Staying on dry land

Cedar Creek Falls

We woke to news that Aucklanders had woke to freezing temperatures and frost.  Other parts of the country fared worse with the polar blast.

Here we’re complaining, while in shorts and t-shirts, that it wasn’t warm or calm enough to do a boat trip and snorkel.  Oh, and how we don’t know when we can get home!

We took it easy before heading out about 1000 for the 30 min drive to Cedar Creek Falls.  At the falls, no one was swimming.  It wasn’t warm enough for us to dip into the water.

We tailed a tour group to climb to the top of the falls.  That tour cost AUD129 including an afternoon’s use of a resort’s facility and lunch.  It didn’t seem like good value so here we were doing it ourselves.

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Back in Airlie

On the way back to Airlie Beach we called into the marina for a walk and lunch around midday.  The number and sheer bling of the boats there was more than I had ever seen.

The weather had changed.  The clouds were largely gone giving us scorching sunshine at times.  The southerly winds were actually warm unlike in New Zealand.  We were starting to regret not going out on the boat excursions.

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We parked in Airlie town and looked for agents who could accommodate us for a trip tomorrow.  They were receiving cancellations but the spaces were getting snapped up as soon as they come up.  After turning us away, they managed to get us two seats for tomorrow on a larger boat than what we had booked ourselves.

The unfortunate part was that it came at a price AUD40 than what we had originally paid.  But the forecast is for less wind than today, so hopefully it will be worthwhile.

Back at our accommodation, we found they were able to extend our stay by one night.  We quickly cancelled our hotel at Bowen which was only booked yesterday, but with a cancellation deadline of this evening. Covid-19 and unseasonal weather has made us change our plans more than usual.

We finished the day a walk on Airlie’s waterfront, a drink at a bar while Kim watched the Formula 1 races, followed by a dinner of Chinese takeaways, cooked by Penangites.  To my surprise, smoking is still permitted in bars here in designated sections.