That seems to be where we are at the moment. Six days into our ten day stay at the legendary Airlie Beach (just a few 100km south of Townsville) we are beginning to see why. It is a wide, open lagoon perfect for harbouring one’s yacht , which is what many people seem to do. Looking at the house prices it seems there is a balance between the big money market, (catered for by large apartments set into the rolling, green, rain forest-covered hills and expensive restaurants) and the smelly, cheap and dirty backpacker market (catered for by cheap, dank backpacker accommodation and cheap eateries offering backpacker specials.) Luckily the two markets don’t seem to clash, but I can only imagine Mr. Jones in his $3 million pad overlooking the azure ocean isn’t too enamored with scruffy backpackers fouling up his little piece of paradise.
The reason for the popularity of Airlie Beach lies in its proximity to the Whitsunday Islands. For those of you who haven’t heard of these islands, they are a group of 74 white sandy beaches, a few of them with resorts on them. Think Great Keppel Island, but actually discovered! For example South Molle Island is a backpackers island with cheap accommodation and too many bars, whereas Hamilton Island is where Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are staying while they film in nearby Bowen (more about that later). Oh and George Harrison had a quiet little mansion on the island. So as you can see it caters for everyone.Because of this there is a turf war fought on the main street of Airlie over the tour market. You can do pretty much anything from the full on 3 day 2 night sail adventure to day cruises. You can even do an extreme dive whatever the hell that is! Airlie is much like any other town in Australia, a small fishing town, yet this one has been discovered for its potential and transformed. While many residents may bemoan the influx, if it weren’t for the tourism this town would go the same way as the other towns along the coast that are far from commercial centers. Namely it would die on its feet. However with the Whitsunday Islands in close proximity this will never happen!
Everyone has assured me that the harbour is a spectacular sight at this time of year with the water resembling a blanket of crushed Emeralds. However, thus far the weather has been more Brighton Beach then Airlie Beach. It has rained for the past five days only breaking today. So the water has resembled the cast iron grey of a bunker as opposed to some tropical paradise. So the days have been spent reading many books and scowling at the locals as they dance in the rain with their buckets praising good for the luxury of rain. That is the flaw sadly with Airlie Beach. Home to only three thousand locals, if it rains there is seriously bugger all to do. “No dramas, then mate” as they say out here just read a lot. And drunk far too much then is good for us. The days have just followed the same pattern.Grab a good read, hunker down out of the rain in a comfy spot, then when the rain breaks go for a wander, shelter in a bar when it breaks again and begin on the beers. At 3 in the afternoon. Again “no dramas”. Excepting when it gets to 9pm and you reached the stage that should only be reserved for birthday and Christmas Eve. Then you know you’re in trouble the next morning. Sadly it has reached the point where I know resemble Keith Richards. A shaking, stumbling mess. Well when in Rome……
Since we have been here we have met some wonderful, colourful and downright mad people. Our room on the first night was classic. A lovely English girl and a mad Irish couple of girls one sporing a black eye. Needless to say we went out with them partying. It was pretty messy. I got shouted at by a mad girl and chased from the club. Until this day I still have no idea why she did it. We have also down the inevitable karaoke here and visited a beach party. When the website decides to behave pictures up to illustrate my point! The weirdest experience has to be the one on Saturday Night. I was swaying slightly clutching a beer at roughly 8pm (been a particularly horrific day) when a bloke walked past me I thought I recognized from back home in Salcombe. However due to my rapidly deteriorating state and the sheer ridiculousness of it, I didn’t believe. However I circled him until there was no doubt. Shouting his name, the look on our faces must have been priceless when we realised the sheer m,magnitude of what had happened. Imagine a small town in Salcombe where he is a pivotal local, one of the finest. Last I had heard he was studying in Leeds at university, which was only eight months ago. Now I learn he lives on the Gold Coast with his girlfriend and is only in Airlie on a short break for 3 days. The timings involved are absolutely mad. Not for the first time this trip, do I think we are being watched. Anyway thanks to him and his antics we had three very good nights. That is the wonderful thing with this trip, something new gets thrown up everytime…. Next stop my birthday in 2 days time, which if the past few nights are anything to go by, is going to hurt.
Jack xxxxx
P.s. Bowen is a small rural town which has been invaded by Baz someone or other (director from Romeo + Juliet) and the two actors. They have transformed the town into a film set resembling an outback frontier town for the epic movie Australia (Epic film, crap title). Seeing a working set was a great experience and we took loads of photos while being chatted to amiably by a security guard who was a cross between Crocodile Dundee and Father Christmas. The film is about the bombing of Darwin (Capital of the Northern Territories) by the Japanese in WWII.
