Mission Accomplished

Mission Accomplished

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday August 30, 2008

Sacha Molitorisz Sacha Molitorisz travelled courtesy of Mission Beach Publicity Partnership.

Reluctant rafter Sacha Molitorisz encounters the fearful and the beautiful in equal measure.

When I'm on holiday, the phrases I like to hear include, "We're upgrading you," "Beverages are complimentary" and "Have you met Megan Gale, our in-house masseuse?" I am considerably less impressed to hear, "People have died doing this."

I'm one of a dozen tourists in a mini-van headed for a day of white-water rafting on the Tully River in Far North Queensland. I've been staying at nearby Mission Beach, a tropical hideaway 140 kilometres south of Cairns, just as picturesque and idyllic as I had hoped.

Today, for reasons only a therapist would understand, I've left the scenic safety of Mission Beach to throw myself into a dangerous river and one of the other tourists has just mentioned the dying thing.

"Rapids are graded from one to six," says our guide, as the mini-van bounces uphill. "Today we're going to do a lot of grade threes and fours, which are pretty serious."

As soon as we step off the bus, I approach the guide. "So, people have died doing this?" I ask, trying to appear calm as I put on the obligatory helmet and life jacket. He nods wearily. He probably hears this question daily.

"Five people have died since 1993," he says. "But then 30,000 people do this every year. I'd say the bus ride up here is more dangerous than what we're about to do."

I look up and see a sign warning that the river can rise rapidly. It reminds me of all the signs sprinkled about Mission Beach, warning of crocodiles, stingers and cassowaries.

This beautiful corner of Queensland - stretching from Cooktown to Townsville and taking in Port Douglas, Cairns and Mission Beach - is known as the wet tropics. More rain falls here than anywhere else in mainland Australia. That's why the place is so lush and green. (And why not every holiday is sunny.)

I'm thinking Danger Coast would be more apt. In these parts there are enough adventure activities to satisfy an adrenalin junkie: scuba diving and snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef; skydiving on to Mission Beach; power-skiing around Dunk Island.

Adding more danger are deadly animals and plants, led by the box jellyfish and irukanji, two nasties collectively known as stingers. That's a cruel euphemism. A local woman told me of the time she was stung on the chest by an irukanji. They're only about the size of a 10-cent piece but "the pain was unbelievable", she said. "After that, giving birth was easy."

The weather can be dangerous, too. In 2006, Cyclone Larry and its 290kmh winds hit the coast at Innisfail, just north of Mission Beach, killing one, demolishing homes and driving the price of bananas to $14 a kilogram.

The whole area was "mulched", locals say. The damage extended into the hinterland; in the World Heritage rainforest of the Tully Gorge, where I'm about to raft, trees were toppled or stripped. It's a testament to the Danger Coast's fecundity that just two years later it's all so green and lush.

Cyclones are a part of life around Mission Beach, which was named in 1914 when the Queensland government established an Aboriginal settlement here. It was a misnomer: the place was more a prison than a mission, with Aborigines brought here in chains from all over Queensland.

The region's first white settlers had been the Cutten brothers, who arrived at Bingil Bay in 1882 to farm. The attraction is easy to see: the cyclones and critters may be intimidating but the land is extravagantly fertile. What's more, it's beautiful, with Mission Beach itself a 14-kilometre arc of white sand in the shadow of coconut palms. On the beach, it feels as if you're on a tropical atoll, an illusion heightened by the come-hither presence of Dunk Island four kilometres offshore.

At Mission Beach, you're surrounded by World Heritage-listed beauty: inland, it's the rainforest; offshore, it's the Great Barrier Reef. (Mission Beach is said to have the closest access to the reef.) And in between the rainforest and the reef the feel is sleepy and unpretentious. In June, the opening of the area's first proper supermarket was a big story in the local press.

The four settlements comprising Mission Beach - Bingil Bay, (North) Mission Beach, Wongaling and South Mission Beach - are spread over about 15 kilometres. One local tells me these four settlements have only 3000 inhabitants, a number that swells to about 8000 in the peak season, from July to October.

As the locals are fond of saying, Mission Beach is like Port Douglas used to be. On the far side of Cairns, Port Douglas became a tourist hot spot long ago. Mission Beach, with its faint aroma of incense and Asian spices, is still arriving.

A little more than 30 years ago it was home to only a handful of hippies and surfers, bohemians and dope growers. Inexorably, the money has started pouring in, often from cashed-up Sydneysiders or Melburnians eager for a holiday home or seachange.

The influx of cash is most evident in the recent relaunch of the Elandra Resort, tucked away at South Mission Beach (see story opposite). Warren Witt, the developer who built the Sheraton Mirage at Port Douglas, is also building a luxury resort - and that might be it for Mission Beach. Eager to retain the region's low-key-character, the council has put a cap on further development. Mission Beach has no problem attracting tourists; its challenge is not to attract too many.

For my three-year-old daughter, the highlight of the Danger Coast turns out to be the Johnstone River Crocodile Farm at Innisfail, where the man-eaters are presided over by a five-metre beastie named Gregory.

While she's gasping at the crocs, I'm one of a crew of six hopping into a rubber inflatable on the Tully River, with 14 kilometres of rapids ahead. Our guide is Vinnie, a former banana grower whose job it will be to steer the boat to safety. Luckily, he has a calm smile and forearms the size of tree trunks.

From his position at the back of the boat, he gives us a crash course - although, sensibly, he never uses those words. We approach the first rapids, called "Tenderiser" or "Widowmaker". Something like that. But suddenly I'm so focused on survival I barely hear Vinnie. As the water beneath begins to bubble and hiss, we are sucked in, powerless to resist. Vinnie shouts "Paddle!" and we do, sliding towards the drop-off, but then we reach it and before I can scream "Mama!" we're slipping and falling down watery steps until crunch! We hit the deeper water with a cold splash.

Yeah! Smiles and laughter all around. We've survived the first set of rapids. Then the second. And the third. As we fall into a rhythm, the quips start to fly; we're enjoying ourselves. We descend tumbling sections that are benign and gentle, others that are swirling and vindictive.

And in the calming stretches where we drift slowly downriver, I am mesmerised by the beauty of the Tully Gorge: the majestic waterfalls, the fish suspended just below the surface, the impenetrable rainforest, the ulysses butterflies with their big, blue wings. The quiet here is epic and ageless.

Exhilarating and exhausting, white-water rafting proves the highlight of my visit to Far North Queensland. Sometimes, I realise, danger can magnify beauty.

FAST FACTS

Getting there

Fly to Cairns and hire a car for the two-hour drive south to Mission Beach. Sugarland Car Rentals has small cars from $33 a day, people-movers from $109 and convertibles from $139. It also has a free pick-up and drop-off service from and to the airport. See www.sugarland.com.au.

Staying there

The range of accommodation is extensive. Backpackers' hostels include Scotty's at Wongaling (www.scottysbeachhouse .com.au) and Absolute Backpackers at Mission Beach (www.absolutebackpackers .com.au). At the other of the spectrum is the Sejala Beach House, a luxurious holiday home a short walk from the North Mission village. Sejala also has three beachside huts; see www.sejala.com. A short drive inland, picturesque Lillypads is a huge property with two rainforest chalets; see www.lillypads.com.au.

While you're there

Maps of walking tracks around Mission Beach are available from the Mission Beach Visitor Centre. The Great Barrier Reef can be reached aboard the Calypso (www.calypsodive.com.au) for snorkelling or diving. Dunk Island can be visited by ferry or water taxi. Paul's Xtreme Skydiving (www.xtremeskydiving.com.au) has tandem jumps with landings on the sand. For white-water rafting on the Tully River, RnR (www.raft.com.au) runs tours; so too Raging Thunder (www.ragingthunder.com.au). I recommend Raging Thunder's Xtreme full-day package, at $215.