Next up along the coast was Airlie Beach. A chic place with nice boats to look at. We especially liked to stroll down the coastal boardwalk and look at the ocean on one side and nature and modern houses on the other side. The sunset was also stunning.
Here we also spotted a Honeyeater - a bird that much resembles a humming bird. Can you spot it in the picture?
After Airlie Beach we did a quick stop at Bowen that we had heard had good snorkeling spots just off shore. Unfortunately the sea was so rough that it stirred up so much sand that the visibility was so poor that we didn't really see much interesting. We did see a big mango on the way, though!
During the summer months you can't really swim in the ocean in the northern parts of the coastline since there's very dangerous stingers (jellyfish) in the water. There's also always the risk that you meet a crocodile during your swim. Therefore a lot of towns have their own lagoons (swimming pools) where it's safe to swim. We got acquainted with quite a few of them on our way. One of them was in Townsville, where we headed next. This was quite a small one but good for chilling.
Just south of Mission Beach you find a lovely seaside town called Cardwell. The town was compleately destroyed by a cyclone in 2011, but there was no signs left of that now. Here we just stopped for an ice cream but as we were walking along the pier you can see in the picture we were lucky to see a glimpse of a sea turtle as it came up for air! Probably should have stopped for ice cream more often during the way...
Then we also stopped at Alligators Nest just outside Tully to have lunch with Olli and Becky with whom we were going to stay in Cairns. Despite the name this was a very nice place to swim and although the water in the river was a little bit chilly it was very refreshing.
On Mission Beach we mainly wandered up and down the beach looking at everything the sea had brought in. Also admiring the beautiful patterns the small crabs on the beach had made with pearls of sand.
On the north side of Mission Beach we had a look at the Babinda Boulders, a river with really interesting stone formations:
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