The Road to Becoming OZ Experienced – Mission Beach from Magnetic Island

Photojournalist David Savage travels Australia on the OZ Experience…

On the Bus…
Our journey from Townsville to Mission Beach was to be a musical one with hits from ‘South Park’ and other comical tunes about police, reefers and the great Australian Mullet Haircut Bloke. Giving us a break from all that we stopped at a swimming hole on the Tully River. The water was amazingly clear and deep, this is one of the places you have to know about to be able to find it.

Mission Beach
‘Mission Beach’, the name alone conjures up images of danger and adrenaline. With a name like that, it’s kind of place you’d expect to see Pierce Brosnan filming yet another 007 movie with things exploding as he jumps out of a plane on to a high speed train. When I arrived I found there was no high-speed train but I found a plane to jump out of.

I doubt there is a better place in Australia to jump out of an aeroplane than Mission Beach and I, along with Northern Ireland contingent Merv and Glen, jumped that beach with local Skydiving Company ‘Jump the Beach‘ (1800 638 005).

On the ground before my big skydive I was wondering why I wasn’t transfixed with fear when the thought of Bungi Jumping petrified me. Instead I was dead excited, I remembered dreams I had as a child of flying; within the next hour I would be flapping hard. Then an on-looker told me that my excitement was probably nervous fear…no, I was ready for this…I had to be, I was being filmed.

On the bus to the airstrip the jump crew told us how alcohol doesn’t mix with skydiving before a jump, but afterwards the two were quite compatible. They expanded on the subject telling me that the guys who invented skydiving must have been pissed in the first place to do something so crazy. Hmm, very reassuring. The jump crew was also munching on pies and pizza. It was 1pm and I was starving but ‘Eric the Fruit Bat’ (Video / Cameraman), told me I couldn’t eat before the jump, as it was essential he kept his lenses free from my vomit.

At the airstrip I put on my extra small jump-suit, unfortunately they had only one colour and white has never really matched my eyes. The camera floated by me and I did my ‘Double-0-Sav’ number. I was briefed that to skydive a composure of ‘Cool’ was crucial for the video.

We boarded the plane and plane left the ground. We were soon at 12,000 feet and the first of the Irish lads exited the plane, the sight of which made my heart begin to race. I was up next. I shuffled on my knees to exit. I was about to jump 14,000 feet out of plane with NO PARACHUTE. Fortunately before the plane had taken off I had found Glen, a Tandem Jumpmaster. I strapped him to my back and paid him copious amounts of dollars to pull the cord on his parachute.

The following experience can only be described as a ‘YES-YES-WHAT’S GOING ON-OHHHH-YES-WAHOO’… Sounds a bit like sex eh? 30 seconds past and we were still plummeting towards the beach beneath us at great speed. 45 seconds and still falling fast, I could feel the force of the wind giving me a face-lift. 50 seconds and I wondered if I should have paid Glen more money to pull the cord. 60 seconds and suddenly our chute opened and ‘Eric the Fruit Bat’, who’d been filming us, suddenly disappeared below us.

Now I was experiencing a different sensation. I was falling to ground in slow motion. I felt like a puppet on a string. I looked up to check the chute was there, half expecting to see the hand of God holding the strings. Time to take in the amazing view. The sky was clear and Mission Beach was below, sheer pleasure enveloped me – this was the cool of cool – the best rush I’ve ever been rushed by. Thank you ‘Jump the Beach’.

The Tree House Hostel is a hostel I’d heard of in Sydney. It is alternative and as I found out, the atmosphere is a haven for the big chill. Deep inside I’m just a tree-hugging hippie and although the hostel’s market is in Backpackers, the Tree House definitely has that ‘Take a load off – sit back and smolax man’ feel to it. It is the type of place that I have not encountered since Thailand. A place where other travellers become family and whilst you wait for your laundry to finish, you can swing in a hammock or bake your skin by the pool, all of which is set in a genuine rainforest setting.

The Tree House (Phone 07 4068 7137) is a little way out of the main drag, but a courtesy bus does run frequently to pick up and drop people off from town. The little effort required to get there is well rewarded by what you will find. This is place you’ll definitely want to stay longer at or definitely plan to return to. I had only two nights but with many rainforest walks, horse riding, the beach, and water-sports close to hand, I could have done with a week there.

On the East Coast of Australia, this was the best hostel I had found yet. The staff work on a personal basis, will give you advice on booking activities and when you first get there, they take you on a tour of the premises and introduce you to your new ‘second‘ home.

The Mission Beach Resort is where the OZ Experience bus parks up. Some bucks have been spent on this place and the accommodation is clean and modern. The pool is styled on some kind of tropical oasis and the resort even has it’s own mini rainforest to walk through on the way to the beach, only three minutes away. The bar is something else too, typically Australian with pool tables, live music, sport on the TV, and filled with ‘Mullet Haircuts’.

Staying On…

There are loads of activities at Mission Beach. Four km off shore is Dunk Island, home to a large resort, an airstrip, a colony of artists and a campground ($3.50 per night). The Island can be reached by water taxi for a fee.

If you are feeling more adventurous then you can visit the island by Jet Ski or Sea Kayaking. The companies offering these trips include lunch in a half-day package. They will get you wet but also get you out into a stunningly blue ocean. The Great Barrier Reef is only twenty miles off shore and of course there is plenty of quality dining in the area. The Information Station at Mission Beach is the best place to get the low-down and honest advice on what’s on offer in the area.

Australian Saying
“Easy, like a tart with no knickers”

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