The Whitsundays & Airlie Beach

Airlie Beach is a place that I highly enjoyed, but it was a major downer situation that brought me there. I had gone to Cairns planning to look for work in town, but after only five days I found myself on a brutal 9 hour bus ride to a small place called Proserpine, near Airlie Beach. I had gotten an email the day before from the owner of an Irish pub there in response to a job application I'd put in. I'd wanted to bartend, but he'd already filled that position, and he needed someone assisting in the kitchen. I'm really not a kitchen hand, but I was desperate for work and listened to his pitch on the phone thinking of dollars and just agreeing with everything he said. It was only temporary while his main chef was away and he offered free food and accommodation since it was a hotel, as well as bus fare, but I would have to leave the following morning.

I really did not feel confident in this rushed job offer. I was hesitant about taking it in the first place because it was a long way to travel and I'd likely head back to Cairns again afterwards, plus it was food service which isn't my strong point, and I'd had no plans to make my way down to Airlie this early on. I totally should have trusted my uneasy feeling about it, because it ended up being my ultimate low point in Australia.

Without going into too many details, they let me go on the second day. The guy had read my resume which includes such in-depth prep work as making pizzas on the Pizza Hut production line and waiting tables at an Italian restaurant and had assumed that I knew my way around a kitchen. The temporary chef they had in was some pretentious gourmet guy who was highly critical of my speed on everything down to peeling potatoes, and nobody was planning to train me on anything (I barely even got shown where the oven was). They had me work two nights but only paid me for one, plus didn't reimburse me for the bus fare because I hadn't worked out in the job, so I ended up making less than it had cost me to come all the way down there.

I was super miserable. I was getting close to broke again and now had wasted my time and money coming down to a place where I didn't feel as positive about job opportunities as I had in Cairns. On the bright side, the pub there I would have been working in for the three weeks was a total dump with cockroaches and no Internet, plus completely deserted and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months, so I got to skip out on that experience.

Anyway, I wasn't sure what to do after being unceremoniously kicked of the hotel, so I caught a 20 minute bus to Airlie Beach.

Airlie Beach

Airlie is a tiny beachfront town with basically one main strip of bars and restaurants, but it's the launch point for the Whitsundays so it's full of backpackers. I actually loved it. The nightlife is energetic and tons of fun, and there is a lagoon for swimming.

Obviously the reason for the lagoon is because you can't swim at the beach due to very real dangers such as "stingers", Aussie slang for jellyfish. Not only are there the large and deadly box jellyfish, but you also need to be wary of the barely visible Irukandji jellyfish. They are a form of box jellyfish that are practically microscopic but also fatally venemous. Australia's such a fun place!

Welcome to Oz, where nothing can be beautiful unless it's also deadly.

In a way, it's nice, because the beach is gorgeous and almost deserted since everyone's swimming at the lagoon. It looks right off of a postcard and you can enjoy it practically tourist-free.

I was at a hostel called Backpackers by the Bay, which was very nice and peaceful with the downside that it wasn't the most sociable of places I've stayed. I did meet a few girls that became fun friends for the week, but the best part of the hostel were the hammocks out front where I spent my afternoons reading.

My favorite bar in town was called Beaches, attached to another backpacker hostel. It's all outdoors under a roof with picnic tables, an open area for a dance floor, and daily activities like games. My first night there I won a game called Eat My Box where you had to pick up a cardboard box from the ground using only your mouth without touching the ground with your hands or knees. Each round they cut off part of the box so it's shorter and shorter. By the time I won, it was just a square of cardboard on the concrete floor (which I may have actually licked to get the box off the ground... I never claimed to be classy). Luckily I had worn shorts that night and had two awesome things going for me which are my flexibility and lack of height. I won a $50 bar tab for the effort.

I only stayed in Airlie for four days before heading out on my Whitsundays sailing trip, but it was a relaxing and very enjoyable four days.

The Whitsundays

Day 1- South Molle Island

I know I said that I was nearly broke, but since I had already spent the money to get down to this section of the east coast, I thought I should knock the Whitsundays off of my list so I didn't have to spend even more money to come back in the future.

The tour that I took was with Koala Adventures on a boat called the Pride of Airlie.

We stayed at a resort on South Molle Island, which took about an hour to reach. I met a few people on the way, but it wasn't the easiest tour to get to know people on as it seemed a lot were traveling in pairs or groups already. I did eventually find a group that I clicked with and enjoyed hanging out with them over the next couple days.

We were assigned rooms once we got there, and the accommodation was nice. The rooms were in a long wooden building and each had its own porch.

The lobby and bar were in a separate building, which also had a pool.

The first night one of our German roommates gathered up coconuts from underneath all the palm trees out front, broke them open, and we sat outside using a knife to cut out chunks of raw coconut to eat. It was delicious!

There were also tons of cockatoos out front which you might think is cool, and it would be if you were deaf. They are loud, screechy birds.

I prefer these guys who make hissing noises like cats.

We all had dinner together at a long table in the lodge, then we played drinking games in the evening which included free pitchers of beer and time to socialize.

Day 2- Whitehaven Beach and outer reefs

This was the big day seeing the famous Whitehaven Beach. Unfortunately for the first time in my life, I felt horrendously, nauseatingly seasick. It had been pouring rain on and off for the full two days, and the sea was extremely choppy.

An example of the weather throughout our trip.

The little sailboat was badly rocking all over the place and I had to sit outside at the back and close my eyes. Even worse, the trip took two and a half hours. One of the girls gave me a seasickness pill and thankfully I made it without being physically ill, but others weren't so lucky.

When we arrived, we took turns hopping on the motorized raft to the Whitsundays Island and then walked to Whitehaven Beach.

It's just as beautiful as in photos. White silcon sand, crystal blue waters, and almost totally empty.

There's a view first from the lookout point, which is usually the photo you'll see in all those travel lists about the world's best beaches.

It's prettier on the beach itself though. The sand is so white, it almost blends right into the waters.

After getting back on the sailboat, we went to a spot on the outer reefs where we put on our stinger suits and went snorkeling. I wasn't too impressed with the area. The waters were murky and I mostly could just see coral and only a few tiny fish.

Besides, have I mentioned yet that I do not like the ocean? Not like I hate being near it or anything. That's fine. I hate being IN the ocean in any areas too deep to stand. I've never liked snorkeling either. I find it unnerving to breathe through that tiny tube. I'm an awkward mess in the water. Just as I get the hang of breathing, some wave will come along and knock seawater into my tube, then I come up choking and trying to empty the tube so I don't drown, but that takes my focus off of swimming and now I'm kicking coral and cutting my feet up, and it's all just terrifying chaos.

Thankfully I survived this particular snorkeling trip with minimal embarrassment and only one torn up foot, then we went back to South Molle for our last night. It involved dinner, group porch drinking, karaoke at the bar, and some dancing.

Day 3- Bushwalk and Airlie after-party

Our last day started with a beautiful bushwalk across the island.

There were tall green grasses swaying in the wind, trees growing up the hills, and views over the water and islands.

We finally had some gorgeous weather on the way up as well, but of course it started pouring rain again on the walk back.

Back at the resort, we walked out to the pier with some bread to feed the batfish, which were far more exotic than anything we'd seen on our snorkel trip the day before.

It was time to pack up and head back to Airlie Beach afterwards, and despite being tired, I went to Beaches to meet everyone for our little after-party that night. I liked the cool little group I'd met and was sorely tempted to go to Noosa with them where they were studying, but I knew making my way back up to Cairns was the more sensible decision. You get used to making and losing friends in a matter of days. It's the unfortunate downfall of backpacking.

I had a really fun week though which helped take my mind off of how badly it had started and the very real threat of having to return home soon if I didn't pull together some money as soon as possible. I didn't think the Whitsundays sailing lived up to the hype it sometimes gets, but Airlie Beach was great as was Whitehaven, and I enjoyed the small break from reality.

Unfortunately though, now was the time to get my ass in gear and get a job.