Recharge - Able Point Marina, Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Tue 25 May 2010 01:54
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20:15.887S 148:42.719E
Time for a recharge. Eleven days out island
hopping, and we decided it was time to take a break and head for a marina
on the mainland. Really it was the state of our fruit and vegetable
supply, or lack thereof, that decided our course of action for us. All the
fruit was gone and the green beans were moldy. Even the miracle 'stay
fresh' plastic bag couldn't stave off the rot. Lucky for us, one of the
advantages of living on a boat is the ability to throw all food waste
overboard. Of course we don't do this when we are in a marina, but at
anchor, the sea is our compost pile. I wonder if tropical fish
like moldy green beans?
On May 21, we sailed the short 15 miles from
Whitsunday Island to Abel Point Marina on the mainland near the small, touristy
town of Airlie Beach. We stayed two nights - only long enough to complete
all the required tasks associated with an island-hopping recharge - grocery,
wine and beer shopping, an early morning trip to the local farmer's
market, and side trips to the chandlery and fishing equipment shops.
All of this was accomplished with the help of Storyteller's guests Ron and
Robin. Robin's daughter owns an adventure sailing tour company that
operates out of Airlie Beach, and they lent us one of their cars which Ron
cheerfully taxied us around in. A car to carry groceries is
top-of-the-line luxury for us, let alone a chauffeur.
In between chauffeured shopping trips, we did have
time to soak up a little of Airlie Beach's unique atmosphere. Plain and
simple, it's a backpacker town. The place is crammed with twenty-something
kids lugging large backpacks in search of adventure. They came to the
right place. Airlie Beach is the base for pretty much all of the
Whitsunday Islands tourist activity. Charter sailboats, 'adventure'
sailing on massive ex-racing boats, luxury cruises on large, flash cruising
sailboats, fast-cat rides to the outer reef for diving and snorkeling, etc.,
etc. You name the water sport and Airlie Beach is ready to provide
it. For a fee, of course. The marina had the same adventure
packed / backpacker atmosphere. No sooner did one ex-racing sailboat leave
the marina overfull with exuberant, scantily-clad youths than
another took its place to unload a group of slightly less-exuberant, hung-over,
scantily-clad youths. I overheard one of the tour operators say as he
hosed down the deck of a large, well-maintained classic sailing yacht, "Oh yeah,
gotta hose down completely every time we get back to the dock! You know
how these backpackers are - they just don't bother to shower
for three days!" I also overheard him telling someone that the cost to
sail on the yacht he was cleaning is $260 per night. Aha! It's times
like these that we realize how lucky we are to be doing what we are doing and
not have to pay $260 per night to sleep next to grungy
backpackers.
Sorry - no pictures of Airlie Beach. It's a
pretty town with a well-cared for waterfront and boardwalk, but every time we
were in a good picture-taking spot, the camera wasn't.
More on the resumption of our island hopping
later.
Anne
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