Hey!

Wow, I haven't written this in a long time! There is so much to update you on!

So, we got to Airlie Beach and the place was pretty quiet, just one street and the whole place is centred on trips to the Whitsunday Islands. So we got there, had a nice evening with the rest of the bus in Beaches hostel bar (found a new drink - my drink of Australia - strongbow and black, but pink! Basically they don't do blackcurrant out here so it is raspberry cordial instead and it is GOOD! I am trying to get Amber onto it... :) ) So we had a good night and made some more friends. On Wednesday, it was raining...just a sign of things to come because this rain was TORRENTIAL! They do rain properly out here, none of that 'drizzle that soaks you right through!' haha. With Gillian our new friend, we went to find out if her boat was going because a CYCLONE was heading our way and boats were being cancelled. She had to check the next day (the day she would be due to go) because none of the companies wanted to cancel unless absolutely certain. So we got breakfast in the rain, and went back to our dorm and pretty much played uno, ate, listened to music, read, watched the rain and ate again! By the end of the day we were all very chilled out.

The next day and surprise surprise Gillian's boat was cancelled although the weather wasn't too bad. We went to the lagoon which was cool (you can't swim in the sea because of the killer jellyfish) and spent some time there cooling off. Although the minute I stepped in after coating myself in suncream and sorting myself out, it started to rain and I had literally dunked myself in so I was soaked! But Amber was like 'right let's go!' back to the dorm so I had to squelch back to the dorm - nice! For the rest of the day we played cards and then had another good evening in the bar - the hostel were celebrating the incoming cyclone by throwing a CYCLONE PARTY! We just loved this aussie attitude, while we Brits were panicking (well I was, no-one else seemed too bothered, just a bit of wind and rain!) the Aussies were thinking drinking is the answer! So happy hour prices all night!

The next day (Friday) was the day we were due to go on our trip so I went up and checked with our tour operators (it would have taken Amber a year and a day to get up there - she will kill me for saying that but it is becoming a running theme to our trip - old hop-along! awww it's all good!) Indeed our trip was cancelled because there was a grade 4 cyclone called Ului heading STRAIGHT for Airlie Beach. So we were happy really, I did not want to get out to the islands and get stranded because this has happened in the past. We were both pretty gutted but by this stage we thought it was going to be cancelled, it is just the fact that EVERYONE we meet said that trip and Fraser Island are THE highlights of the East Coast. So hey, never mind, we will get our money back! We had some local advice (from a shop manager - not the hostel who were useless at any sort of advice!) to go and stock up on food and water, so we took a trip to the supermarket on the bus! By this stage this was a big deal for us three as Airlie Beach doesn't have many options so we went a bit crazy and got pretty excited by all the food! We got back, I cooked baked beans on toast which was AMAZING (Mum you are right, the best comfort food ever!) and we went to the bar to celebrate the impending cyclone again. We were in a big group with some Irish people from our bus and two guys Kyle and Liam and we went to Mama Africa's which was a cool club - Liam shouting once we were stamped to be let in with a elephant print that he wanted this as a tattoo! The night was great and it was good to have a dance, although flip flops really aren't the best footwear for dancing in! A good night had by all.

The next day was D-day and suddenly everyone was getting ready for the cyclone which had been downgraded to a category 2. At 4pm we were evacuated out of our downstairs room because of a risk of flooding and moved upstairs to the darkest room possible. By 6pm it was pretty dark, and the manager had given us information about getting our passport ready, if the cyclone was bad to put the mattress and sheets in the bathroom and hide under that, and if there was imminent danger then we would be evacuated to the car park. This scared us just a bit, as did the taping up of the windows, so as a room we got very prepared with torches, water, food, bags packed, passports ready whilst two other girls from Holland in our room had absolutely no idea what was happening and were completely oblivious to the cyclone - they were getting ready to go out! So we warned them and we think they eventually got the message. That evening was interesting, playing uno and watching rubbish films on tv, with cyclone news updates every hour. It was upgraded to a category 3 and at 12am, the power went! Pitch black, very windy, and palm tree branches being snapped off the trees so easily. We kept checking downstairs what was happening and it was pretty impressive, a girl doing geography showed me the swirling clouds going round, and it was interesting. By 12am we decided we would try and get some sleep and amazingly I slept through the cyclone! It hit at 2am and at the eye of the storm, the hostel workers went out into the main street where the water was knee depth, until they realised there were loads of snakes in the water which had dropped out of the trees. The next morning, no AIR CON! AAAAH! So hot and stuffy, I had to get out of the room so after a cold shower with only a small torchlight for company, we got outside to assess the damage. Unbelievably everyone was getting on with tidying up so quickly, very impressive. But down by the beach the lagoon and the shore were covered in debris and there were so many trees down. Lots of boats at the harbour got damaged too. No cooking potential meant jam sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner, very healthy! I did manage a small cup of tea after reaching to put the kettle on, after realising the power was not working someone pointed out the water on the stove oops! It is just crazy how much we rely on electricity. Sunday dragged, and it got dark so quickly! Gillian was in the right place at the right time and scavenged some free neapolitan ice cream out of the dumpster round the back of the supermarket! This made the British press if you might have seen?! We played uno in our room by torch light with Kyle and Liam until 10pm when it felt like 2am because it was so dark! We packed up ready to leave Airlie Beach (thank goodness!) at 6.45am on the Oz Bus and left Kyle and Liam in Airlie Beach till Wednesday (the next available bus out because everyone was avoiding Airlie Beach like the plague). That morning we were so unbelievably happy to leave, although sad to have missed the boat trip, we felt like we made the most of a crazy situation, and it's another great story to tell the grandchildren!

Right, I must finish here, internet time is expensive! Kroombit cattle station next - there is just so much to say!

Take care, lots of love xxxxxx