Airlie Beach is the “gateway” to the Whitsundays. It is a backpacker town which has a laid back vibe to it. The town consists of a small strip of shops, hostels, pubs,a marina and a lovely lagoon. Airlie Beach is apparently a good spot for nightlife so we decided that as we hadn’t been out for a little while, we would give it a go. We were hoping for a big night out and after a few drinks at the campsite headed into town. We weren’t sure where to go so we thought we would see where the crowd was. We found a bar with lots of backpackers and everything was going well. At about 11 we decided to find somewhere to dance, however, everything went quiet. There were people around but they were spread out over all the bars and there wasn’t anywhere playing any good music. We ended up staying in an Irish bar that had a terrible band on. A little while later we went home.
Boardwalk
We were staying at a campsite out of town. The campsite had a strange feel as there were lots of permanent residents (always a strange bunch) and some of our food got stolen. It was a very natural campsite though with lots of birds, we even had a goanna walking around our tent most days. The walk into town from the campsite was lovely as it went along a board Walk by the edge of the marina (the Aussies do like their board walks). At the end of the board walk was the lagoon. This was a large free outdoor pool which is very busy as it is hot and during the summer you can’t go into the water due to the stingers. Most of the backpackers were sunbaking around the edge of it and so we joined them for a bit and then enjoyed a cool swim.
Lagoon
The marina was full of very large, expensive boats. When walking in the marina one day we spotted some fish swimming around and then a fairly large ray came up and scared them all the way. We think it was a small Eagle Ray but we’re not sure.
