Advance to Airlie Beach

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Today we made the 4 hour journey to Airlie Beach, which is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. It's a four hour drive, south of Townville. And a quite scenic drive at that. We passed heaps of sugar cane fields, mango orchards, etc. Oz has 2 growing seasons, and they irrigate their crops so that they can grow all year long. Once in a while, you could smell the sugar cane (it just smells really sweet, almost like sugar). There are also a couple of sugar cane processing plants along the way.

When we got to Airlie Beach, we toured the town a little bit and once we checked into our room, decided that we would head to the Shark Expo.

Now, before I tell you about the shark expo, I need to back up a little bit and tell you about the general impressions I have had about Aussies as a whole. They LOVE their environment, and nature. They are really big on conservation. There are signs everyone, mentioning different tips on how to save water, electricity, etc. All the toilets have 2 flush options: full for big flush jobs, and half for regular flush jobs. Also, all the electric outlets have little switches above them that you need to turn on once you plug something in. Everyone we have talked to is passionate about doing their part for the environment, and especially saving the habitat of animals.

Except for one Vic Hislop, who opened the Shark Expo in Airlie Beach. We were expecting a "save the sharks, sharks are beautiful" sort of display, instead we were greeted with a shark extremist who had the opinion that "Sharks are killing machines and must be destroyed". He believes that every human that goes missing is a result of a shark attack, and he hunts sharks to save people. But, not only does hunting sharks save people, he is also a TRUE conservationalist, because every time he kills a shark, he saves all the turtles and dolphins that would have been eaten by that shark. He said in a video, "I'm out here doing the REAL work, saving the dolphins and the turtles". He also believes that whales beach themselves because they are afraid of sharks. The piece de resistence of this expo, is a real live frozen shark. (not live now, but alive at one time, and hunted down by none other than Vic himself). The glass is all condensed over, so you don't get a really good view, nonetheless, you get enough of a view to get the picture. Vlad thought it was cool. Shilo thought it was creepy, and Amanda thought it was just plain gross.

Oz Oddities:
- Vic Hislop's Shark Expo
- Most vehicles in Oz have a feature where they beep at you if you speed. You can adjust the speed limit, and when you hit that speed, there is a nice, polite warning that you should slow down.

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Photos

The only interesting thing at the Shark Expo
(Vlad didn't really get attacked by the shark - he's just a really good actor)