Oh dear blog readers...

I hope you realize that it is mighty hard to keep up with this blog...not for lack of desire or brilliant writing abilities... but just because I have been on the go, go, go! I did the east coast of Aussie in two short but busy weeks. People usually do it in a few months... but not this girl, I took it by storm and boy were there storms... but on to Airley beach first!

I took an overnight bus from Hervey bay to airley beach, oh a mere 14 hours or so. I am a pro at these bus rides now! Thank you Dr. Goodman- a good man indeed, just not to Jennie.

I met a really nice guy on the bus who sat next to me, Rob. He is an early thirties, perma-backpacker- work his way through his travels- going home every so often to earn some more cash- and back to discovering the world sort of guy. Basically can't stay put or grow up and uses travel as an excuse. But nice he was non the less. I slept the entire time and Rob was so very nice to lend me his sleeping bag as a blanket; they keep those buses so cold! We arrived in Airley, early that morning. He, an Irish girl named Kelly, and I hung out all day. We went to the lagoon they have there. The lagoon is basically a pool, made to look like a lil' lake thing, right by the beach. You can't swim at the beach there because of the deadly stingers. We bumped into some of Robs friends who gave us a box-o-red wine. Being the naughty sneaks that we were, the three of us wined and sunned at the lagoon. About two hours into our relaxing day, the lifeguard came over and reprimanded us for drinking- a big no, no at the lagoon.

A quick interruption about Australia. The rules / laws are very cut and dry here. If something is illegal, you just don't do it. There is no getting out of trouble. They are very literal and everything is black and white- no grey area. So we clearly were tempting fate. But I must say, this makes for the safest environment I have ever been in. I have never been to a safer place in the world, and the whole country is like this.

The lifeguard was not very nice and threatened to call the cops if we even touched the box again. She said she had been clocking us since 11:30 and it was now 2:30... a bit of a stretch if you ask me, but I wasn't about to argue. "Fare enough" I said, and that was the end of our afternoon at the lagoon. We found our way to the bar at Rob and Kelly's hostel for some beers al fresco. After a shower and some proper clothing the three of us met up again a few hours later for the nights festivities.

My hostel in Airley was by far the worst I have stayed in. Get this... BED BUGS. You read it kids, I stayed in a bed that had bugs... who knew they really existed?! I will never say that nursery rhyme again...just haunting now! I of course didn't find the bed bugs till my return to the hostel a few days later... but I thought it was worth mentioning now as I am clearly still disturbed by it; don't even get me started on the thread count they use for sheets- I mean would it really be so expensive to get some with at least 450?! The bathroom in the joint was even worse. There was no sink, I had to brush my teeth in the kitchen sink which was filled with dirty dishes. The shower leaked, so they had a moldy towel sopping up the water. This faulty bathroom had to be shared by about 12 people. I could go on... but you get the point... the Gi was not pleased, but I knew I wouldn't be there for very long.

We basically bar hopped between the three bars that are in Airley beach. There was a foam party going on at Magnums, the club. I refused to go as Kelly and Rob wanted to- they really are so gross. At one of the bars, Kelly and I got some food. I ordered a prawn and avocado salad- Rob almost gasped at the price I was willing to spend for a salad dinner- we are talking about $11 us dollars. I just don't get backpackers they will spend loads of money on booze but scrimp everywhere else and will voice there obnoxious opinion about how costly things are. I wanted some healthy grub! As I was eating my salad I was also waiting for my photos to be put on disk at a nearby store. They were done mid meal and I felt badly for Rob because he hadn't ordered anything... at this point I still had sympathy. We are all in different financial standings and I really didn't need the whole salad. So I nicely separated some in my bowl, even giving him some shrimp and said he could eat that bit while I ran to get my pictures. When I returned he left me with half of what I allotted to myself AND left me with two half eaten shrimp (not the full four I left myself!). Who eats a half a shrimp and leaves the rest?! I actually found it funny at this point because it was a damn good salad that even he couldn't resist- it just seemed to prove my point that sometimes it's worth getting what you really want! Don't get me wrong he was a REALLY NICE guy... but the more I thought about it the more it bothered me. Backpackers (this type of one, much like the annoying hippie mentality) seem to contradict themselves all the time- it's quite humorous.

We had a great time from bar to bar... and of course I am sure you have guessed we ended up at the foam party. To my surprise it was loads of fun. The foam came neck high... and we were slipping, sliding and dancing in it for hours on end. There were a lot of guys there and they had all sorts of fun tricks to do. I held hands with to guys, laid on our backs in the foam and kicked off the back wall to go flying down the floor... it really was great fun. Another guy then grabbed my ankles and dragged me around... I felt like a little kid, it was a blast!

Another interruption. In the bathrooms at all of these bars were stickers on all of the stalls that read "It's not always smooth sailing at the Whitsundays". This came true two fold. (PS Whitsunday is right off of Airley... Islands. You only go to Airley to access your boat to them). The sticker also has abuse hot lines and sexual assault hot lines. I thought the stickers were hilarious and laughed every time I went to pee, which was often.

Well this foam party turned into a grope fest. Towards the end of the night, throwing foam on each other turned into a 'cop a feel while you're at it' deal. I had enough and prompted Kelly and Rob to leave. On our way out some guys tackled me in good fun, all laughs till one put his hand up my skirt. Aha! I get the stickers now. Despite all of the soap suds, this party wasn't clean anymore. We quickly left and I no longer laughed at those stickers! Once again I was a little bothered with Rob, he just stood there and laughed as they rough housed me. I know he didn't realize how far one went, but it seemed pretty weak that he didn't he didn't ask them to stop. Please don't read this in horror, especially you mom- this scenario lasted all of 60 seconds and their hands didn't get a hold of anything! I just don't stand for anything of the sort and know to leave when things start to turn like this!

A big group of us went to the lagoon to clean off. Now here is where things get goofy with Airley and their laws! A security guard let about 20 of us go into the lagoon drunk to hang out and splash around... but we got in trouble some hours before for enjoying a couple of glasses of wine. I didn't question it, I just enjoyed myself and then had Rob walk me back to my hostel for a nights sleep (by myself) in my bug infested bed! Rob showed much interest in me that night, but I think Ben would kill me if I came home with such a type- no worries Ben, it will never happen!

The next day I met Kelly for brekky as we waited to go to our sail boats. As she was reading her book I noticed a real hotty sitting at a nearby table. I made the move... I went over to talk to him. Keith from Ireland- and his two other hot friends quickly joined us as well. I have to say, this is what I really enjoy about backpacking. It is entirely okay to go over to someone and just start chatting away. Everyone is there to experience the same things and make friends. It is so cool to be able to do that. These guys were nice as could be and we ended up walking to the docs together. I was out to find them again after my three day boat trip you could be sure of that!