Airlie Beach(5 Days of Rain)

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After being set back for a day because of the rain, we stayed in the only youth hostel in Townsville with any beds left... and what a surprise; the place was obviously the armpit of Townsville with water leaks everywhere and bunks that got wet at night. Luckily only the bottom bunks received that treatment and so I was high and dry. When we woke up, Tim rang the English couple to see whether it was worth risking going today... they said it was and they were on their way to pick us up so we packed up as quick as possible and legged it. The drive down to Airlie Beach was only about five hours and with a nice hire car instead of a camper-van we were travelling in style.... again another five hours for the equivalent of 8 squid!
The rain was still coming (its been a week already) with no sign of stopping. We saw a wallaby by the side of the road and all the flooded land where the heavy rains had mashed up trees and farms.
When we got to Airlie Beach we were more than a little annoyed to find that there wasn't actually a bloody beach.... very disappointing. The place is just a port that is a gateway to the Whitsundays, which are a load of islands with reef around them. Airlie Beach is just one strip about 300m long that's lined with pubs, clubs, hostels and fast food chains and everyone is between 18-25 and mainly girls. We met up with Tims' mate from uni called Tom and went to the campsite they were staying at with a crate of lager... that didn't come home! We went around town and had a good first night.
However, the second day was not so good.... I think the rain makes hangovers worse and just to rub it in, someone had chucked away my subway that was in the fridge!
With the rain and just a small town there was absolutely nothing to do during the day, we played cards in the hostel and went up to the campsite for some food again. There is a lagoon like in Cairns but a bit bigger and we went there on the third day when it was cloudy but warm. After a few days we wanted to leave because we couldn't do anything during the day, and the weather was too bad for boats to go out to the Whitsundays. Me and Tim both wrote a note asking for a lift and put it on the notice board.... Tim made his sound like he had special needs and so obviously no one rang up! Then out of the blue, Tom and his girlfriend (who have a campervan) decided to get out as well and head south for the weather- result! We left the next day and headed downwards aiming for Agnes Water.... a small village on the coast between Brisbane and Airlie Beach.

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Photos

The Weather
Overcast skys and cyclones meant that we couldn't go to the Whitsundays (bugger)

Travelling in Style
The cheeky hire car that we came down to Airle Beach in