When we arrived in Airlie, Sam and I booked into Kuala Backpackers. She had free nights as part of a package tour she had bought and it looked fine to me. In fact, it turned out to be a really nice backpackers. It used to be a motel, so the dorm rooms are pretty sweet, with a decent amount of room, a nice kitchen area (without any kitchen/cooking facilities apart from a sink and a fridge) and a really nice bathroom. The backpackers resort was also very nice, there was a lot of space and greenery in between the dorm rooms, a decent swimming pool and the normal mod cons that you get in a backpackers hostel.
There were a few weird things though, you had to pay a deposit for your linen! This was a new one on me. They also didn’t supply any cooking equipment in the kitchen, so no knives, forks, chopping boards, pots, pans, etc. Nothing. Well, there was a kettle! You had to rent them, and even then they do not give you any sharp knives!! Apparently they are too dangerous and backpackers can’t be trusted with sharp knives. So we are3 all there, trying to chop our cheese and veggies with blunt knives you use to eat with. I think this is probably one of the most stupid rules I have ever heard of. Still, I got over it!
The first night in Airlie was nice and chilled out. I had no interest in going out partying. For some reason, I still can’t be bothered with really busy backpacker bars. I am over all
that. I think that is one of the reason I am ready to come home. I need a break from all that revelry for a while. Also, it turned out I was, again, in a room of all girls!! Seriously, I must have done something right in a previous life, the amount of times I have ended up in dorm rooms of just me and 5 or 6 girls is amazing! Also in the room was Lucy and Ruth, a couple of English girls. We all decided to have a quiet night in with a couple of boxes of goon and a game of Ring of Fire! We were also joined by our neighbours Noel and Helen. After a fair amount of goon later we were quite merry and our room party was well and truly booming!
The next day Sam, Lucy and Ruth left to go on their 3 day trip Whitsundays, so emptying out my room. I got 3 English guys and 2 Dutch girls in the room replacing the girls.
A friend of mine, Nicole, from my diving trip was also due to be in town today, so I gave her a buzz. Tonight is the night of the Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa and Nicole is South African! We arranged to meet up at Magnums to watch the game. Laws in Australia say that if you have to be inside a bar by 3am if you want to stay there, any later and you won’t get admission. Since the game started at 5am, we had to meet rather early! I went out for dinner with Noel, my Irish neighbour and then went to bed at about 11pm to have a couple of hours kip before getting back up at 2am, to meet Nicole at 2:30 to have a couple of drinks before the game.
There was a pretty good vibe in Magnums for the game, unfortunately there was only 2 South Africans in the bar, so Nicole had to stand at the front and sing the SA National Anthem on her own! There was a bunch of Aussies and Irish in the bar as well, who, naturally, were supporting SA.
It was a very even game with neither sides really being able to break the others line. England had one try disallowed that I am still certain was a try, and SA got about a
centimetre from the line, so both teams were even and all the points came from penalties. SA just managed to get a couple more kicks than us so unfortunately we lost. After the
game we hit McDonalds for a spot of breakfast, then back to bed for a bit.
That afternoon was spent lying around the lagoon until it started to rain, so we went and sat on a patch of the grass by the beach. Unfortunately you are not able to swim in the sea here either as there are a shed load of stingers (Jellyfish).
I tried to hook up with my friend John, who lives on a boat moored just off the beach in Airlie, and who also runs the website www.channelwhitsundays.tv which I recommend you check out if you are heading this way.
We somehow managed to keep missing each other through the day, but at one point we did get to wave at each other from one end of the beach to the other!
That night I really didn’t want to head out as I was still really tired from the previous night, so I was planning on sitting in the room all on my own reading my book and getting an early night. After dinner with Noel, I got back to my room and they were all getting ready to go out. I made idle chit chat with them for a bit, then sat outside with the Dutch girls while they had a couple of drinks before heading out. The guys left and we kept chatting away. In the end, they couldn’t be bothered to go out, so we just sat outside our room chilling out and chatting away. It was a really nice relaxed night actually. Then off to bed for a well deserved good nights sleep! Unfortunately the English boys were a bit noisy when they got in, then one of them was snoring! Oh well.
The next day I spent around the pool with Nicole and Becky, her English friend that she met in New Zealand. The other girls, Lucy, Ruth and Sam came back from their trip today as well, so there was a nice group of us.
I managed to get in touch with my friend John and myself, Nicole and Becky went to meet him on his boat for a couple of drinks in the evening. Since I was travelling out of Airlie the next morning, I couldn’t spend too long there, which was a shame. I needed to be back for 8pm to check out. I had a 5:45am transfer back up to Ayr for my SS Yongala dive. I had arranged a transfer from Airlie to Ayr and back in the same day, which should get me back in time to get a Greyhound or Premier bus down to Hervey Bay for my Fraser Island 4x4 tour.
The Fraser Island tour was a bit of a bargin. Nicole had a flyer with a special deal on the tour for AUS$100. This included 2 nights accommodation (one before and one after the trip) in Next Backpackers, 2 nights camping on Fraser, the jeep and most other things. Of course, this being Australia, there are always extras, and with Insurance, Petrol and food, the actual cost was closer to AUS$200, which was still a bargin, seeing as how I would be paying $20-$27 a night anyway for 4 nights.