We enjoyed our limited time at Airlie Beach, but found it difficult to relate to the tourism mecca that dominates what this town is now all about.

Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia

Getting there

Finch Hatton > Proserpine > Airlie Beach (166km)

We left the Showgrounds at around 8 and drove back towards Mackay. Kerry was taking the first shift. About halfway into MacKay we took a secondary road off to north which would take us back to the Bruce Highway. It was through some lovely countryside.

The road started off as a pretty good Road, but it soon started to deteriorate. In parts it was just a thin strip of bitumen in the middle of the dirt. In places it reverted to a complete dirt road unfortunately, but only for a few kilometres. There are also quite a few one lane low level bridges, so we were both very concerned about a truck coming the other way. Fortunately this only happened once.

Then ahead we saw that we were going to have to cross a range, not a large one but tall enough. The road narrowed, we went upwards and upwards with Kerry tucking us nicely into some really tight bends. Same on the downside. Without meaning to be in any way condescending, I thought Kerry did a great job.

Back on the Bruce Hwy it is a pretty straight forward run to Proserpine. After a while we started to look for a rest areas to have a cuppa and swap drivers, but none appeared. We are finding this a bit of an issue up this way. So Kerry drove us all the way up.

 

At Airlie Beach we drove past our caravan park as they had the address as Airlie Beach when in fact it was Cannonvale. – what’s in a name? So Mobi got a tour of the town, and the colour of the ocean is amazing.

When we got to the eastern end of the shopping centre at Airlie Beach I was thinking “OH NO” how in the hell are we going to turn this monster around – but luckily, there was a carpark with a wide circle.

The place

The name Airlie Beach was derived from the original town there, Airlie, which was named following a request to the Lands Department in 1935 for the Proserpine Shire Council for a new sub-division on the coast. It is almost certain that the town was named for the parish of Airlie, in Scotland. The official name was Airlie from 1936 until 1987, when it became Airlie Beach. Airlie Beach Post Office opened on 2 November 1959. At the 2016 census, the suburb of Airlie Beach had a population of 1,208 excluding Cannonvale.

Airlie Beach is a vibrant tourist destination, especially popular with backpackers. Its beach is small and the sea is inhabited by marine stingers, the box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) from November to May. In order to provide safe swimming, the local council built a large swimming lagoon on the foreshore, covering 4,300 m2.

The Great Barrier Reef is easily accessible from Airlie Beach, with an array of different types of tours available. The majority of these tours depart from Abell Point Marina (507 berths) but a few depart from the recently completed Port of Airlie.

The campsite

We drove into the Seabreeze Tourist Park driveway and unfortunately had to wait in a 35 minute queue to check in. Both receptionists were booking tours and there was no other way to simply check in, nor to buy 4 postcards that the two 2 Asian ladies in the queue in front of us were waiting to do. Not a good start, but the receptionists were very cheerful and helpful.

We drove in and it was loath at first sight. It was so packed, with little room for cars, so that they partially obstructed the road – making it unnecessarily tricky to drive Mobi in. At our site a man was waiting to guide us in. He walked along at the passengers window simply telling me where to steer. All very simple and effective – a great innovation.
Des did a good job parking the van in such a tight space. It pays to actually listen to what the person giving directions is telling you.

The saving grace for the park is the swimming pool, an extremely large lagoon style pool with heaps of room for everyone.

Day zero – arrival day

We have both been to Airlie Beach before and have previously enjoyed the cruises and tours on offer. So we were not there for that, as we aim to go to the outer reef further north. I have not been here for many years, and Kerry 10 years, but it has changed.

We went into town to have a look around. What struck us most is the colour of the water – such a beautiful turquoise blue. It changes the whole landscape.

It was Sunday so many shops were shut. But the lagoon in the centre of town is amazing – very big and very popular. The shopping centre is all very touristy, but what else would you expect for one of the tourist icons of the Whitsundays.

After a while it is too hot to walk around so we went back to Seabreeze for a swim. During the afternoon we noticed many young couples coming in driving those small rental camper vans. Most of these people were European. We also noticed that the van park people were concentrating these in specific areas. Across from us is an area with lots of unoccupied sites. But the next RV in plonked right next door to us so I have to move The Cruiser until it is almost touching the awning. We are in like sardines and we hate it.

Day 1

First up we get to Bunnings to get some necessary goodies – such as a 10m electrical lead, having got sick and tired of rolling up a 20m lead so far. The we go to Specsavers to get my new glasses – ordered in Rockhampton. They had called us to say they were ready at Cannonvale. And so they were, and I was very impressed at the service. As well as my new vision – what a difference.

Back in town we see that there is a market on – but it is a Monday. Then we see that there is a cruise ship in. While Kerry strolls the market I went to try to find a polarising filter for my camera. But no luck.

From there we went to see Conway National Park, about 6.5 km out towards Shute Harbour. We parked at the day-use area at the Swamp Bay/Mount Rooper car park. We took the Mt Rooper Circuit which is a distance of 5.4 km.

The turn-off to Mt Rooper is 200 m along the Swamp Bay track. which then passes through low woodland – brushbox, grasstrees and wattles. The track then climbs up, and up, through mixed forests with fleeting views over Shute Harbour to the Conway Range.

It is a hot day and we have lots of rest stops for water during the climb. We continued on to Mt Rooper, with even more hills to climb, to get to the panoramic vista of the Whitsunday Passage and islands at the summit. 

The view was spectacular and it was good to pick out the Islands we remember from the past. But the view was limited in lateral extent. You got one great photo, and could see glimpses of the water and islands and beaches on either side of this, but could not get a really clean view or photo. After all our efforts in clamouring up there on a hot day we felt a tad disappointed.

A bloody long uphill walk with wretched march flies everywhere (thank heavens they are slow – I got nearly all of them), for very little return view-wise…

After we got down we drove around to look at Shute Harbour, which seems to be still quite devastated from the cyclone. Many areas are sealed off.

Back to the van park for a swim and cool off. While away the RVs next to us have changed and on one side is a young couple from Germany. In such close proximity you can’t help noticing what our neighbours are doing. Well these 2 sat at their van for over 2 hours playing cards. Why would you go to a far and distant country to one of the tourist highlights of the coast just to play cards, I ask myself? But then I did get chastised one time when we were in Bavaria by a waitress we were having some good banter with. When I placed my order she said: “No, No, No – you do not travel all this way from Australia to sit and eat in a German restaurant and order Weiner Schnitzel”. I changed my order.

So that is the extent of our time in Airlie Beach. We had planned to spend a few more days there but have had a change of plans – we need to be in Mission Beach on 23 March to catch up with some friends for a few days. So we have cut our time here. But in any event we are not sure what would keep us here, given that we would not be going on any of the tours.

My daughter Jessica was married in Airlie Beach 10 years ago and we all did the cruises etc around the islands back then. Airlie Beach itself has changed so much – from a reasonably quite and sleepy, and cosy little town to solid tourist promotions. Fabulous Noodle Bar though for lunch.

To see photos for this blog click here