Blogs from Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 6

Fraser Island, We came, We saw, We concurred!!!!!! Fraser island was an interesting little destination. We started our journey to Fraser by catching the ferry from Inskip inlet, this is a 20minute ferry trip across to fraser and oh how expensive it was, Bloody $120 for a car and $60 for each of the bikes, and a permit to ride along the beaches, was about $50, they really do like to get their monies worth, but what they spend it on i really don't know, the first part of the drive was on a track, OMG! the corrugations were so bad!!!! The island itself is looking a little dated, we stayed in a house in Eurong, the resort here was a shocking mess, very run down and looking ever so shabby!!! food and fuel was very ... read more

6th March Airlie Beach, Whitsundays We have been to the Whitsundays before staying at Port Douglas and Hamilton Island so the visit here was just a one day stop for those people wanting to get to the Great Barrier Reef and also to get ashore to stretch those legs. We have great memories of our time here. Airlie Beach is a town in the Whitsundays and is one of many departure points for the Great Barrier Reef and what you see is what you get. The Whitsunday Islands (there are 74); named by James Cook in 1770 are a sailors' paradise. Cook named the islands as he believed he passed through the area on the Christian festival day of Whit Sunday. Airlie Beach is a tourist destination, extremely popular with backpackers. Its beach is ... read more

I was awake fairly early so I could check the forecast of that potential cyclone up North. I was really hoping we could continue in that direction I was very keen to see Airlie Beach as I’d heard many glowing reports over the years. In fact I’d convinced myself prior to switching on the computer that regardless of the forecast we were going. Here I would like to spell the sound a computer makes when you turn it on but I don’t believe that is possible. Any suggestions? Great news all systems are go so Airlie Beach it was to be. I had done a little research on Mt Etna NP a little North of Rocky it sounded like a very interesting place for a walk with numerous photo opportunities which also included Capricorn Caves a ... read more

So today we are up at 6.15. My lovely cooked breakfast has been replaced with the standard 'hotel packed breakfast' as we had to be on a bus by 7.15. One of the things we had planned was a short time in the Whitsundays but it was all booked up so hence the stay at Airlie Beach. And to at least get a look, we booked a day out on a tall ship, called the Derwent Hunter, sailing around the islands instead. Which also was nice for sailor Ian. Unfortunately it was still cloudy today but at least the prediction of storms had disappeared. And it was also very still which was going to be good for the snorkelling which was a key part of the trip but not so brilliant for the sailing. We are ... read more

Sunday 27th A short drive today from Airlie Beach of about 80 miles to Cape Hillsborough National Park and our site is right on the beach. We park our camper on the edge of the site next to the beach. The beach is another fantastic stretch of sand and there’s not a soul on it. As we go to check out the site’s facilities we bump into two kangaroos sun bathing next to the shower block! Christine’s greatest hopes for our stay have come true. She snaps away with our camera. We decide to go for a walk along the coastal path of about 3 K and climb Twin Beach lookout within the National Park and then come back down onto the beach. We have been told that the walk back along the beach is only ... read more