Off to Mission Beach (October 15th-17th, 2018)

Heading towards Mission Beach. We had about 140 km ahead of us. In Malanda, we had breakfast at a small bakery and then visited various waterfalls in the Table Highlands - Zillie Falls, Dinner Falls, and Ellinjaa Falls. They were small but still worth seeing. As we continued driving, we came across a sign for Mungalli Creek Biodynamic Cheeseery & Cafe. We decided to make a detour and enjoyed a kefir smoothie with mango and one with wildberries. We also had a selection of organic cheeses, which was all very delicious.

After a hearty breakfast, we then went to our last stop, the Mamu Tropical Skywalk. This skywalk is approximately 1.2 km long. You walk on specially designed paths through the treetops of the tropical rainforest. At the end of the trail, there is a tower that offers a beautiful view of the entire valley. We learned a lot about the history of the area from informative signs along the way.

In the late afternoon, we arrived in Mission Beach, where we were warmly welcomed by Tim, one of our hosts at Sealords, our accommodation.

In the evening, Tim had reserved a table for us at the 'Castaway' Restaurant - a candlelight dinner right on the beach. It was a beautiful and idyllic setting, and we enjoyed delicious fish.

The next morning, we had planned to go on the 'Reef Goddess Day Cruise', a trip to the famous Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, we forgot to adjust our watches to the new time zone, so we missed half an hour to have breakfast peacefully. Nevertheless, we arrived on time at the meeting point of the Dive and Snorkeling Office. We were picked up by a water taxi and taken to Dunk Island in about 30 minutes, where we were then picked up by the larger boat.

After about 1.5 hours of sailing, we reached the first coral reef, where we went snorkeling. It was very impressive and enormous. There were many colorful fish, both large and small, and a diverse range of coral in beautiful colors. Depending on the lighting, the underwater scenery constantly changed. We tried to capture some moments in pictures, but the fish were too fast and diving down was too cold. The temperature at the water's surface was fine, but it was very chilly 2 to 3 meters below.🙄

Juergen immediately got a sunburn on his back and legs. It's not like we didn't have sunscreen with us or that Tim didn't remind us to apply it every half hour. The sun is very intense here.

After we returned to our accommodation, we took a short dip in the pool.

Tomorrow we will continue our journey to 'Airlie Beach'. We have a longer distance to cover along the coast until we get there.