More Mission Beach pre-Kayak (8 July)

This is from my Garmin GPS watch and shows where I ran.
Although it looks like I was swimming, I wasn't. 

Ooh that's right I forgot to mention my amazing run! I ran 4k along the beach early one morning - I had the place all to myself. It was already lovely and warm, the tide was quite far out so the beach was massive and filled with warm pools of water that I splish-splashed through. I had to stop a few times to really soak up how incredibly beautiful the place was.






Dunk Island is not far off shore - a big mass of rainforest with a strip of beach facing the mainland. Hinchinbrook and the other islands we paddled around are further out but are visible off on the horizon. There used to be a resort on Dunk Island but it got wiped out by the cyclone and is now abandoned. Anyway, it's a pretty spectacular view!

That big blob in the ocean is Dunk Island. Mission Beach is just behind it.
We paddled around those smaller blobs on the last day
of the kayak trip and landed on South Mission Beach.

We had a pre-trip meeting with the guides and some of the other paddlers (another family were coming, but couldn't make it to the meeting).
Pre-trip thoughts: Yay! Excited!
Happy to be in a double - Tim can do all the work (if I need a nap)! And I know he can get out of a scrape (if needed).
Nervous about some of the bits where "it can get a bit choppy..."
Darren (one of the other paddlers) is an editor - someone to mine for lead (as in type - yes, I'm still a nerd, just a nerd on holiday!) - and he's done some travelling, in Sth America in particular. Tres interessant...
Guides (Dave and Michelle) - good people, safe hands. Came with maps. I like maps.
Family of 4. Brigette, Des and their kids Hugh and Jack (20 and 13). We stayed and had dinner with Darren. The family moved two tables away.

We decided not to buy any alcohol for the trip. Seemed like it wasn't a party crowd. And anyway, Dave and Michelle were providing wine with dinner each night. Yay! Free wine! We would come to know Stanley well...

So we went back to the hostel and packed our supplied dry bags. We got red ones because of my hair! And because we're hot like red is. A little disappointed we could take so much stuff though. I wanted to rough it! Went to bed with a touch of nervous tummy, but super excited!