Are We There Yet?

Sep 25, 2016
4 min read

Location:

Airlie Beach, QLD, Australia

There are some places you really want to visit, others that you are simply indifferent about seeing and there are those that simply act as a gateway to a place you really want to visit. The bus journey was only a couple of hours long, but sure at this stage, I think we are getting used to them. The driver, a nice man that looked like he had come out of retirement told us how to get to all the hostels when we arrived.

When we did our farm work two years ago, even though we worked near Airlie, we never actually made it down. When we enquired about renting a minibus for a few of us to go down to Airlie for the weekend, our hostel owner, Alan wanted way too much money, so that meant that idea was a no, no. Even though we have been here before, this is our first time to actually stay here and see it properly. Passing through Home Hill and Bowen certainly reminded us of our so called ‘Farm Days.’ It was terrible! Please don’t make me go back!

The bus driver left us off at the bus depot which was a good few minutes’ walk from the main strip with all our luggage. Mind you, we can’t complain too much, have you seen all the luggage we have with us? Feck all! Best way to travel. I don’t know why people have to bring everything but the kitchen sink. After our lovely walk, we found our hostel, ‘Magnums Backpackers,’ where we checked in and quickly put a wash on. We may be backpackers, but you’ve got to have clean clothes!

While we waited for our clothes to wash and dry, myself and Jason made a toast to my grandad who would have been 100 years old today. That is some achievement. Sadly, he passed away when he was 96 years old. He was a remarkable man! At 90, he bought himself a treadmill and joined a gym. What a character he was! Happy Birthday Grandad! While Jacob might not be here to celebrate, doesn’t mean we aren’t going to as we cruise along the ‘Whitsunday’s!’ After all, your only 100 once!

Coming back from our cruise, we were both on a high as it was incredible. We saw so many beautiful things that we will never forget, things that you could only dream about. It’s great to think that after all the travelling we have done, there are still things that make you go WOW! And rightly so! How you couldn’t be impressed, I will never no! We were so lucky on the boat as we had amazing weather for the duration of the cruise. When we arrived back to Airlie, dark clouds began to form and big waves in the sea causing boats to rock back and forth violently. OMG, how lucky were we!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bl7lplmgLw

You really do make great friends with the people you meet when you travel. You also learn that there are two travel friendships, those that last only for the duration you are travelling together and friendships that last long after your paths briefly crossed. Both Louise and Catharina whom we forged lasting friendships with on the boat, both joined us for a proper Aussie BBQ with a couple of ‘Sizzlers on the barbie.’ Sorry, that’s a sausage on the BBQ to you and mean. Aussie slang! Tut, Tut, Tut! A barbie along the waterfront sipping a glass of wine, that has to be one of my better ideas. You got to love the more reliable weather and free barbeques everywhere in Australia! Afterwards, we went over to one of the local bars as all the cruise boats were meeting up there that went around the Whitsundays, for the after party. First of all, they didn’t have a table reserved for us, like all the other boats and secondly, no one else showed. All of us just wanted our beds, but when free booze is mentioned… After waiting ages for it, it was ok, definitely not worth the wait! You can if you want to, but I’m ok.

On our last day, and with nearly a whole day to spare, our day began getting all our stuff sorted so we could check out on time. While the hostel was nice, they are greedy bastards charging us to leave our luggage there for a couple of hours. Let it go over my head! Of course, I gave them a bad review which made me feel a whole lot better. I was completely honest about everything. There is something that I can’t make my mind up on: Swimming in the lagoon and trying to sink to the bottom of the floor under the water while exhaling all my air; or satisfying a craving with a mouth-watering Indian dinner – not sure which one was the highlight of my day! It’s just too hard to choose! One thing that I am sure about, is that we had a nice relaxing day!

While Airlie Beach may be a gateway into the Whitsundays, it definitely is worth the visit! Myself and Jason had a really nice time here. There are worse places to visit! A few days is more than enough, anything more than that would be too much. At least I was somewhere nice to mark my grandad’s big 100th birthday!