Day 63 Aug 26 Mission Beach and Saunders Beach

  

A beautiful morning! Amazed that our little roadside camp ground now has a coffee van installed and that no one fell foul of any Australian wildlife overnight- although the insect life in the toilets was definitely plentiful - as was the lizard and frog population!
The girls are desperate to try out the boogie board so we drive a little way to Mission Beach - this area suffered cyclone damage in February but is still  a wide, flat stretch of the most beautiful soft golden sand.

 The tide is on the way out and the girls run the length of the shore and immediately plunge into the surf. We spend the morning running up and down the beach, playing in the waves and watching the parachutists land on the beach a little way down the coast. This is a popular spot to skydive as the views are magnificent and the landing space so wide and soft! David gets chatting to a chap in the little car park - another older traveller who has a winnebago type van complete with washing machine, solar panel and generator which he is only to keen to give a guided tour of! A seasoned camper - he and his wife travel up from Sydney for months at a time and he explains that he has come to the conclusion that the perfect place is where the air temperature is as close to body temperature as he can get! He also never pays for the privellege and shares a few hints! He kindly charges our laptop and camera - the only electricals we are unable to charge through the cigarette lighter. He then advises that the girls "should be fine" playing in the surf but shouldnt go any deeper as saltwater crocs have been seen in the area!  EEEK! The sun is again wonderful and we stay here until after lunch enjoying the weather and the beach. The girls play in the sand, covering Rowan from head to foot in wet and then dry sand - but we underestimate the suns strength and Tiegan is a little pink by the end of the afternoon.

As we pack up to leave - an enormous lizard is spotted clinging to a palm tree - our neighbour tells us it is a "goana" or lace monitor and that this 5ft specimen is a medium size one - a relative of the komodo dragon but not quite as aggressive!

After a quick consult of our Camps 6 book we head to our next free campsite  at Saunders Beach - there is a great little playground here, free bbqs under a covered area, clean (ish) toilets and a beach. Perfect! It is also full of "oldies" in a range of vans and caravans - already well settled in and it is our turn to people watch as they take turns strolling between seeing who has the best awning and comparing notes! We are amazed as we travel around just how many "grey nomads" we are encountering. Many seem to live on the road for atleast 3-6 months of the year chasing the sun and a great proportion live on the road. They always have the best camp site spots and set ups and seem to get to sites by lunchtime to do so! They also pack and disappear the following morning in super quick, super early style!