Joel and I took a long weekend off for his "birthday"and headed north to the famous Whitsunday Coast! (I had already taken a week off for our trip south and had to make up a good story to get another Saturday off, wink!). This is supposed to be one of the top places to visit in Oz. We flew out Thursday morning from Brisbane and our trip did not start out too smoothly. Joel was already in a bad mood thanks to morning traffic and Melba's recalculating, and it worsened when he found out how much he had to pay to check his golf clubs! He was pretty miserable to everyone from the point on.
Our flight was delayed by half an hour (sick crew member). We arrived in Prosperine and had to take a forty five minute or so bus trip to Airlie Beach. Airlie is a small town on the mainland and is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands (aka it is way cheaper to stay here then on one of the islands so this is where all the backpackers and budget travelers stay). It's basically a party town and is pretty much made up of hostels, bars and restaurants. We stayed at a youth hostel, my first time. We had a private room with our own bathroom and little kitchenette, so it wasn't too bad. We went for lunch and explored town and pouty pants brightened up a bit.
Airlie sits in between two harbors, but it does have it's own small strip of beach. It's a secluded area from the marina, which is filled with boats. Not many people were actually in the water, as it's stinger season (jellyfish), but a decent amount of people suntan on the beach.
Due to the crappy beach, there is a man made lagoon overlooking the marina. Basically a glorified pool with crappy, grainy sand around it, but most people hang out here during the day to sleep off their hangovers.
We had an early pick-up Friday morning for our Camira sailing cruise through the Whitsunday Islands. There are over seventy four, but I think only six are inhabited. We met a new friend, Steve from Leeds, while waiting for the bus and Joel now has a new British BFF.
We cruised on a giant purple catamaran. We lucked out and had a perfect day weather wise. We picked up a few more guests from Daydream and Hamilton Island, but I have to say their beaches really can't compare to those in the Caribbean. At eleven o'clock the booze came out. It was all free, so you know what that means. Jacobs Creek wine, especially for me!
Our first stop was at the famous Whitehaven Beach. It's situated on Whitsunday Island, one of the larger islands, and is basically a national park. No one lives here and there is nothing there but trees and animals. It's sand is made of 98% pure silica. It is the best beach in Australia and the third best in the world. This area is also where a good part of the Kate Hudson/Matthew McConaughey movie "Fools Gold" was filmed. We had an hour of drunken fun here where the boys played cricket as I exfoliated my skin. The silica is supposed to be amazing for it, but I didn't notice any difference.
Back on the ship we had a tasty lunch and more booze. Our next stop was at the reef, but after the wine I didn't feel like getting in the water to snorkel. I don't like getting my head wet on a good day, let alone a booze day. I had a nap instead and ended up getting sunburnt. I have lovely red marks above my eyebrows where my sunglasses didn't cover. We met a ton of young travelers from all over Europe and it was cool to talk with them about their experiences in Oz.
In the evening we met up with Steve and some of his friends at one of the hostel bars. This was our first "backpacker" trip here and we couldn't believe how easy it is to meet and chat to people in the hostel environment.
Saturday morning Joel took a ferry out to Dent Island for some world class golf. The whole island consists of nothing but an eighteen hole golf course and clubhouse. He lost alot of golf balls, but said it was worth golfing here (he can't go anywhere without a game of golf). I stayed back at Airlie and alternated sitting at the lagoon and the beach.
We were going to meet up with some people in the evening, but poor Joel fell asleep after dinner so I read and caught up on the Olympics. Around five am we were woken by our rowdy neighbors who decided to bring the party home after the bars closed. We had an early morning today to head back home and retaliated by yelling and singing loudly outside their door.
All in all it was a good weekend.
Now I've seen almost everything on my must see list, save for Canberra and New Zealand. I'm really starting to feel ready to come home. Our apartment lease is up on August twenty-second, so we will be on to another adventure then. We decided on... Sydney! We really debated on Adelaide, but in the end thought it was a long drive and the work situation might not be as wide. There will be tons of work for us both in Sydney and I think that will give us the "true" Aussie experience. Rents look pretty pricey unfortunately so we'll be downsizing (again) and probably living farther out of the CBD, but I think I will be much happier there then I am on the Gold Coast. There are seven Audi dealerships and tons of golf courses, so Joel is ok with it too. I'm already planning in my head the road trip south and counting down the days till I can hand in my two weeks notice! I'm really looking forward to finding a new salon. Though I'm happy to at least have a job when they are so short, it is really not my style of salon at all- no one else wears heels!
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