Sunday, April 29, 2012

Mission Beach weekend away...

Fourteen months ago Cyclone Yasi ripped apart the little seaside town of Mission Beach. They were ground zero for Yasi, with the nearby communities of Cardwell and Tully hit equally hard.
This weekend marked the return of the Mission Beach Monster Markets, a monthly market run by the Rotary Club and held on the village green. It was the first Monster Market since Yasi, and to encourage tourists back to Mission Beach a number of bike clubs were invited to come stay and display their bikes for the locals to see.
A few of us from the Townsville Ulysses rode up on Saturday to participate.
Cassowaries are native to the area, with warning signs everywhere. This one was quite large, but fortunately quite harmless. Mr E and I don't often get the opportunity to be in the same photo but one of our member's wives kindly stepped in to snap a few with us together. 
Mission Beach is as named, a town on a beach...
After 14 months there are still a great many homes waiting for a roof, windows, repairs...
...and some houses deserted or demolished.
Apparently 1700 residents left the area after Yasi and have not returned. Every second home has a for sale sign, and the valuation of property there has fallen dramatically.
But the people still there? Lovely. Friendly, smiling, and welcoming. Made us wish we could move there.
After the very windy ride from Townsville we booked into the motel, changed, and headed for cool drinks near the beach...
On our return to the motel for dinner, Mr E and I found two locals waiting near our room. Kookaburras are my absolute favourite bird, and I get such joy whenever they cross my path...
After dinner we finally gave in to sleep, our thoughts on an early start to the Monster Markets the next morning. 
Bikers from Cairns, Innisfail, Ingham and Townsville set a spectacular sight at the entry point to the Market, with around 50 different bikes on display for the locals and visitors to check out. Mr E and I also caught up with a local Mission Beach biker, Matt, whom we'd met a year before on our trip up to Cooktown...
We found a cappuccino stand before taking the opportunity to play tourist and do the rounds of the market stalls. With a fully loaded bike already, we couldn't buy much, but I wanted to get something small to take home to Blossom (she was babysitting Princess Sophie and Bob-the-dog, and the house).
What a surprise to find this very friendly young lady selling genuine 1970's jewellery and hair clips!
These were all hand painted in the 70's! Things have certainly changed now...
I knew Blossom would LOVE these bobby pins, so I got her a pack...
...and she did love them!
By 11am it was time for all the travelling bikers to say their farewells and get back on the road for home. We waved goodbye to Mission Beach, with a promise to return. 
Next stop was coffee and lunch at Cardwell...
...before leaving two of our group at Ingham. The rest of us continued south towards Townsville, but made sure to pull in at the Frosty Mango for some unbelievably good gelato. 
Final goodbyes were said - next stop HOME.
I had a fantastic weekend away with Mr E, and can't wait for the next trip! I never get tired of being on our bike. :-)
Hugs
Jenny
xx

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jenny what a wonderful weekend for you both,sad about the town,it will proberly take a very long time to be back to normal.xx

sol said...

Jenny que maravilla los viajes que hacen y los lugares que muestras en tus fotos. Cariños.

drMolly, the BeanQueen said...

Mmmmmmmmmm sounds like a wonderful time. I hope the town is finally able to pull itself back to itself.

Marit Johanne said...

Sad about all the damaged homes, but it gives hope to see normal life is coming back. Sure you had a nice trip. And nice to see the two of you together on the photo!

Janice said...

Your weekend away sounds wonderful. It was great that the bikes from the surrounding areas were able to show their support and also create an extra, interesting display for those who visited the markets. Mission Beach has certainly suffered badly. Here's hoping they get back on their feet, but it sounds like the locals are working hard to restore their sense of community.

Shirlwin said...

You certainly had a lovely weekend ... love those hair clips!!
I would imagine the chances of another cyclone hitting Mission Beach full on again would be very low.

Vickie said...

woohoo looking good Jen...lovely photos too-them clips are just gorgeous,before long I hope Mission Beach will be back up to what it was ..cheers Vickie

Maminti, a kicsi zöld tündér said...

Hello, Jenny, it was nice to read about your lovely weekend.
To see your blog, always cheers me up! Few months earlier I've got a creative blogger award and now I would like to pass you forward it (Sunshine Award). You can find it in my blog at:
http://tunderzug.blogspot.com/2012/04/napsugar-dij-tovabbadasa-passing.html
Thank you so much for your great blog! With my best wishes: Maminti, the little green fairy

Allie said...

That looks like a wonderful trip, Jenny-girl! I'm so glad you two enjoyed your get-away!

Linda H said...

Jenny, sounds like a terrific weekend.

I have to comment on your magazine, in one word "awesome". I'm a new subscriber and love each of the wonderful projects, the professional way it is written and especially the words of wisdom. I love everything about the magazine and can't wait to make each of the projects. I look forward to next month with anticipation. Thank you! Linda

Marsha B said...

Sounds like a great weekend trip!

Kaylee said...

You sure do get out and about, good on you, sounds like fun :-)