Airlie Beach here we come..

February 25:

We awaken after a wonderful night’s sleep (personally speaking) and get ready to hit the books and the road.  We have decided to check out the local beach scene before deciding whether or not to head north.  We aren’t thrilled with the beach here….nothing seems to compare to Byron Bay….so it looks like we hit the road.  Another grey day is in store, so we may as well make some tracks toward Airlie Beach.  The kids help us in our decision and they are in for another 5 hours in the car.  Before departing Yepoon Beach, we stop by a couple of stores to seek out bracelet knotting materials to no avail.  We get underway and only stop at a grocery store to stock up on fruits and snack stuff for the long ride to Airlie Beach.  We drive and drive and drive some more and finally stop to stretch our legs and get ice cream or coffee or chips or something else that we can stuff into our mouths. Back underway, we finally arrive at Airlie Beach around 6:30 at night and pull into the information center……oh no….they are closed, but we see a girl still inside and we make our way in and request any assistance she can offer on a place to stay that night.  She makes a flurry of calls on our behalf….”How’s $320 a night?” she asks…..”Oh, that’s a little out of our budget” we reply.  “What is your budget?” she inquires a bit hesitantly.  “Well, we would like to find something for around $150 a night” we offer meekly.  “That is not going to be possible for a party of 6 people” she announces.  Hmmm.  Not ones to accept that there is nothing cheaper, we press her to continue trying to find something.  Finally, she calls a Holiday Park down the road that says they have a cabin that will accommodate 6 people for a little over our budget.  We agree to drive and check it out.  When we arrive, they are about to close the office and we have all of three minutes to decide….Since it is pouring down rain, we forgo checking it out and  agree to take it for the night.  We drive through the park and arrive at our cabin and are barely able to get our car up the very steep and very narrow driveway.  We arrive to find a “Cozy” structure with a double bed and a bunk bed in the kitchen and a separate bedroom with a double bed…..nothing like cooking dinner and napping all at the same time.  Conveniently, the TV was mounted near the ceiling so that we were able to cook a spaghetti dinner without impeding the visibility of the throng of people under the covers.  Blair and I and the boys go out to the local IGA before closing time to purchase groceries for dinner and breakfast in the morning.  We manage to have a really nice dinner and watch a movie before hitting the hay.