Friday
26th April
A slightly cooler Mission Beach day,
with few short bursts of lovely rain. I
was able to go for quite a long walk – usually the heat keeps me on a very
short leash and I just huddle from one patch of shade to the next. Maddie and I walked along the beaches with
Baggins, the very tall labradoodle, who was wildly enthusiastic about the wide
stretches of sand and the very crabby plovers who were the object of his mad
chases.
Last night Pete and I were allowed to
assist MasterChef Pete Salmon, under strict supervision. He produced, yet again, a fabulous meal
(steak and veg, cooked to perfection.)
We have been introduced to a very
delicious new tropical fruit – the majestic mangosteen. So pretty!
It looks like a small pod-like grenade, and is totally wonderful to eat,
in small white fleshy segments.
At lunchtime we took a short trip up the
coast to Bingil Bay, to a dear little café.
Maybe we are turning into Mission Beach residents… (I took a photo
mainly to show the overhead fan thingies; these operated electronically,
without the aid of a punkah wallah. Such
is life in a First World country.)
On our way here from Townsville we kept
our eyes peeled for dugongs. These warm
tropical waters and sheltered passages are apparently a thriving breeding
ground. There are also, of course, many
crocodiles. I can’t quite imagine how
dugongs survive at all, co-habiting with fearsome crocs! We did see, in the Hinchinbrook Channel, some
interesting ripples which MIGHT have been dugongs but which turned out to be
small, pale, slightly sluggish dolphins.
Tomorrow we are going out, to sail around Dunk Island with Pete, Maddie
and some of their friends. Maybe a dugong
will arise from the waters to delight us all!
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