Airlie Beach

June 2, 2024 to June 4, 2024

Sunday the 2nd of June 2024

While making our morning hot beverages I saw the man from the bus with the wallaby-chasing dog set off down the path to where the wallabies are supposed to be seen accompanied by his wife and the aforementioned dog. Not the best start to the day. We were setting off to have another look for the wallabies when they returned. "There's nothing out there today" was his comment.

He was right. There were no wallabies but we enjoyed the water lillies on the creek.

After a quick look around we decided to do some birding near the sports field attached to the campground. As we reached the last campsite before the sports field Leigh spotted something sunning itself on a rock next to the creek. Bingo!

Proserpine rock-wallaby (Petrogale persephone), an endangered species restricted to this area, so it was a special sighting.

After that it was an easy ride back to Proserpine and then on to Airlee Beach. This is where Hettie and Mark, the couple whom we had met in Proserpine two days previously, come into the story. They had a week's stay booked in three bedroom apartment at Airlee Beach via their time share subscription and had invited us to join them.

Cycling into Airlee Beach on the boardwalk.

Our room in Hettie and Mark's apartment.

Monday the 3rd of June 2024

Totally holiday. A walk around the town followed by a seafood lunch.

Tuesday the 4th of June 2024

We took a glass bottom boat trip out of Shute Harbour this morning. It was very much a superficial introduction to the Great Barrier Reef, just enough to wet our appetites. We are planning to do a longer excursion to the reef, probably including sone snorkeling as well, when we get to Cairns. Nonetheless, we saw Hawkbill Sea Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) apart from some common reef fish and the corals themselves. There were only five of us apart from the crew, the other three being a mother and daughter with a child of about two years old. They all seemed rather bored by the whole experience so Leigh and I were given personal attention by the guide running the show. The trip immediately after us had forty six passengers so we were really lucky that we had so few on our trip.

This dolphin has an injury to its dorsal fin.

Afterwards we made use of the resort's pool and spa bath and enjoyed a lazy lunch and afternoon.

Tomorrow we get back on the road again but only as far as just north of Proserpine because I need to get to the bicycle shop in Cannonvale first because the replacement bike computer I had bought in Mackay had failed straight out of the box (it only works if I keep a finger pressed on the bottom left corner so I suspect part of the circuit board is damaged). This time I won't leave the bicycle shop until I have fitted the new computer and am sure that it works.

Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 3,747 km (2,327 miles)

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