Airlie Beach (it doesnt inspire much more of a title than that...)

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I awoke half expecting the roof to be missing from the 180Kph winds we had experienced the night before. Wondering around in the tranquil morning sunlight there was very little visible damage. A few palm leaves littered the damp ground, and a few shops displayed handwritten scrawls to the effect of "closed due to cyclone damage". Other than that It seemed we had escaped unscathed.

With little else to do in Airlie I set about on my various chores- backing up CDs, getting refunds and booking onward travel. I went for lunch at a waterfront cafe and ordered the delicious sounding Grilled Wild Barramundi with Macadamia Nut Pesto and Sweet Potato Chips. The meal arrived with a birdsnest of vibrant orange sweet potato shavings piled high over the brilliant green of the pesto and the fish. It was certainly a beautiful dish to look at, and even better to taste. It was a bit greasy however.

The afternoon was wasted with more chores broken up with some reading. I met a Taiwanese guy in the hostel who was in Airlie to do a Sailing course, and had travelled here for that reason and that reason alone. He must have been very dissapointed with the weather! I was soon being told about how Taiwan is a must see for Chinese culture. Apparantly all of the Taiwanese are basically chinease immigrants. The country is apparantly great for seeing all of Chinas regional cultures compacted into a small area.

Dinner was more fish - this time Grilled Grunter on an Italian Herb Risotto served with Tiger Prawns and a Greek Salad. Grunter is a very salty fish, but very tasty, and this meal was thankfully a lot less greasy than lunch. Tomorrow will be more fish - but perhaps less pretentiously served!

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