Airlie Beach

Driving into Airlie Beach, I'll admit the view was spectacular - beautiful turquoise water, lots of expensive yatchs and a lovely harbour.   However all the road works that are going on around the main street make it a bit difficult to drive through and park the van (which tainted my experience). 

I had arranged to catch up with an old work collegue,  Michelle, and we meet in a carpark near the salt water lagoon, where all the beautiful people hang out (I suspect I was bringing the tone down somewhat).  We chatted for a while and caught up on some gossip, along with who is doing what.  I also gave her a quick tour of the van.  It wasn't until later that arvo that I realised I hadn't been wearing a hat or sunscreen, and even that short time in the midday sun had resulted in sunburn.

The lagoon was surrounded by half naked bronzed backpackers from all over the world - it certainly was the place to hang out.   What I couldn't figure out was "why Airlie Beach"?  There are plenty of other spots up and down the coast that could have been picked, but for some reason Airlie Beach is the place to be for international backpackers.

I checked into a caravan park on the outskirts of town, and because I was feeling so hot I booked a cabin/room.
After settling in I had a shower, lots of cold drinks, on with the fan and air-con and that pretty much saw out the rest of the day.

When I checked in they said they did bird feeding at 8am in the mornings near the pool.  So the next morning, as I was having a coffee on my balcony at about 7:40am, I saw quite a few birds making a b-line for the pool area - they knew what time it was better than I did !  I made my way down there in time for the feeding, and hundreds of Lorikeets going crazy over their food.  You could even grab some food and they would jump on your arms and eat it out of your hands.   I recognised a couple of travellers from the Fraser Island tour, so said "hi" and got him to take a photo of me feeding the birds.

I might have to borrow some of these birds for "talk like a pirate" day..

HERE'S a couple of other shots from Airlie Beach.