I woke up at 6:30, just as the greyhound was pulling into Airlie Beach. The skies were still watering and all I could think of was finding a bathroom. With my big backpack, small one, and crate of groceries, I thumped into the first hostel I found and checked into a 17-bed dorm for $20/night. As it was before check-out time, I could not claim my room until noon. They had free luggage storage, so I left everything but my necessities there, and went in search of free wi-fi and breakfast.
McDonalds was just down the street and they offer free wi-fi across Australia. I bought a coffee and made myself a peanut butter/banana sandwich, then sat down to drain my computer's battery. The day consisted of me alternatively plugging my computer in at the hostel and returning to McDonalds to drain it again. I also visited Peterpans to book my Mission Beach skydive for the 18th. So excited!!!
The skies were truly schizophrenic all day. It would be raining one minute, gusting the next, then sunny for a long period. Not exactly conducive to exploring, but I did walk around a bit. I felt like shopping so I went into an opal shop and found an incredible floating opal necklace for $120. The man who worked there was one of a family of opal workers. His father worked the mine, his six brothers all did something to do with opals. I enjoyed talking with him, though I did not buy the necklace. I cannot justify spending that much money when I do not have a job yet. I know that is the cheapest I'll find an opal of that size and quality (straight from the manufacturers), but I will have to wait on it.
To satisfy my shopping craving, I went to clothing shops instead and bought a pair of parachute pants (everyone wears them and they are so darn comfortable!) and a cute shirt. Then I bought ingredients for Indonesian fried rice and went back to the hostel to make dinner.
As I was cooking, I met a girl from BC (Shantel) and another girl from Florida (Laura). We ate dinner together, talked about our travels (Laura has spent the last 2 1/2 years in Asia), and made plans to go out that night. I had a cup of goon at dinner and that was my only drink of the night. We went out to a popular backpackers bar called Magnum. It was full, but we found a table and met three English guys who were hilarious. Magnum wasn't really doing anything for us, so we packed up and went a couple doors down to Shenanigans where the music was awesome. Singing Bryan Adams and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, we stormed up the dance floor and generally just had a really fun time. At 1:30, we packed it in and said goodnight.
I never go to bed unhappy after a night of dancing. The English guys were a laugh, Laura and Shantel were great, and I had a lot of fun on nothing but water. I tip-toed up to my dorm and slept soundly. When I woke up, I realized someone had pulled a second blanket over me. Whoever it was, thank you, the air con works a little too well.
Looking forward to sharing my Whitsundays experience in a couple days! I'm going to buy an underwater camera today.
xoxo - Katrina
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