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Anne made good use of our holiday apartment kitchenette with a homemade breakfast of beef rissoles (sausage), eggs, and apples which we ate out on our private balcony. We are blessed with yet another absolutely gorgeous day! We called the front desk for a late check-out so that we could squeeze in a short workout before heading towards Airlie Beach. Along our way, we stopped in Ayr for a gasoline fill ($1.49/liter = $5.96/gallon) and talked with Doug, the chatty store manager. He gave us a brief history lesson about Ayr, about the cyclone that came through last March as well as the huge sugar cane boom in the area. We stopped at McDonalds (nicknamed "Maccas") on our way out of town to take advantage of their free (but very slow) WiFi. We checked out a scenic overlook alongside the road which required us to ascend an extremely steep winding road to the top of a mountain. A German couple who was also checking out the view took a photo for us. An interesting side note is that along Bruce Highway, there are many public service billboards advocating frequent rest stops to deter fatigued driving. They also have anti-fatigue rest areas along the roadways; not to mention that every two hours of driving, our rental vehicle also generates a rest stop reminder. All in all, it seems Australia is a pretty driver-safe country and for that, we can be grateful!
When we finally arrived in Airlie Beach, we were taken aback by the magnificent views of the marina. The bay is a bright teal, perfectly dotted with massive sailboats. Thousands of young backpackers crowded the 600-meter-long strip of hostels, restaurants, and bars. The energy of the city instantly drew us in. After checking in at the sailing excursion outfitter where we ran into our English friends, we made our way up the steep hill to our accommodations: Whitsunday Terraces. Although the holiday apartment was a little dated, the scenic view out the back balcony was well worth it. As we were soaking it all in, a large white cockatoo came to visit our balcony. Then another one. We thought they looked hungry, so we hand-fed them some bread. These birds must have special communication powers because before we knew it, cockatoos came flying in from everywhere! Eventually, we had a flock of 8 cockatoos out on our balcony all at once! According to Steve, we had to follow the "cookie rule"…since we gave one bird a "cookie" we had to give every bird a "cookie". After their meal, the cockatoos coupled up and groomed their significant other (Carrie the sanctuary tour guide had informed us of the cockatoos' monogamous lifestyle). I don't think these cockatoos were going to let us scratch them under their wings like Charlie did though. Later on, we met up with our friends and had a great, fun night out on the town.
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