I drive off into the tropics, 900 kilometres north. When I open the car door after eight hours, I am struck by 35 degrees and over 80% humidity in the sugar cane swamp near Airlie Beach. It was recommended to me as a nice little coastal village with a good party atmosphere. My hostel: Backpackers by the Bay. Room: tropical, stunning musty odour.
Airlie Beach is overcrowded. You can only get to the beach through the park, every other beach access point within a 10km radius is built up with millionaire villas. The same applies to any point from which you would have a nice view. I like the east coast less and less. What remains is work, but after 2 weeks of constant stress I’ll soon have more time to travel again.
Airlie Beach seems to have quite high property prices due to the boom. The Aussies have quickly filled in a quarter of a square kilometre of the bay to create a new terrorist resort. 67 providers are battling it out to get bombers to the offshore Whitesunday Islands – all at more than the proud price of €100 per day.
I am quite frustrated. Everything is expensive, I sadly watch too many drinking games. Once again a place without wind. You have to wear jellyfish protection suits in the water – there are loads of them here. Nothing happens and the road trip feeling is infinitely far away.
A ticket for speeding in Wellington arrives at home. I would actually be a proud German, but I was already on the South Island by the time the ticket was issued.
Oh yes: Never mess with a web designer! Everyone is their own god. I gave Brisbane’s Homestead Backpackers a good wank. Well deserved. See the Google ranking:-)
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.