On the way into Airlie Beach last night Ray was delighted to see that since we were here last, Tackle World had been built along with numerous other stores and amenities. Boy, has this place changed. Ray decided as soon as he got up that he needed to go and visit it and find all the local secrets because he figured that if they had invested the infrastructure to build a Tackle World then the fishing must be really good. Maybe that has changed too because the last time we were here he tried his luck fishing, caught a Bream fish that Caleb named Jack and he played with (from the safety of the bucket). Caleb was very upset when Jack got thrown back into the sea at the end of the day but we knew he would have been inconsolable if Jack had been served up on his plate that night with chips and beans.

This time Ray had two travelling companions who loved seafood. Yep, The Captain and I love fish, prawns all the good stuff.

So, off he went, and he came back with a bevy of fishing secrets that he just needed to try out. He declared it a necessity for us to stay another night and went and negotiated a pay rate with the lady at reception in the caravan park and amazingly came back and said that he had got us another night at a mid week rate for $30. Considering we’ve been paying about $40-45 a night on the coast that’s pretty good. (It was cheaper inland). He’s always good for a deal if there’s one to be made. How can I deny him his chance to catch a beauty and to secure a good deal at the same time?

We did a quick map out of our trip home making sure we’re not going to run out of time and figured we will be OK. There’s lots of places we’ve already been and spent a lot of time and this won’t be our last trip up the coast we know that, so to spend another day for Ray to catch the one that keeps getting away is not going to put us behind.

Airlie Beach is so totally different than the last time we were here. Granted, it is the last week in Queensland school holidays and Easter has just finished so maybe a few people have extended their leave, but this is the most people in one concentrated area we’ve come across, including Cairns, and it has a real holiday vibe.

There are people walking around in bikinis and holiday gear, sarongs everywhere, people wheeling suitcases and if they’re not on holidays, then they’re backpackers and people from other countries with distinct accents. It almost feels like Airlie is the new Byron Bay and the clientele is so very, young, hip, bronzed make up free and there are a lot of whizzbang vans. (Called “whizzbang” for the noise that their side doors make normally in the middle of the night. “Whizz…bang”) Our caravan park is full of them.

If you’re looking for a place to see how the young people live and play these days, this is it.

We decided to take a drive to Shute Harbor, which is where all the tour boats leave to go over to the islands. You can access Daydream Island and Hamilton Island from here and, there is a lovely marina and spot to get a bite to eat. It just so happened that there was one of the recommended fishing spots right next to the jetty there. So Ray was keen to check that out. We had a coffee and then made our way back to Airlie Beach where luck would have it, there was a market on. We had learned that if there was a market on the Airlie Beach foreshore, this normally meant that there was a cruise ship in town as well. It was quite a decent market with lots of usual items and the cheapest crystals at a market that I’ve ever seen.

• 

• 

• 

• 

We took a wander down the main street of Airlie Beach, which was still undergoing some roadworks and improvements just like it was 10 years ago. I’m not sure whether the road works were new roadworks or the continuing improvements from 10 years ago but how the main street has totally changed and it is now a holidayer’s delight. There were so many people enjoying lunch in the outdoor areas and there are so many facilities for people to enjoy. shops to look in and places to sit that back onto the lagoon area. It’s just a fabulous place to sit and relax and there were many families also enjoying the surroundings with the kids. There’s actually a bit of something for everyone.

Just like Cairns, Airlie has this magnificent lagoon area that is free and accessible for everyone to use. It has lifeguards on duty and it has walking paths to go through it. Dogs are not allowed, but they are permitted to walk through on the designated path that has paw prints on it. Backing onto the lagoon area are restaurants which give you a lovely view of the lagoon and everyone enjoying themselves. Their lagoon pool is actually over a meter deep in areas so it’s actually great for swimming and the grass area is absolutely huge. It is over 4300 square meters and is full of 4.3 million liters of fresh self chlorinated water. Many restaurants back onto it so it was the perfect place to stop for lunch. The Treehouse was so busy that they apologized for how long the meal was going to take when we arrived, and we were seated at a high table because there were no low tables. It didn’t matter, we had all day, and Henry was happy sitting under the table in a cool area receiving lots of pats from people leaving after their lunch and people walking through the restaurant coming out of the lagoon.

We were served first by an Irish youth. I say “youth” because I have no idea how old these young people are. They could be teenagers or in their twenties. Ray thought he might be from England, but I think he was Irish, and then a girl from Europe. After hearing her accent. Ray asked her where she was from, and it turned out she was from Holland. During our conversation we discovered she was from Zwolle one of our very favorite towns to visit in Holland and with the best shoe shop I’ve ever been to. She knew the shoe shop well and we thought that was funny. We ordered our meals. Ray had pancakes and I had the vegetable bowl and we enjoyed a lovely lunch together.

On our way back I zipped into a few stores and tried on a few dresses. There’s nothing better than buying something and saying, “I got this in… wherever” because you will always remember where you bought it and the memories of that place. Of course, Ray is forever thinking about the weight of the caravan and is concerned about that so there were some comments from the peanut galley. Luckily Henry was there with his cuteness to accept pats and comments from the shop owner and other customers and Ray’s attention was diverted. I scored a summer dress so it didn’t weigh much. We did use a public weighbridge on our way to Airlie Beach from Cairns and we have increased our weight by 60 kg but I’m sure we’ve just got a bit more food in the van not too many more clothes or shoes. Could be the extra fishing gear though!

We got back to the van at about three. The day was still very hot although the heat is very different here than Cairns. It’s just hot air and very little humidity. But I wanted to give Henry the chance to cool down and relax in the caravan. So I thought about going to the pool. Ray thought about…going fishing. He desperately wanted to try out one of the local fishing spots. Who was I to put the brakes on a fisherman with a hopeful gleam in his eyes? He put on his fishing gear and off he went. I didn’t hear anything for a while Henry and I napped and snoozed and recovered from our big lunch, and then I got a text. It was Ray beaming, holding a Trevally. I was so happy for him. Finally! The one that got away didn’t get away this time.