Our neighbours at Ingham, Terry and Merrily, were out early washing their car. Caleb was enthusiastic about using their offered brush to do ours as well. When he then got his hands on the hose to wash off the suds, we all got a bit wet. Luckily it was a warm morning so I didn’t shriek too loudly. 
We headed off, stopping for morning tea at Cardiff. This area was hit really badly by a recent cyclone. We were enjoying our cuppa when a local lady walked past and greeted us. We got talking and she told us about all the damage the town had been through. The main road just disappeared in the storm, along with palm trees found wrapped around people’s houses kilometres away. There were roadworks being completed all along the main road and the foreshore was also getting an update. She said the damage was really extensive but at least the town was getting a nice facelift as it was old and a lot of it was in disrepair before. 
Not much further on was our destination for today, Mission Beach. Ray had been in extensive talks with people we have met on the road and he had a definite plan of where we were staying. 
We booked in for 2 nights and set up, sweating in the hot sun. Caleb was amazed with the sweat pouring down his face and how wet his hair became. He kept checking it out in the mirror. 
We went for a wander to the beach where we could see Dunk Island across the water. Ray counted the steps, 140 in total until he was standing on the sand in front of the water at the beach. He was stoked, especially since there were over 104 steps in the opposite direction to the toilet and shower. Sky divers landing on the beach were plentiful and we watched them for a while. Caleb had some post cards to mail so we walked into town in pursuit of a mailbox, stopping for a coffee also. We all declared the next day a rest day and made plans to relax. 

The following day was just that! We stood in the sun in the morning chatting to some people in the park, actually getting sunburnt in the process. Judy and Noel live in Hervey Bay permanently and like so many others we have met on the road, travel North over Winter. While we were talking we discovered that Judy’s sister lives in the same small town of Tarwin Lower in South Gippsland where my mum and dad lived and where we used to own the General Store. What a small world! 
We lazed around, Ray went fishing and I taught Caleb the fine art of sun baking. He wanted me to set the timer on my phone so that he would know when to turn over, just like a roasting chicken he thought! 
It wasn’t long before he saw a man walking 3 dogs along the beach and he took off, taking over the throwing of the ball for the dogs and chatting to the man as he went further and further away. I started to get worried and headed after him. They walked back and we returned to the van for more lazing around and chatting to the mainly Victorian caravaners in the park.