Island Gateway Holiday Park

Airlie Beach Coastline from a boat

by cnango

When we were on our day cruise we enjoyed seeing the beautiful coastline at Airlie Beach. The hills were covered by native bush and more recently exclusive apartments and high end private homes and resorts. We also saw lots of recreational boats and yachts anchored off shore or at private docks. Airlie Beach and beyond is a "boaties paradise " as they say in Oz, and a fantastic vacation destination. As for the lucky ones who live there it's a Shangra-la found.

Cockatoos!

by ettiewyn

I have never seen as many sulphur-crested cockatoos in my whole travels as in Airlie Beach! When I walked from the town centre to my accomodation during dawn, they were all over the sky, sitting in the trees and screaming like hell, probably about sixty of them. It was very impressive to see and hear all those big birds. Although they are a common site in the eastern parts of Australia, this was very uncommon to me.
As cockatoos do not migrate, I think that they must live in Airlie Beach and do that every evening.

So if you would like to see them, have a walk out of the city centre at dawn and try if they are there again :-)

Info
Sulphur-crested cockatoos are native to the Top End and all parts of eastern Australia, from Cape York to Tasmania, and to Papua Newguinea. They have been introduced to Perth and also to Singapore and New Zealand. They can get more than seventy years old and are very intelligent! It is a protected species, though sometimes considered as a pest.

Camira Cruise

by aussirose

Want to visit the famous Whitehaven beach?... Of course you do!!

A Trip to the Whitsundays is not complete unless you visit the famous Whitehaven beach!

We chose the purple Camira cat again by Cruise Whitsundays to do the trip and I can totally recommend it!

Everything is included with this one, free pick up & drop off, snorkling and all food & grog. With the wonderful experience at the world famous Whitehaven beach and friendly staff....what more can you ask for?.... We all loved it!!

Arlie Beach VT Meet 2009

by cnango

Front & Center: Hansi (waalewiener)
1st row: Zig , Stephanie,Tracey(dancingbudgie), lou31, theTravelSlut
2nd row: Garry,Isa, wise23girl, aussirose, Bungalow_bill49504, unknown
3rd row: stevemt, Zanzooni, TheBoyToy, zzeone, 2cities1love, cnango,
Back row: unknown, Luke & Mandy (guests of cnango), DennyP (far back row: blocked)

Lou & Ann did a great job putting together the Aussie VT Meet 2009. After returning to Airlie Beach from our long boat ride, we posed for a group picture. As you can see from our smiling faces we had a wonderful time at knuckle Reef. Read more about the Aussie VT Meet 2009 and see a lot more pictures in my Airlie Beach Travel Pages. The Aussie VT Meet 2009 was my first time to visit Airlie Beach but it will not be my last it is such a beautiful location and a perfect destination for a vacation. Airlie Beach is also a good starting point to visit the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands, including the world famous Whitehaven Beach.

'Whitsunday Wonderland'

by lou31

"Airlie...2009 Australian VT Meet"

Hi there!...This is where we will be heading for the '2009 VT Meet' ...it's a fantastic place and I am lucky to live right next door! Ann aka 'aussierose' and I are busy swapping ideas to make this a VT Meet to remember. So put September 10th in your diary for next year and hopefully we will see you there...come on down!

Popular Airlie Beach lies 1,100 kilometre north of Brisbane and 620 kilometre south of Cairns. It is also very handy for myself as it is only a bit over an hours drive from my hometown of Mackay. Airlie is a thriving and bustling tourist town located in the Whitsundays.

Its mild tropical climate has an average annual temperature of 27C maximum and a minimum of 21C. This place also averages 8.25 hours of magnificent sunshine every day!!

On any day of the week this place is buzzing! It is the jumping off point for tourists heading to the 74 islands of the Whitsundays and the town is full of shops, night clubs, pubs and cafes and restaurants.

You really can't get away from the tourist element here...they are everywhere but it is still an exciting and interesting place to visit with loads of accomodation and fascilities.

"The town"

The town itself consists of one long main street...beach on one side and a hillside covered in condos and holiday units on the other.

There are oodles of shops, cafes, pubs, night clubs and restaurants to choose from.

Always something to see and do and a real fun and happening place for everyone...young and old.

"The beach"

If you have had enough of shopping, alfresco dining and people watching
you can grab a towel and hit the beach to soak up some of that sun.

Or take a walk along the esplanade. Lots of palm trees, walkways, grassy areas and the views over the turquoise waters of the bay are just lovely.