The gateway to the Whitsunday Islands and in our case the Great Barrier Reef, Airlie Beach provided us with an amazing Australian adventure on so many different levels. Ok so the place we stayed at for the duration of our five day stay was nothing spectacular but at least it was clean, cheap and full of nice friendly people. We even managed to have an entire four bed dorm room all to ourselves. Spacious!
Halloween. What a messy night that turned out to be. Only our second night here and already the goon had taken a hold of me once more. So much for giving it up! Having met up with Sean and Scott from Cairns the previous afternoon, we had arranged to meet them and their friends to go out for Halloween. So after deciding on some rather impromptu costumes with very limited materials, we decided to show the Australians how to have a real party at this time of year. By the time they arrived to meet us for drinks at our place, I think it was fair to say I was pretty much half cut. Not only had I finished around 2 litres of goon but I also had my eyes on what they had brought with them. So once the costumes had been assembled and were fit to be worn, the drinking games stopped and all the alcohol consumed, we finally decided it was time to go into town looking like extras from the set of Lesbian Vampire Killers. Turned away from one place for being too drunk, the disappointment in my eyes soon vanished as we entered an all night party at one of the bars in town and descended on drinking the night away. Several hours later with no one having seen me or Sean for quite a while, we were to be found outside watching the Arsenal v Tottenham game from the steps of the pub we were refused entry. Weird. Jo was not pleased at all! If that was not bad enough, I even fell up the steps on my way home cutting a chunk out of my ever repairing toe. Ouch! What a night.
Recovering mildly the next day we went about booking several expensive trips and indulged in what can only be described as the most amazing Fish and Chips but also a sneaky Pizza that was being given away at Phoenix bar with every drink. That's right back on the wagon and feeling the effects!!!!!!
The first of our two major trips was to fly over the Whitsunday Islands before stopping of on the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkeling followed by Champagne, cheese & biscuits. This was a first class trip, one in a lifetime and we are both so glad we did it. The views over the islands were amazing, with some of the most beautiful scenery you can ever imagine, its a shame photography just doesn't capture it. Then descending onto the water via plane was like something from a bond film, not only flying onto the beach but also landing in the middle of the sea. Awesome. I wouldn't say the Great Barrier Reef was as good as expected but it was still a pleasure to view life under the sea there and although the water was a little cold!!!!! it was an amazing site, even if I have become a bit of a snorkeling snob on this trip. To top it all off, great views on the way back and some damn fine drinks and cheese!!!!! We didn't see a shark this time like in Asia but the reason we got out when we did was the rather unsubtle arrival of a big arse jelly fish. Shit the bed!!!!!
We loved our time here in Airlie with so much on offer for such a small little town, it really is somewhere you never want to leave. We visited the lagoon at the esplanade, ate and drank our nights away and even managed to catch up with some great people on this trip. Thanks Ailrie, thank you very much.
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