Airlie Beach

Yesterday we arrived in Airlie BEach. Although it's a one street town it seemed like a sprawling metropolis to us. Since Cairns we've been staying in accomodation surrounded by rainforest, going to sleep to the crazed sounds of Australian wildlife and in Magnetic Island having to ask permission from the resident possum before gaining entry to our timber framed cabin. So the YHA in Airlie seems positively luxurious by comparison. We've gotton over our fear of being thrown out of youth hostels for not being young enough and have adapted nicely to communal living. So much so that after a rare meal out last night I found myself stacking the plates getting ready to take them to the kitchen and wash them. We're also adapting to the Greyhound Bus journeys although the big test comes tomorrow evening when we tackle a 13 hr overnighter, which is bound to test our love for bus travel and possibly for each other. On a bus note, our driver taking us to the Magnetic Island ferry was possibly the cheeriest bus driver I've ever come across. He was wearing a bright orange hawaiian shirt as it was "Tropical Friday" and had an equally loud hello and smile for each passanger. I was thinking it'd be a great idea to introduce "Tropical Fridays" for grim old Dublin Bus to brighten the mood up a bit on a rainy day. Mike reckons the drivers would go on strike as it'd be against union rules. I reckon he might be right.