South Mission Beach Qld August 3, 2023

 South Mission Beach Qld August 3, 2023

Woke up to rain. Stayed in bed, seemed the safest thing do. The rain cleared after a while and the sun even started to shine. We went up to Mission Beach proper and had a quiet cup of coffee. While Judy had a browse in the selection of dress shops, I took myself off to the beach for a wander.

With not much else to do we went exploring and found ourselves in Garners Beach Road where we were surprised to see not one, but at least five, Little Kingfishers flitting about on the power lines. Garners Beach itself looks like a nice quite smallish beach and was a bit protected from today's strong onshore winds.

Little Kingfisher, Garners Beach Qld

Looking for lunch, we went back out to El Arish to check out a strange looking cafe we had seen yesterday as we drove up the highway. It's called The Pocket and is basically a big barn. I'm sure that in years past it has been used by the local farmer to sell produce. Anyhow, it's been nicely furnished and is now a decent and slightly quirky cafe. The menu was basic, but the ham and cheese toast with relish was very yum! Well worth a stop if you're up this way.

The Pocket. El Arish Qld

Art is in the eye of the artist, they say. El Arish Qld

With the sun still winning the battle with the ominous grey clouds, I elected to take my daily 5K walk along the beach. Straight into the still very-present wind. Saw some wading birds, which might be Pied Oyster Catchers doing their thing, ie catching a feed on the beach. I was attracted to the mirror like effect of the water on the very flat sand, but as I neared them, they kept moving away, so my snap was more distant than I would like.

Pied Oyster Catcher, South Mission Beach Qld.

Final snap of the day was off Dunk Island, still abandoned and unloved following successive cyclones. Apparently you can now book one of eight designated camping spots, take a water taxi over from Mission Beach and enjoy your bit of island all by yourself.

Dunk Island Qld