Marlea98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2011
- Messages
- 2,128
Ive decided that since Im going to be embarking on a trip report for out next America trip (which Ive already started on with my PTR), what better way to practice than with a mini TR on our long weekend away to Airlie Beach. Being DISboards, I needed to include a bit of Disney in this trip report, too. 
DH ended up being stuck working the long weekend at Airlie Beach so he wondered if we wanted to come and stay with him. Because his job involves him working away a lot, we sometimes spend a couple of days with him when time permits. Weve visited with him in Bundaberg, Mackay, Atherton, Pormpurraaw (a beautiful Indigenous community in the Gulf of Carpentaria) to name a few. It can get expensive with airfares or driving and sometimes we might only go for a night, maybe two. But, it is an adventure for the kids and helps connect us as a family. So, a familys gotta do what a familys gotta do!
On Saturday morning DH left bright and early (around 6am) to head to Airlie Beach and we left shortly before 8am. Before doing so I fed the chickens, the dogs, waited impatiently for the duck to hurry up and finish laying her egg so I could put it in the egg carton in the fridge, made sure the animals all had water, nagged the kids to hurry up and get out of bed and organize themselves
I had packed the night before and all I had to do was put our bags in the car and stop and top up the fuel tank and grab some last minute things from the supermarket. For a two night stay the car boot was almost full! How do I manage to do these things???? I had food, drinks, plastic bowls, cups and cutlery, snacks for the car, water bottles, chargers for the ipods/iphones/laptops etc. The kids wanted to bring their body boards and I had to put my foot down and tell them no. There was no space left to fit them in. DD insisted on bringing her own bag plus a backpack filled with heaven knows what. Its a good thing I checked her bag with her clothes in it, there were no clothes in there for going out to dinner, no rashie for swimming in and two bikini tops and no bottoms! Nothing to sleep in, one pair of underwear but plenty of books, a make up bag full of lip glosses and hair tyes! Thats girls for you. DS cant be bothered to worry about packing so that job falls to me. Then he complains he doesnt like what I pack a mum can never win. At least I had my Peter Alexander Bambi pjs and DD had her Peter Alexander Minnie onesie.
Eventually we were on the highway. We made good time considering it was a Saturday AND the start of a long weekend. We stopped at the South side of Bowen at the Driver Reviver for a toilet break, a cup of tea for DD and a few sips of coffee for me. DS had a banana and I ate half of a snack packet of sultanas. I dont normally drive long distances so when I do I get very uncomfortable and twitchy. I annoy the kids by singing along, badly, to whatever music is playing and I give it my all in my favourite bits! Bohemian Rhapsody, anyone? Cmon, tell me you dont channel your inner Wayne and Garth for that one! We sang along to the cd we got from someone on our Disney Wonder FE gift exchange. We sang loudly to Viva Las Vegas by Elvis, and as we were coming in to Airlie Beach, it was time to sing about Banana Pancakes with Jack Johnson.
So, back on the road we go and the bulk of the driving is behind us. Ive only ever driven as far as Bowen on my own before so this was new territory for me. It has been more than 14 years since I was last in Airlie Beach. We do the Southern trip enough for me to know I have to turn off before Proserpine and I figure if I see the BP at Proserpine Ive gone too far. Lucky for me, Im on the ball and make the right turn off but unlucky for me I get stuck behind a 4WD towing a mobile cool room doing 60-80 in a 100klm zone! There is nowhere for me to safely overtake, and when there is the driver decides hes got the confidence to speed up!
My, how has Airlie Beach grown since the last time I was there! I dont recall there being a Big W, Target Country or Bunnings, so at first I wondered if Id turned off somewhere else by mistake, but eventually I spot some familiar things and feel fine. In the main touristy strip, where Magnums and Beaches nightclubs are, is a lot of road work activity. There are barricades in the middle of the street and detours everywhere. For a moment it reminded me of Port Vila. All I knew was the name of the hotel we were staying at and that DH said it was at the end of the road. What he didnt tell me was there was the main touristy part and behind that was another touristy bit that fronted the beach. I was on the wrong side of the roadworks. Stupid detours. I must confess that it never occurred to me to turn on the GPS But, we found it, I checked in, got the keys and parked the car (and made two trips to unload the car )
The kids and I argued over who was sleeping in which bed. Then their faces sank when they realised theyd be sharing a room with me and DH and theyd be sharing a double bed! Oh, the horror! Youd think I told them they had to marry each other. So then they decided to work out which of them would sleep on the floor on which night. All Im thinking of is kill me now!
The view from our room. We didn't have the ocean view as that is right above the restaurants and bars and quite noisy at night.
We decided to go and check out the markets across the road and wander about the touristy strip.
The markets were starting to pack up so we just made a quick circuit of those and headed back to the main street. It was really hot and humid so they were whining that they wanted to go back and jump in the swimming pool. We did stop at McDonalds for some little chicken bites and they had a soft serve cone each.
I felt so old walking around Airlie with all of the young backpackers and local teens enjoying their weekend in their teeny tiny bikinis. When did I become old? I was one of those bikini people on the Sunshine Coast once! Where did those years go and where on earth did those thighs come from? And where did my flat tummy disappear to? Airlie Beach is not a place for women with body and age issues!
So, we headed back to our room and changed into our swimmers. I grabbed a book as well and we got our pool towels from reception to find when we got to the pool there were two British backpacker girls who had had too much time in the sun. They were like pink lobsters. I dont think they were impressed to see two kids turn up (personally, I think they were a bit hungover from the night before). But we jumped in the pool and the kids made fun of my lack of swimming ability while I just dog paddled about. All I wanted was to cool off.
Eventually I got out and plonked myself on the banana lounge with my book but it was way too hot to read. So I watched the kids play and splash about and eventually decided they were getting too silly and it was time to go back to the room to relax.
After an hour or so we headed back out into the street. Note to self: its not a good idea to wander about in your swimmers, boardies and rashie when the humidity is around 90% and the temperature is almost 35C! It was so uncomfortable!
We walked around to the swimming lagoon and spotted extra yachts and a catamaran that had been washed up during Cyclone Oswald that had recently passed by. We counted 5 in total in one small area. The swimming lagoon reminded me of the one at Southbank in Brisbane, but smaller. Well go back today I guess.
The kids decided they wanted something to eat and drink so we went to Hogs Breath. I had a Fruit Tingle cocktail, DS a coke and DD a Fruit Fizz mocktail. We ordered curly fries and some prawn spring rolls.
We had a table on the balcony overlooking the lagoon but it was so hot we couldnt wait to leave. Our bill came to $35 (no happy hour cocktails at 4pm it appears!) and they werent taking anything but cash. I left the kids at the counter and stomped up to the nearby ATM for some cash so I could pay our bill. We wont be going back there this weekend!
We got back to our room to find DH was already there. Hed finished work and had a shower and was dressed to go out. We needed showers so he went down to Mangrove Jacks for some pre-dinner drinks with his work mates who are here with him, and I said wed be there in half an hour I made the mistake of having a little lay down to rest and next thing I know its 6pm! So, it was a quick shower for me and off we went. I wasnt sunburnt but still slathered on the DCL body butter that I love using.
We headed down to Mangrove Jacks where a cheese and garlic wood fired pizza had been ordered. I got a blue curacao and lemonade for myself to drink and a lemonade each for the kids.
At first I was disappointed that food had been ordered as I wanted to go to Fish DVine and the Rum Bar for dinner. I think DH noticed my fallen features so once everyone but me (because Im trying to lose weight for our next trip) and drinks were finished, DH said goodbye to the guys and we headed down the road to Fish DVine. The Rum bar is attached to the restaurant part. DH goes there whenever hes working in Airlie Beach so he knows the owner. It was heavily booked out but we got raised seats and tables (like at a bar) and that was okay. We ordered our meals then DH and I headed to the bar to order drinks. Wow!
What an array of drinks.
The prices arent cheap, $17.50 for a Long Island Iced Tea, but its an experience place. I honestly never realised there were so many types of rum. But Im not a drinker so that probably says it all. My only experience with rum has been a sip of Bundaberg rum and coke and thought it was disgusting. But DH bought me a spiced rum and I love it. Maybe once a week Ill have some with lime and lemon squash or ginger beer. Yep, Im the designated driver in our house. DH ordered the drinks he thought. I wanted an umbrella in my drink but they dont do umbrellas so the bartender made me a cute little garden of a pineapple wedge, sprig of mint and a glace cherry. Very sweet. See what happens when you use your manners!
So dinner turns up and Im blown away by my meal. DH always has the Cajun spiced fish and suggested I get the baked Sole as hes interested in trying some. I love baked fish and have never had Sole before so I agree. The Sole was beautiful. It had melted herbed butter and was simple and thats how I like my fish. Butter with a squeeze of lemon.
Meals come with the standard chips or salad or veggies. We both chose salad for our meals and the kids had a kids meal DD had calamari and chips and DS had fish and chips. The side salads that came with our meal was a full sized one. I got through my fish first, with some help from DH with the spine, and I only managed to stab the roof of my mouth once with a stray bone. Naturally, I left the head. I ate most of the salad as by then I wasnt that hungry. None of us ordered dessert.
We decided to call it a night as DH had another early start on Sunday morning. He falls asleep quickly and I lose my patience with the kids over the whole bed thing. DS fidgets and makes stupid noises. He simply cannot remain still. Then the whole hes/shes touching me/on my side of the bed/breathing funny nonsense starts. Im considering kicking one child out to sleep on the balcony but at that thought the rain comes pelting down and hitting the sliding glass door. I look out of the door and see the pool towels I had drying on the balcony are now sodden. Thankfully I had brought in the swimming things before we went out for dinner. Eventually the kids fell asleep and all was right with the world.
Our first day in Airlie Beach went well. I didnt yell at the kids and they didnt kill each other. And Ive managed to eat relatively well.
DH ended up being stuck working the long weekend at Airlie Beach so he wondered if we wanted to come and stay with him. Because his job involves him working away a lot, we sometimes spend a couple of days with him when time permits. Weve visited with him in Bundaberg, Mackay, Atherton, Pormpurraaw (a beautiful Indigenous community in the Gulf of Carpentaria) to name a few. It can get expensive with airfares or driving and sometimes we might only go for a night, maybe two. But, it is an adventure for the kids and helps connect us as a family. So, a familys gotta do what a familys gotta do!
On Saturday morning DH left bright and early (around 6am) to head to Airlie Beach and we left shortly before 8am. Before doing so I fed the chickens, the dogs, waited impatiently for the duck to hurry up and finish laying her egg so I could put it in the egg carton in the fridge, made sure the animals all had water, nagged the kids to hurry up and get out of bed and organize themselves
I had packed the night before and all I had to do was put our bags in the car and stop and top up the fuel tank and grab some last minute things from the supermarket. For a two night stay the car boot was almost full! How do I manage to do these things???? I had food, drinks, plastic bowls, cups and cutlery, snacks for the car, water bottles, chargers for the ipods/iphones/laptops etc. The kids wanted to bring their body boards and I had to put my foot down and tell them no. There was no space left to fit them in. DD insisted on bringing her own bag plus a backpack filled with heaven knows what. Its a good thing I checked her bag with her clothes in it, there were no clothes in there for going out to dinner, no rashie for swimming in and two bikini tops and no bottoms! Nothing to sleep in, one pair of underwear but plenty of books, a make up bag full of lip glosses and hair tyes! Thats girls for you. DS cant be bothered to worry about packing so that job falls to me. Then he complains he doesnt like what I pack a mum can never win. At least I had my Peter Alexander Bambi pjs and DD had her Peter Alexander Minnie onesie.
Eventually we were on the highway. We made good time considering it was a Saturday AND the start of a long weekend. We stopped at the South side of Bowen at the Driver Reviver for a toilet break, a cup of tea for DD and a few sips of coffee for me. DS had a banana and I ate half of a snack packet of sultanas. I dont normally drive long distances so when I do I get very uncomfortable and twitchy. I annoy the kids by singing along, badly, to whatever music is playing and I give it my all in my favourite bits! Bohemian Rhapsody, anyone? Cmon, tell me you dont channel your inner Wayne and Garth for that one! We sang along to the cd we got from someone on our Disney Wonder FE gift exchange. We sang loudly to Viva Las Vegas by Elvis, and as we were coming in to Airlie Beach, it was time to sing about Banana Pancakes with Jack Johnson.
So, back on the road we go and the bulk of the driving is behind us. Ive only ever driven as far as Bowen on my own before so this was new territory for me. It has been more than 14 years since I was last in Airlie Beach. We do the Southern trip enough for me to know I have to turn off before Proserpine and I figure if I see the BP at Proserpine Ive gone too far. Lucky for me, Im on the ball and make the right turn off but unlucky for me I get stuck behind a 4WD towing a mobile cool room doing 60-80 in a 100klm zone! There is nowhere for me to safely overtake, and when there is the driver decides hes got the confidence to speed up!
My, how has Airlie Beach grown since the last time I was there! I dont recall there being a Big W, Target Country or Bunnings, so at first I wondered if Id turned off somewhere else by mistake, but eventually I spot some familiar things and feel fine. In the main touristy strip, where Magnums and Beaches nightclubs are, is a lot of road work activity. There are barricades in the middle of the street and detours everywhere. For a moment it reminded me of Port Vila. All I knew was the name of the hotel we were staying at and that DH said it was at the end of the road. What he didnt tell me was there was the main touristy part and behind that was another touristy bit that fronted the beach. I was on the wrong side of the roadworks. Stupid detours. I must confess that it never occurred to me to turn on the GPS But, we found it, I checked in, got the keys and parked the car (and made two trips to unload the car )
The kids and I argued over who was sleeping in which bed. Then their faces sank when they realised theyd be sharing a room with me and DH and theyd be sharing a double bed! Oh, the horror! Youd think I told them they had to marry each other. So then they decided to work out which of them would sleep on the floor on which night. All Im thinking of is kill me now!
The view from our room. We didn't have the ocean view as that is right above the restaurants and bars and quite noisy at night.
We decided to go and check out the markets across the road and wander about the touristy strip.
The markets were starting to pack up so we just made a quick circuit of those and headed back to the main street. It was really hot and humid so they were whining that they wanted to go back and jump in the swimming pool. We did stop at McDonalds for some little chicken bites and they had a soft serve cone each.
I felt so old walking around Airlie with all of the young backpackers and local teens enjoying their weekend in their teeny tiny bikinis. When did I become old? I was one of those bikini people on the Sunshine Coast once! Where did those years go and where on earth did those thighs come from? And where did my flat tummy disappear to? Airlie Beach is not a place for women with body and age issues!
So, we headed back to our room and changed into our swimmers. I grabbed a book as well and we got our pool towels from reception to find when we got to the pool there were two British backpacker girls who had had too much time in the sun. They were like pink lobsters. I dont think they were impressed to see two kids turn up (personally, I think they were a bit hungover from the night before). But we jumped in the pool and the kids made fun of my lack of swimming ability while I just dog paddled about. All I wanted was to cool off.
Eventually I got out and plonked myself on the banana lounge with my book but it was way too hot to read. So I watched the kids play and splash about and eventually decided they were getting too silly and it was time to go back to the room to relax.
After an hour or so we headed back out into the street. Note to self: its not a good idea to wander about in your swimmers, boardies and rashie when the humidity is around 90% and the temperature is almost 35C! It was so uncomfortable!
We walked around to the swimming lagoon and spotted extra yachts and a catamaran that had been washed up during Cyclone Oswald that had recently passed by. We counted 5 in total in one small area. The swimming lagoon reminded me of the one at Southbank in Brisbane, but smaller. Well go back today I guess.
The kids decided they wanted something to eat and drink so we went to Hogs Breath. I had a Fruit Tingle cocktail, DS a coke and DD a Fruit Fizz mocktail. We ordered curly fries and some prawn spring rolls.
We had a table on the balcony overlooking the lagoon but it was so hot we couldnt wait to leave. Our bill came to $35 (no happy hour cocktails at 4pm it appears!) and they werent taking anything but cash. I left the kids at the counter and stomped up to the nearby ATM for some cash so I could pay our bill. We wont be going back there this weekend!
We got back to our room to find DH was already there. Hed finished work and had a shower and was dressed to go out. We needed showers so he went down to Mangrove Jacks for some pre-dinner drinks with his work mates who are here with him, and I said wed be there in half an hour I made the mistake of having a little lay down to rest and next thing I know its 6pm! So, it was a quick shower for me and off we went. I wasnt sunburnt but still slathered on the DCL body butter that I love using.
We headed down to Mangrove Jacks where a cheese and garlic wood fired pizza had been ordered. I got a blue curacao and lemonade for myself to drink and a lemonade each for the kids.
At first I was disappointed that food had been ordered as I wanted to go to Fish DVine and the Rum Bar for dinner. I think DH noticed my fallen features so once everyone but me (because Im trying to lose weight for our next trip) and drinks were finished, DH said goodbye to the guys and we headed down the road to Fish DVine. The Rum bar is attached to the restaurant part. DH goes there whenever hes working in Airlie Beach so he knows the owner. It was heavily booked out but we got raised seats and tables (like at a bar) and that was okay. We ordered our meals then DH and I headed to the bar to order drinks. Wow!
What an array of drinks.
The prices arent cheap, $17.50 for a Long Island Iced Tea, but its an experience place. I honestly never realised there were so many types of rum. But Im not a drinker so that probably says it all. My only experience with rum has been a sip of Bundaberg rum and coke and thought it was disgusting. But DH bought me a spiced rum and I love it. Maybe once a week Ill have some with lime and lemon squash or ginger beer. Yep, Im the designated driver in our house. DH ordered the drinks he thought. I wanted an umbrella in my drink but they dont do umbrellas so the bartender made me a cute little garden of a pineapple wedge, sprig of mint and a glace cherry. Very sweet. See what happens when you use your manners!
So dinner turns up and Im blown away by my meal. DH always has the Cajun spiced fish and suggested I get the baked Sole as hes interested in trying some. I love baked fish and have never had Sole before so I agree. The Sole was beautiful. It had melted herbed butter and was simple and thats how I like my fish. Butter with a squeeze of lemon.
Meals come with the standard chips or salad or veggies. We both chose salad for our meals and the kids had a kids meal DD had calamari and chips and DS had fish and chips. The side salads that came with our meal was a full sized one. I got through my fish first, with some help from DH with the spine, and I only managed to stab the roof of my mouth once with a stray bone. Naturally, I left the head. I ate most of the salad as by then I wasnt that hungry. None of us ordered dessert.
We decided to call it a night as DH had another early start on Sunday morning. He falls asleep quickly and I lose my patience with the kids over the whole bed thing. DS fidgets and makes stupid noises. He simply cannot remain still. Then the whole hes/shes touching me/on my side of the bed/breathing funny nonsense starts. Im considering kicking one child out to sleep on the balcony but at that thought the rain comes pelting down and hitting the sliding glass door. I look out of the door and see the pool towels I had drying on the balcony are now sodden. Thankfully I had brought in the swimming things before we went out for dinner. Eventually the kids fell asleep and all was right with the world.
Our first day in Airlie Beach went well. I didnt yell at the kids and they didnt kill each other. And Ive managed to eat relatively well.
So I woke her up and got her to hop into bed with me. I thought it was a weekday so turned on the tv to Sunrise to find I was a bit too early. I turned the tv off and tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. 
I went looking for a new pair of swimmers but didn't find any that I liked or fitted me well enough. 
In the end, the right bookings at the right location were made and the kids and I headed off to the swimming lagoon for a swim as they wanted to try it out. 
We hung around in the hotel room until it was time to leave for dinner. But, it was 5.30pm and dinner was booked for 6.30pm and no sign of DH. I left a voice mail message. At 6pm I left another voice mail message. At 6.15pm I deliberated about leaving without him and hope they would show up soon after or cancelling. At 6.25pm I decided I was hungry and we would leave, so I left a note on the tv where I thought he'd see it when he got back and we left. Hogs Breath isn't a far walk so we were there shortly after 6.30pm. I couldn't see DH's car in the car park as we left and thought they were just running a bit late. 
We said that there was no airconditioning in Hogs Breath, no ATMs or eftpos and we decided to eat elsewhere. We ended up going back to Mangrove Jacks - at least we could charge back to our room. DH and I had enough cash on us for dinner and drinks but the others didn't. And Mangrove Jacks was airconditioned! By 8pm it was still in the mid-30's 
) and then blew $20 in just under 2 minutes on the poker machines. I think it was faulty. I played 1 credit on 25 lines on the 1c machines and not once did I get any credits! So I went back out and got another $20 from DH and had another go. I walked out with $2 out of $40 and that was only because I cashed out when I got down to the last $2 
I rarely ever gamble so I didn't get too upset about my loss.
