Headed for the Ocean

From the Tablelands back to the coast, to Mission Beach to be precise. A quick pit stop in innisfail yielded two decent fresh juices, a 'haircut' from a very bossy lady, and on the way out one nice roadside stand with great fruits, veggies, and banana bread. Mission Beach is a nice place, great stretch of beach, rainforest up to the coast with some nice walks, and lots of places to explore nearby like Dunk Island or the Tully Gorge. In the latter we had our second encounter with wild pigs halfway on the track and turned back again. Should've brought my rifle. This made the reisebegleitung quite grumpy and since then pigs have fallen from grace. 😁 We did some running, and for my part, workout on the beach each day as well as lots of rainforest walks. And we finally found a place to spend all our money each day and not regret it - the Juice Bar at the wongaling beach 'shopping complex'. Fantastic juices and smoothies! Good wraps and salads too as well as a decent pizza at OK prices. In fact, we preferred their pizza to the Cafe Rustica's one which was a bit tasteless, the crust was better but the toppings and sauce were not. But what really made Mission Beach one of the highlights of our trip so far was the accommodation at Licuala Lodge. Absolutely fantastic B&B! And finally one that deserved the second B - delicious breakfast, fresh tropical fruit salad with homemade yoghurt, homemade muffins and bread, croissants, homemade jams, cooked options on demand ... . Perfect. And the first B was great too. Set in a beautiful garden and rainforest, everything on the property was well maintained and of good quality, spacious rooms, nice design, lots of communal living room space, kitchenette, pool, ...  I could go on for hours ... and the hosts, Mick and Sue, we're very friendly and helpful, too. So, as I said, a perfect place to stay!

Last but not least, we finally got to see some cassowaries, first on the grounds of Licuala Lodge whilst having breakfast in the morning, later that day in the rainforest. Impressive animals and certainly nothing to fuck with.

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