Day 192
Saturday
8 July 2017 –
South Mission Beach – Dunk Island
Hello. Hello. We heard the calls and mistakenly thought it
was someone struggling with a phone call. It wasn’t until I heard part of a
conversation “…big bird” that I threw down my ipad, threw on my clothes,
grabbed the camera and raced out the door, leaving Paul to wonder what the heck
was going on.
I made my way to the back of the park and sure enough a
gathering was taking place as a cassowary had ventured in to the park. I was
bummed as I saw its back end disappear into the rainforest jungle, cursing that
I didn’t click when we heard the hellos being called. However, the bird made another appearance and
I was able to see him properly and take some photos of “Goldy”, so named for
the colour of his cast.
I stood listening to one of the workers explain what he knew
about cassowaries and their behaviour before returning to the van to find Paul
still in bed. I organised breakfast and then we began to pack the things we
required into the car before we made the 10min drive to Wongaling Beach.
We watched a group of parachutists fall from the sky to land
on South Mission Beach before we finally pulled up outside the water taxi
departure point, paid our $40pp and waited for the boat to arrive back at the
beach.
Just before 10am, we walked through the surf and lobbed onto
the back of the boat, via the stairs, finding a place to sit before we were
whisked away to Dunk Island.
The trip was short and sweet. 10 min and we were climbing
onto the jetty stairs and making our way onto the island. We did a quick
explore and the facilities before trekking along the beach.
We passed the
airstrip that terminates at the edge of the water. This would have serviced the
Dunk Island Resort when it was operating, however, Cyclone Yasi came through in
2011 and reeked havoc. Many of the buildings still stand, though most of the
roofs have been peeled back, glass panels shattered and railings torn
away.
We were able to walk up to the pool area and surprisingly
this was in very good shape and the water was crystal clear. We continued
walking along the very boggy beach sand as we skirted the front of the resort
and then we ducked into the rainforest follow the edge of the bay for a further
500m before coming to Muggy Muggy beach where the snorkelling was apparently
better.
We found a patch of sand amongst the rocks and bones of the
old coral reef then ventured into the cool water with mask and flippers and
began floating on the top of the calm water.
The snorkelling was quite disappointing. The water was very
murky making visibility almost non-existent until you were right on top of
something. I saw one fish of size but the rest were tiny little things, darting
in and out of the coral, which was not particularly bright.
We didn’t stay in the water for long and returned to the beach
to sit on the sand and dry off. We didn’t mind getting out as the beach had
become overrun with people.
We gathered up all our things and made our way back to the
main beach, happy to enjoy the view of the mainland and a small island not far
from our shore. Being lunchtime, we made our way to the beach bar, found a seat
and ordered our seafood lunch and drinks.
I soaked up the wonderful sunshine as we ate and people
watched. Many small boats made their way to and from the island. The tide was
on its way out and many boats originally moored in the bay were now sitting on
sand and would have to wait for the water to return before they could move on.
After eating our lunch, we went for a walk around the sand
spit at the end of the island meeting the couple who we chatted with at Clump Point
Lookout. We stood around talking once again before making our way back to the
bar where we sat and waited for the 3.30pm ferry to come and take us home.
We did a quick woollies pit stop on the way back to the van,
when back, unpacked everything before having a shower. I spent the afternoon going
through the photos while Paul read his book.
We ate dinner, before enjoying the quiet of the evening.
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