The Jo Guest Posse – Airlie Beach

On the coach journeys from town to town they normally have films or TV shows to keep you entertained as some of the journeys can be several hours, it is inevitable though that you will end up sat next to someone you don’t know and will end up chatting.  This is what happened on the journey to Airlie Beach.  I was sat with Ian,  Kev was behind us and ended up sitting next to a Canadian Girl.  She was getting off the bus before us but we had told her where we were heading and that she should meet us again when she passed through Airlie Beach a few days later.

We settled ourselves into our Hostel and had to admit that this was the best one yet.  Rather than being Dorm rooms the whole place was individual log cabins with its own bathroom, the cabins themselves were offset so that each one seemed to have its own private space at the front with a little balcony area by the front door and plenty of living space inside.  
After some of the places we had stayed in this felt like luxury even though the only furniture inside were the 4 bunks.  We planned on staying here for a little while as we had a few matters to attend to, we needed bank accounts and a few other affairs needed to be sorted out so this seemed the ideal place to stay. 

The Hostel had its own outdoor pool and the entrance lead us onto the main street of Airlie Beach.  It turns out that after dark this place comes alive, the main street has a few lively bars and is a real tourist centre.  Needless to say we fitted right in.

As well as the party bars there were also some cheaper bars away from the centre of town, we headed there a few times and discovered the noble sport of Cane Toad racing.  At the start of the race you had to bid for your toad and had the chance to name it and have your picture taken with it before it was given a number and placed in a bucket.  The bucket was then turned upside down in the middle of a circle and lifted off, the first toad out of the circle wins.  Such a simple concept but after a few beers you really get into it.

One day we had a message, The Canadian girl from the bus was stopping by so we made arrangements to meet her at the bus stop.  As it turns out she was not getting in until late and there was a bar not far from where we had to meet her so Ian and I waited there while Kev went to the bus stop.

I think she arrived at about 11.00 and by then the reception at the hostel was closed so we dropped her backpack in our room and went out for a few drinks to welcome Barb into the group and get to know her a little more. Neither Ian nor myself had actually spoken to her for anything more than a casual hello but Kev had seemed to get on really well with her so we thought she must be OK.

After the Bars had closed Kev and Barb thought it would be a good idea to go for a swim in the outdoor pool so we left them to it and had a few good ideas of our own.  As the only spare bed in the room was the one above Kev we decided to lock the door and remove the slats from the top bunk so that Barb would fall through and land on Kev when she climbed into bed, we were laughing so hard while we did this that tears ran down our faces and we struggled to get through the job.  Unfortunately once we had done this we forgot to unlock the door and instantly fell into a deep sleep.  It wasn’t until a good few hours later that Ian woke me up and asked if I heard a noise.  We looked over and saw the 2 bunks were still empty and realised what had happened.  Gingerly we opened the door to find that our balcony had been turned into a homeless shelter, When Kev had been unable to wake us he had taken Barb back into town, still soaking wet from the late night swim, and they had collected cardboard boxes to sleep in. We felt awful.

We got them inside and next thing we knew the girl from reception was in our room asking questions about when Barb had arrived and had she checked in.  We explained her late arrival and that she intended to settle up in the morning. They asked a few questions so that we could sort out payment and I could see that Barb was a little embarrassed but also trying hard not to laugh. 

Girl: When did you arrive?

Barb: Last Night

Girl: Nationality?

Barb: Canadian

Girl: Name?

Barb: Barb

Girl: Last name?

Me: Dwyer

And that was it , our new travel companion was Barb Dwyer. 

After we had all stopped laughing and Barb had proven her real name to the girl from reception and promised to pay her bill we decided it was time for more sleep as it was still early.  In all the excitement we had forgotten about the beds……..