Monday 17th September 2007

We were up nice and early this morning, so that we could get ready, have some breakfast and get back onto the mainland in time to catch the 11.30am Greyhound. Despite having 3 hours to do very little - we still ended up rushing round like mad 'uns! First, we somehow managed to read the ferry times wrong. Then, when Hazel told us the correct times - we missed the bus! Luckily Nikki managed to flag down a taxi and he managed to get us to the ferry port just as the last people were boarding. The ferry got us back to shore at just after 10.30am, so we had an hour to relax before catching the bus.

The Greyhound arrived on time and the journey to Mission Beach took around 4-5 hours. We did stop on the way (after about 3 hours) and me and Nikki had fish & chips in a small road-side café before getting back on the bus.

We finally got to Mission Beach and jumped in the mini-bus for the hostel called Scotty's. There were a couple of other buses there - but we'd heard from other travelers heading South that the hostels weren't very good. Scotty's is very cool though! We've got a pretty big double room and outside there are a couple of chairs for us to relax in - and also a big pool. We think today was probably the hottest it's been since we've come away - Nikki said she seen one thermometer which read 31° - so this was a great excuse to go for a swim.

After cooling down in the pool and then doing some reading, we went out for a walk to the local shops. The walk took about 15 minutes and we couldn't be bothered to walk back, so we caught the hostel bus instead. When we got back we rang my Mum at work - because she's going on holiday soon and this was probably the last chance i'd get to speak to her before she went. It was nice because we've not spoken in what seems like ages - so we had lots to talk about. She also spoke with Nikki for about 10 minutes. When Nikki gave me the phone back my Mum cried... again (bless her)! Tonight, we went on the internet for a while and then had a sandwich for our tea - it was still way too hot to eat something cooked!

31° - I guess Winter's over then!