After the somewhat disappointing end to our boat tour from Airlie Beach to the Whitsundays, we licked our wounds and headed back on the road towards Cairns. Our next stop was at a very nice Bluewater Park Rest Area – a free campground on the outskirts of the boringly named Townsville. It was pretty nice staying in a place with mango trees growing everywhere: we did pick a few, to try, although the local ants did their best to aggressively protect what they apparently considered to be their property.
By this point we felt we’d finally broken the back of the journey from Brisbane to Cairns: we had a totally doable drive up to Mission Beach for our last night on the road, followed by a leisurely 2-hour roll into Cairns. At which point we just had to check into the Cairns Queenslander Hotel and deal with the logistics of returning the campervan.
Mission Beach was really lovely…
We also took the time to pack all our stuff up, so that when we arrived in Cairns the drop-off would…