We woke up early to the sound of a rainforest. This afternoon we would set out on a boat, but before this we decided to take a bit of a stroll along Airlie coastline along the Bicentennial Walkway. But First! Breakfast.
We looked up some reviews and decided on the Fat Frog Cafe, both because of the name and because it had great reviews 🙂
As we got out of the car, we already spotted some birds… A bunch of cockatoos enjoying a school fence.
As we started our walk, we also saw a bunch of birds doing what I can only describe as Aereal acrobatics. We must have spent 20 minutes watching them!
We continued on, and the sun really came out in full. Along the Airlie Yacht club we saw a turtle in the water, but we didn’t quite manage to capture it on camera. We also realised that polarised lenses are WAY better for spotting turtles and decided to find Manja some as well, supplementing her stylish ray-bans. But first we had to complete our stroll. Did I mention it was getting HOT? Oh, and the walkway is 4km, much of it in the direct sun… Whoops!
One of my highlights might have been this sign. Serious business.
It really is a great little walking track with heaps of scenery. We also spotted some more birds 🙂
When we made it into the shade at Airlie we decided on a cool smoothie before trekking back. After our smoothie, it was really clear that Manja needed a bit more of a break, so I left her at the lagoon in easy reach of air-conditioned shops while I picked up the car. I should point out she really wanted to come along, but I bribed her to stay by telling her to get herself a nice hat and sunglasses for our boat trip. There just wouldn’t be enough time otherwise 😉
I power-walked back, making what I felt was good time with minimal sunburn. It was all fine until I got into the oven… errr… I mean car. I started the thing, turned on the AC and sat under a tree for 5 minutes recovering. When it had cooled down a bit I drove to town to pick up Manja, who had done a mini shopping trip for some sensible essentials for our trip – think nausea meds and mosquito spray – as well as selecting postcards, sunglasses and a hat. All set we drove back to the yacht club which we had walked past twice and which we would take off from today. We had a bit of time to kill, so we had some brunch at the piers cafe.
Waiting Simon was waiting
A few minutes before meeting time we settled in at the meeting point and attempted to guess who would be our boating partners, hoping to all the gods that it wouldn’t be any of the people carrying box-wine and 24-pack beers. It was quite amusing to see the party boats come and go – apparently they have a no cardboard rule so everyone had to take out their wine-skins from the boxes, making it a touch awkward for people who had more than one 😂
Eventually it became clear that our boat was the last one remaining and sure enough just as we were all looking about thinking “have they just forgotten us?!?” a young lady came by to pick us up and take us to the boat. We got there and were greeted by champagne and fruit, and given a quick tour of our quarters. It was spacious, for a boat 🙂
We got to know the rest of the travellers a bit and heard about what we would be doing for the next few days and nights, before setting off.
Sailing Simon
About an hour later we already got to the first stop, where we relaxed a bit and had the opportunity to go for a swim before dinner. Me being me, I spent the time getting a time-lapse of the sunset instead. A bit harder from a moving boat!
As we were hanging around we even spotted a turtle in the distance! Much excitement ensued and I raced to get the camera from below deck. Manja managed to get these great shots
Soon after, dinner was ready, and it really was fantastic. Salmon fillets with vegetables, while the sun set around us. We chatted for a while with the other guests before dropping to sleep a bit after dark.
Great read and awesome pics 👍