Finally ready to leave a tropical and rainy Cairns. The rain on my way to the coach stop is warm, almost pleasant I would say; yet covers the city in an air of sadness, as it remains unchanged in the heavy grey colour. Good by crocodiles, good bye box jellyfish, good bye sharks! I hope to be back in the right season next time. The diving here is superior and will be worth it coming back, no doubt.
The twelve hour trip to Airlie Beach passes by writing on this mini laptop, -so glad I got it and John gave me this replacement, thank you John-, reading some book and info available on the coach, sleeping, and having a few munches as well... We finally arrive to Airlie Beach where we get lucky enough to find three beds available at 20:00, closing time for the reception desk. Many backpackers hostels in Australia close in the evening, so this is a key factor to bear in mind. Shower, a light dinner out and a beer with the two Italians will put an end to a tiring day. Yes, sitting 12 hours in a coach can be tiring too....
A couple of pics of the coach trip: the first shows one of our drivers. They are always sort of "a character", always polite and very communicative, telling you the scheduled stops, and insights of every town we stop at. Sometimes really thin, sometimes bigger ones.. but always markedly different.
The second is just me with the red greyhound coach.
The next day I prepare my usual oatmeal for breakfast. One thing I have not explained is that pretty much all hostels offer a large kitchen room with all the cooking ware available for guests' use. Some large glass fridges are also available for the maintenance of fresh food such as dairy, meat, butter and such. All food must be labelled with owner and date of departure to facilitate the dumping of food left behind, -although merciless cleaners will take care of it regardless-. China is sometimes readily available in the kitchen or maybe requested in individual sets from reception to ensure it is returned, as sometimes some cheeky travellers decide their backpacks are a better place for these pieces...
Back to Airlie Beach, it is a buoyant city with tonnes of backpackers willing to have fun and participate in the sailing experience. The highlight here is not Airlie Beach itself which, like most Queensland coast in this season, is full of the dangerous box jellyfish, but the Whitsunday Islands barely 10 miles away, with the beautiful Whitehaven Beach as the most recognisable site. However it is a archipelago of islands conforming a national park. 3Day trip aboard regatta boats are offered with the possibility of assisting in the sailing. I would have loved to do this, yet the weather was getting only worse and the monsoon was already flooding Cairns to the level of the knee in the city! So this talked me out of sailing unfortunately. We all three to take a day trip to the islands, including a grill on Whitehaven Beach the next day.
Whitsunday Islands, day trip
We did not have much sun, yet it was nice sailing around the islands, feeling the splash of the bigger waves on your face... in fact for the first time in my life I really enjoyed sailing. We were taken to a lookout point from where you have a full view of Whitehaven
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