With the backpackers in Airlie Beach

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We are continuing our journey down the East Coast of Oz.
The good thing about having our own campervan is A, we can sleep/eat in it for cheap and B, we have the freedom to pull over and look at the beautiful sights.
During the drive we usually planned a pit stop near a beach and took a walk on the sand and had a sneak peak of the town.
We arrived in Airlie Beach...a gas station attendant told us we HAD to go there.
But it seems like Australians all think that whatever town they are living in is "Paradise."
Airlie Beach was a real backpackers town, tons of campervans like us were there and people trying to live on a budget eating a fast food places and McDonalds 50 cent ice cream is a cheap treat!!
There was a nice lagoon to swim in, we got a 6 pack of XXXX Gold beer and relaxed by the water for the evening. Other than some shopping, eating and swimming there wasnt much else for us to do there, but it was peaceful and relaxing for us.
The one night we decided to pull into a parking lot and sleep there for the night even though there were signs everywhere saying "NO CAMPING PERMITTED." Rules are for losers...kidding.
Anyway we got away with it for the majority of the night, until we had a 6am wake-up call from the Park Ranger yelling into our window and knocking on the van saying, "There is no camping on the Whitsunday Islands, you have 1 minute to vacate the park."
So we of course jump up...oh my gosh we have to get outta here or we will be fined.
It was nice to be up early but not very nice to be started out of bed by a man yelling throught your window.
After a few nights there we took to the road again and headed for a quick pit stop in Rockhampton.
By the time we got here the town was all shut down and a ghost town. So we sat by the river, cooked our burgers on the BBQ's and again slept near the water. This time there were warnings to look out for Crocs!!
Things are going well so far!!

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Photos

1
a walk on the beach...I cannot remember the name of the town we are in here.

2
another beautiful sunny day in OZ

3
these birds are very loud and are everywhere!

4
At Airlie Beach, a real backpackers town

5
XXXX Gold, cannot beat this beer.
at first I thought the XXXX was something fresh...but its just the name of a beer.

6
what love birds!

7
breaking up the drive, in a huge sugarcane field.

8
a close up of the sugarcane

9
our van made it up the windy road to Eungella National Park

10
looking out for playtpus.
they were smaller than we imagined.

11
ooh look at that...we kept missing them with the camera.
it was kinda boring...not gonna lie

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but we did get pics of the turtles!!

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cattle with hanging necks!!

14
they had a staring problem

15
he cooks, he cleans, he does it all

16
told you about the cooking!
our BBQ for the night overlooking the mountains.

17
there was a fabulous view from up here in the national park

18
the first time we had to break out the sleeping bag.
we finally escaped the heat.

19
dogs seem to flock to Dave.
this little guy appeared out of nowhere and wouldnt leave our camper site.

20
taking a walk in the forrest.

21
i think it was too early to smile for the camera