Whitsundays

I arrived on Airlie Beach on a cloudy morning after a charming 12-hour bus ride spent napping and listening to a movie, since the TV in my end of the bus didn't work. It was a comedy starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant (I recognized their voices). Knowing their looks and manners pretty well, it was surprisingly easy to close my eyes and imagine how the scenes looked based on the dialogue and background sounds...


I was staying in a resort called Whitsunday Terraces. I knew absolutely nothing about the place, but had booked a bed in a 3-bed-dorm there because it was the only place on Hostelworld that both had a good rating and was affordable. I had to wait until 2pm until my room was ready, and by then I was pretty tired, annoyed, and starving. When I finally opened the door to the room, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was absolutely not a dorm, but a huge apartment with two balconies with ocean views, a big living room and a nice kitchen. The best thing was that the bed assigned to me was a big, comfy queenbed in my own room! I was lucky to get that bed, as the other two people had to sleep in the living room. I was in the seventh heaven. Since my arrival in Australia, I had slept only one night alone, so I was dying for some privacy. It's funny how happy one can be about being able to close the door of your room and shut the world out. And look at the view!

I didn't mind having these chirpy friends for company when snacking on the balcony:

Airlie Beach is a resort town to access the Whitsundays island group, which means that its only purpose seems to be tourism. There is one street with shops, and otherwise only hotels. Supposedly 3500 people live there, but I have no idea where, as I only saw drunk backpackers on the streets. The shore front of the town was beautiful, even though, quite misleadingly, there is no beach, just a fake lagoon.


I had two activities planned for Airlie: First, I was to get a medical check to be allowed to do a diving course. Second, I wanted to do a boat trip around the islands. I had booked a cruise for Tuesday and the medical for Wednesday, but they got swapped around because my initial cruise got cancelled. That was a lucky coincidence though, because when the weather on Tuesday was rainy and not very nice, on Wednesday it was perfect.



I didn't know what to expect of the medical, but certainly not that the first thing I would be asked to pee in a jar. They didn't do too much explaining, so I still have no idea what they needed the urine sample for... I also did a breathing test, and was poked, rubbed and checked everywhere. The biggest surprise was that when I was measured, the nurse marked me down as 3cm taller than I thought I was! I guess being 172cm at 16 doesn't mean I'm going to stay that height forever. I had to cheat a bit when filling the forms and denied having a cough (which wasn't completely true) to get a pass.


The cruise was on a fast rafting boat called Big Fury. The day was a lot of fun in the sun, and I even managed to get a little tanned after wearing only a bikini for the whole day. (I seem to be the only person in Oz who doesn't really tan. It's funny because it makes all the people think I've just arrived.) The other passengers were the usual teenager bunch. (I'm getting sick of other backpackers, most of whom are either 19 and fresh out of high school, or act as if they were.)

During the day we visited the gorgeous Whitehaven Beach, where we had our lunch in the company of two goannas.

We also visited another bay to do some snorkelling on the reef. It was awesome! I got pretty excited, as I've never seen a coral reef with all the lovely, rainbow coloured fish before. First I struggled a bit with the snorkelling, as I've only done it a few times when I was a kid, but quickly got the hang of it. After getting out of the water I dried of sitting on the reel of the boat in the sun. Now this is how life should be!