, we organised a lift up to Bingil Bay, where we had booked a cosy Airbnb.
Our first point of call was the Bingil Bay cafe; we walked along the quiet streets framed by hand-painted placards featuring cassowaries, begging drivers to slow down.
Within minutes we found the Bingil Bay Café, it sat like an oasis in the beautiful but sleepy part of the world.
We snuggled into a table in two old comfy armchairs and shared a lamb wood fire pizza.
On our way home we even stumbled past a male cassowary and his baby chicks picking at the forest fruits by the side of the road.
The next morning before we headed back to Cairns on the good old Greyhound bus, we made a quick stop off at Clump National Park.
The name was underwhelming and we’d heard mixed reviews but it was free and within walking distance to the Airbnb so we decided it was worth a climb.
The path was well maintained and not riddled in prehistoric creatures.
Compared to Dunk Island it was like walking through a polished shopping centre. The walk was relatively easy and well signed and led us up to a lookout point. When we reached the lookout we gazed over the vast sea enveloped by the green mountains but the most impressive part was that we found a lace monitor stomping across the dry leaves and sticks below. It stayed with us for quite a while before thrashing its tail over its body and marching back into the thick jungle scrub.
We slowly walked back to the Airbnb along the coastal line and watched dolphins glide across the sea before heading in for the night.
Mission Beach and Bingil Bay were perfect spots for a couple of days of much needed downtime in an incredibly beautiful environment not dripping in tourists and filled with incredible wildlife.
