From Magnetic Island we took a bus to the next place on our hit list: Mission Beach. We had some discount coupons for a hostel there so we figured we may as well use those while breaking up the journey to Cairns, killing two birds. We didn’t know much about Mission. The only thing we did know, in fact, is that it was hit by Cyclone Larry recently. This was all too evident as we peered from the bus window upon entering the area just off the Bruce Highway. Trees were down everywhere. Not just little one’s either. There were were a few hefty one’s lining the forest floor and leaning precariously near the roadside.
Our hostel was just as dead as the trees. I think I counted four or five other people there. The kitchen was spacious, not much help though when only the toaster and microwave survived the cyclone. Praise the Lord for noodles and toast. The beach was also pretty haggered, and the sea a murky colour, which in fairness wasn’t helped by the overcast weather we’ve been getting used to over the past week. On the plus side, the pool at our hostel was nice, and we more or less had it to ourselves. We also had a TV in our room which made watching the Champions League final replay a lot easier. We managed to go the whole day without hearing the result so we got a few beers in and made a night of it.
And so to the final leg of our bus ticket: Mission Beach to Cairns. Most people have heard of Cairns as the gateway to The Barrier Reef. Most people who come to Australia to dive go from here as it’s closest to the outer reef where the best dive sites are. We arrived on Saturday and checked into the Serpents Hostel - another voucher deal. Had a great night round a couple of the pubs in town, snakebite blacks and vodka Red Bulls the order of the day. Last night was considerably quieter. Me and Foley joined a couple of girls in the hostel’s trivia night. Although our final tally of 18 out of 40 might sound a tad lame, we came second out of seven teams, and we were up against questions like Who proceeded Hitler as Germany’s Fuhrer in 1945? We were only just pipped by the winning team; we would’ve bagged the $50 bar tab prize for sure had Foley remembered the name of Inspector Morse’s sidekick and I’d remembered all the ingredients of a Long Island Iced Tea (damn Triple Sec..). Strangely enough I was the only one who knew that a merkin was a 19th century pubic wig, much to the delight and, I expect, concern of my teammates.
The weather is supposed to improve tomorrow which is just as well. We’re doing a boat trip to Green Island on the Barrier Reef where I’ll be doing two scuba dives. The island is meant to be a haven for turtles and reef sharks so it sounds just the ticket. I’ll let you know how I get on.