Airlie Beach

 

Bicentennial Walkway

We took our first overnight bus from Agnes Water to Airlie Beach on the Friday night (Oct 15th), leaving a little after nine at night and arriving at seven in the morning. We both popped a few Gravel and it went pretty well although we were both pretty tired when we arrived. We said goodbye to our former Israeli roomie and headed for our hostel which was a short bus ride away. Airlie Beach is a party hostel town with the two largest (Magnum's and Beaches) having awesome beer gardens out front. We had heard a number of horror stories regarding the cleanliness of these places so we opted to party there but stay at somewhere a bit nicer.

 

At the Pool

The Lagoon

Our hostel ended up to be just out of town but consisted of a few rooms in a larger hostel/resort called Club Crocodile, which was great. They didn't have the normal facilities like a kitchen or shuttle bus but had a wicked pool and spa and televisions and ensuites in all the rooms! We booked into a 4-share romm but no one ended up checking in either night so we also had the place to ourselves, we got to live it up for two nights :) After taking a quick nap (at 9:30 am - due to the overnight bus), we decided to walk into town and try to find the beach (funny despite the name Airlie Beach, the town doesn't have much of a beach) but the weather was beautiful so we followed the Bicentennial Walkway (a boardwalk that follows the oceanfront) and ended up at the man-made swimming Lagoon instead. It is starting to be stinger season, so in lieu of actually swimming in the ocean, many cities have imitation beaches/pools in the city centre for sunbathing and swimming safely. We explored the downtown strip and then headed back to the hostel to laze by the pool. That night, we headed back into town for a night out :) First stop was a bar/club that offered a free domino's pizza if we both spent $5, what a steal (it came hawaian :) to Dev's displeasure) and then to Magnum's for cheap pitchers and live music. And yes, after bar rituals are the same here, we both had two McDoubles on the way home! :)

 

Giving Attitude at Magnum's :)

The next day we slept in and hung out around the pool in typical resort-style then walked into town to check in for our Whitsunday's sailing trip which was leaving the following morning. We had lucked out and a girl we met in Noosa had won a 2 for 1 sailing trip but hadn't been able to use it and had given it to us! It saved us a load of money and make the decision-making process much easier, as there are about 1,000 sailing companies to choose from! After checking in, we picked up the snacks and booze we needed for the trip (putting it all in a storage locker in town so we wouldn't have to carry it back and forth :)) and went back to the hostel, ate Burger King (or Hungry Jack's as its called here - we both had Aussie Whoppers which had a egg and beats on them. They often have beats on there burgers here.) and watched Modern Family and Junior Master Chef (do they have that show back home?) It's huge here and hilarious how they say it with their Australian accents! :)