On a mission

Having spent a very hot day on Magnetic Island, totally failing to find any Koalas, we headed further north to Mission Beach in search of the elusive Cassowary.  All along the road leading to Mission Beach are “Cassowary Crossing” signs and speed restrictions, but really how often do you ever see whatever animal it is, be it deer, kangaroo, Koala or in this case Cassowary, crossing a road in front of you? Well, in this case the signs were pretty accurate because as we drove towards the town, there stood right in the middle of the (thankfully empty) road was a Cassowary!!  Totally unfazed by us stopping in the middle of the road, it just carried on strolling across before slipping in to the undergrowth and vanishing, which for such a massive bird is quite a feat.

This morning, we were out again to try to get better shots of Cassowary, and after a fruitless walk along a mosquito-infested woodland track, we gave up and headed back to Mission Beach for breakfast.  As we entered the town, there stood on the side of the road was another Cassowary drinking in a pool.  Again, it wasn’t bothered in the slightest as we stopped the car a few metres away and rattled off photos and video before a large van drove past which scared the bird back into the undergrowth.