The days here usually begin around 630 with Josh or Tom moving around the van. Its a welcome change from the first half of the trip when it was difficult to get them out of bed early.
One morning, a friendly camper brought over a fresh coconut trimmed down so you could drink out of it. I wish I had a camera handy for the look on Tom's face when he tasted it - not a fan
No wind here in the mornings and the sun is pretty hot even at 9am. We spend most of our time taking a relaxing swim in the warm beach waters or the cool resort pool. The middle of the day is very hot and we retreat from the sun to an air conditioned van, movies, postcards and random van maintenance.
I love the afternoons here. A sea breeze creeps up around noon and by five, it dies off along with the heat.
Our only adventure during these three days began in a tinny with a 20hp engine (couldn't resist!). We set off in search of a turtle and a closer look at Dunk island. In calm, morning waters it's about a 15 min ride to Dunk. This pic is us anchored on the beach after crossing a nearby reef with boulder coral and sea grass
During the run, we cut the motor and quietly drifted, patiently listening out for sounds of a breaching sea turtle... no turtle's came. We did spot fish, birds and a pod of shy dolphins. Several attempts to creep in quietly for a closer look were detected and the pod disappeared. Each time they surfaced five mins later about 50 meters away - hopefully you can make them out in the distance in the video. This encounter was a very unexpected gift - I'm claiming a pod of dolphins trumps a turtle.
After dropping Em and tom off, Josh and I took off for one last spin... the wind had picked up and it was pretty choppy. I'm sorta regretting the final run as it's stirred up my back - but how much does a young boy love driving a boat at full speed.
The holiday resort pool and water slide - not too shabby.
Kids love playing botche - it seems to have filled the hole left by an absent pool table in this resort. We invited a couple of Canadian kids to join in.
About a hour ago, after a peculiar dinner at the local Thai restaurant, Tom and Emma were walking to the resort cafe for desert. Tom suddenly let out a shriek and bolted having stood on a snake. Em spun around to see it "flipping out" before it retreated under a cabin. Although it was dark, Em could make out the snake was at least a meter long. She promptly took off after Tom thinking he'd been bitten. Huuge relief, no bite. The resort staff reaction was fairly mild... "was it a python"? they asked and offered to walk them back to camp. Other campers where moving around the scene without awareness or warnings from staff... I guess it's north QLD, you don't sound alarms for every snake encounter (or can you?!?). I was super proud of Tom who wasn't shaking like a leaf when he got home... I would be.
I was loving Mission Beach untl the snake! Hopefully it was just a friendly python.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you are having some down time .Heat would do me in- and the snake ! Hailstorm here late yesterday so enjoy the warmth . Bushfires on Sunshine Coast sound terrible so don’t head south too quickly .Loving your blog .Love xo
ReplyDeleteGot to love the sound of the water lapping up against the bottom of a tinny - brings back many childhood memories out fishing on the local reservoir.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Josh is looking very much in his element there!!
Very happy to hear the Tom did NOT get bitten by a snake and managed to stay cool, calm and collected. Alarm bells defiantly for all snake encounters!!
Cam - Standing on a snake would have been freaky. I saw a snake once while camping but didn't get close enough to stand on it!
ReplyDeleteEmily - driving the boat looks cool and very fast!! The waterslide looks awesome and we both want to go for a swim in it!