Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I was picked up at 7.30am to start my Oz Bus trip down to Sydney. This is very different to the Premier bus as you stop and do activities and you an listen to music while the bus is going. Our first stop was at a crocodile farm when I got to hold a baby croc and feed some small wallaby's. I also saw some huge Crocodiles which you would not like to meet on any given day. My first night stop was in Townsville where I stayed at global trotters. There was hardly anything to do in the town plus everything was shut due to it being Australia day. I just done my washing and watched Mr deeds. In the morning I had a look around the town before jumping back on the bus at 1pm. My next stop was Airlie Beach, but along the way we drove through Bowen. Bowen is a small town but is where the film Australia was filmed. I arrived in Airlie at 5.30pm. I checked into my hostel and then at 7.30pm I went to a pub called beaches where we were given some free drink and got talking to other people on my bus and the bus coming from the south. Once again I met some people that I had seen on my trip previously
. There is not much to Airlie Beach, just one street and a big lagoon as you are not aloud to go in the sea due to it being stinger season. My first real day just sat around by the beach and checking out the town and in the evening sat outside the hostel watching a DVD as the sun sets which was call. The next day I woke up and walked into the town and bumped into an American friend who I met in Townsville and we decided to hire the beast called the mini mote. We got the beast and head out to Cedar creek falls. The falls where quite amazing and we got to have a swim which was great fun. We then headed out to Shute harbour but there was not much there. We left the harbour and went up into to the hills where a kind gentleman let us going in his back garden and take some photo's of Airlie beach. He had such spectacular views and had a swimming pool in his garden, where he could just sit and look at the views which was amazing. I went to the pub in the evening for a couple before waking up early an catching the OZ bus for a long eight hour drive to Krombit a cattle station where I was staying for the night. Krombit is very different to anything I have been to before. We got to try some goat meat before having dinner. Then learned how to crack a whip before having a go on the mechanical bull. After sleeping in a small shack and being woken up by a loud bang we had breakfast and then went and tried clay pigeon shooting. I got one out of five hits. I then tried rodeo which was hilarious as we had to hoke a goat and if you failed after 4 attempts you had to chase the goat and grab it by the horns. We then had to tip the goat and fake stamp the goat. After all the groups had there go we played spin the bottle and where it stopped they had to hold two ends of an electrocute devise and while holding hands the shot shoots through you. We then got back on the bus and I was dropped of at 1770 where I spent to days at Cool Bananas. I was suppose to do a trip but they canceled without telling me, so I am claiming some money back despite getting the trip for free.
This First Part of the OZ bus has been fantastic especially KROMBIT cattle station
