Welcome to Airlie Beach!

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Well, here we are! Finally made it to Airlie Beach for our week of vacation, and it could not be better. We rented an Airbnb for our stay here, and we're staying in the home of one of the nicest, most welcoming couples I have even encountered. They're a young couple who had some raving reviews on Airbnb, so we figured we'd give it a try and I'm so glad we did! They've been amazingly helpful, giving us a lift into town whenever we need it, helping us book our snorkeling trip on the reef and letting us use their kayaks. The best part is, they have two dogs!! Two amazing pit bulls, Zeus and Koda, and I love them. We spent our first day in Airlie, after what felt like the longest morning of traveling ever, laying on a nearby beach and perusing the town. It was such a good and relaxing day. We got an early dinner of fish tacos and chips, complete with sangria while we watched the sun set over the beach.

Our second day was even better. We took the kayaks and kayaked over to a more private section of the beach, which we occupied along with maybe 10 other people. The sky was clear, the water was so warm and blue and the sun was beaming. Of course, I got burnt to an absolute crisp. I have some mean tan lines from my bathing suit, but I'm convincing myself it'll be okay because soon enough it'll turn into a tan (hopefully skipping the peeling stage). After the afternoon at the beach and snacking on some fresh fruit and sandwiches we packed, we headed through the town to the lagoon. Their lagoon is man made, and its right off of the beach, within walking distance to the center of the town. It was filled with families and other young adults laying around and lounging in the warm water, but we found a shady spot in the sand where I was able to lay back and read my book (this week's pick is Eat Pray Love... so good!!). We were getting hungry again, and walked through the town in search of something to eat or drink. We found a place selling New Zealand ice cream that also made fresh squeezed juice, so that's what I settled for. Nothing like some fresh tropical juice on a warm summer day!

Our kayak home was not as easy as the kayak ride to the beach. We, unbeknownst to us, were kayaking home at low tide. Really low tide. And the water did not reach all the way back to the dock in our backyard. We were practically stuck with our kayaks in the mud for a little while, and eventually resigned to just laying back and drifting around until the tide came back up. Eventually, we managed to float down a little stream that led us beneath our dock, because the tide was too low to reach it. After hiking up through the backyard beach filled with mud and muck, and dragging our kayaks with us, we finally made it back inside. I was beyond excited to take a nice shower and wash off all the salt (and now mud) from our day, until my sunburnt skin protested against any type of contact with any type of substance, including water. But after some aloe and a relaxing night, we are back up and at it for another day!

Today's agenda has only one thing planned- skydiving. We're heading to Airlie to meet our skydiving instructors, and in T-2 hours, I will be jumping out of a plane... can't wait!! Stay tuned for updates after I jump out of a moving airplane. 😊

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