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March 2026 in Mission Beach

March 2026 in Mission Beach

Posted by Ruth Medd on 16th Apr 2026

My March 2026 visit to Mission Beach included:

  • Charley’s board and other meetings
  • Checking out the Mission Beach Village redevelopment and the Cassowary Overpass
  • Followed by a train trip from Cairns to Proserpine for a week of food and wine in beautiful Cape Gloucester Retreat
  • All with sublime weather.

Charley’s Board meeting

  • Harvest concluded resulting in a record crop
  • 4,000 new trees are being grafted in the nursery, with planting in Q3 of 2026, subject to finance
  • UK sales outlet is in prosect via our UK shareholder
  • Charley’s welcomes new investors. Why not have a cocoa tree named after you?  Get in touch if you are interested - https://www.charleys.com.au/invest/

 

Cocoa price update

You may have seen coverage of the cocoa price.  Which has come off its highs to a level that is now unsustainable, being below the price paid to West African cocoa farmers.  Just shows a lot of speculation is going on.  Opinion still suggests a long-term price US$6,000 - US$ 8,000 per tonne.

 

Cassowaries  - our fab five

You will have seen our coverage of super dad with 5 chicks.  Thanks to Zoe Holmes and Anne Pleash for the publicity campaign for this unusual event. To Geoff Stapley and Chris Jahnke for the photos., now a series cataloguing their growth cycle.

Mission Beach redevelopment

There has been progress,  it’s  finished at last, just. The grand opening is mid-April.

 mb-progress.jpg

Cassowary overpass

Always a favourite visit as a regular feature in my Mission Beach blogs.  The vegetation on top of the overpass is growing.  NO cassowaries yet though. Best bet for cassowaries is the flock at Charley’s!

July 2025                                                                                          April 2026

   mb-tunnel-2.png

Travel by train to Cape Gloucester

I enjoy train travel so caught the Spirit of Queensland train from Cairns to Proserpine – about 9 hours.  A great trip – interesting fellow traveller, great scenery  and Qld Rail staff who were all a delight – congratulations to them all.

A couple of images:

  • The mighty Burdekin River: fed by the Burdekin dam that is full and holds 4.5 times that of Sydney Harbour. Info from a fellow traveller
  • Bowen railway station – a typically delightful rural station

      

Cape Gloucester Retreat, near Hideaway Bay, North Queensland

References

July 2025 in Mission beach  https://www.charleys.com.au/blog/july-in-mission-beach/  

May 2025 in Mission beach  https://www.charleys.com.au/blog/may-at-mission-beach/

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