November 4th:

It started out “perfectly” when the plane from Brisbane to Mackay was delayed, apparently it was something wrong with the braking system. Eager to get going I forgot to ask if the problem was fixed when the boarding started 1 hour after the scheduled take off.

I brought 2 books on this trip, The Hobbit bye Tolkien and Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. I am reading Choke at this moment since I want to read the book before I watch the movie at the cinema. I am 1/3 into it now and it is really good… Chuck knows how to entertain the reader.

Since it was “cold” in Brissy when I left I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, that is something I was regretting when arriving in Mackay. It was 34 degrees and not even a little breeze.

Mackay is a shithole… if you are a tourist depending on public transport or short distance to the different facilities. The biggest thing about the town was a trip 1-2 hours with car to the west too see the platypus. It was clear to me that I had to get away from that spot as soon as possible so I reserved a buss ticket to Airlie beach that departed the following night. I spent the day and evening in a park by the river in Mackay.

While waiting for the buss I started on my next writing project currently called Mark. It is about a disturbed young guy who lives with his parents. More on that later when I played a little bit more with what his every day life looks like. I more or less only have the idea of a guy and what made him into what he is today.

November 5th:

I arrived around sunrise in Airlie Beach, it was a 1,5 hour drive north of Mackay.

As you can see on the last picture, there might be hazardous jellyfish in the water… but there is warning signs with saltwater crocodile, so swimming in the ocean is banned anyway..

So far I have fixed accommodation until Sunday, but I am pretty sure that I will stay here or take a boat trip to Whitsunday islands until the next major bit on my journey.

November 6th:

Other than updating my blog and typing up the story about Mark I am able to totally unplug and just relax. The place itself is a tourist spot build around the great barrier reef and the Whitsunday islands tuirisme. It has everything you need, Coles for groceries, Mc Donalds, Hungry Jacks (Burger King), KFC and Subway ++ if you want fast food.

In addition to that there is just a short walking distance to get to your totally remote little spot where you can turn off your modern life and “just be”. I will try and find some of this spots during the next couple of days.

I spent most of this day tanning and drinking water. It is really strange to see how dependent humans are of water. Im probably drinking 4-5 liters a day.. I eat some kind of pastry with cheese a couple of apples and then I sinned in the afternoon with a Big Mac meal from Maccas.

November 7th:

I am going to stay here until the next . I added another week to the accommodation and ordered a bus ticket back to Mackay airport on November 16th.

The place I stay at is called Beaches Backpacker. It is a dorm room style accommodation with 6 bedroom units. I live with 2 Swedish girls, one guy from france, one guy from England and one German. The units have air condition too keep you cool of you want to relax a little bit from all the tanning.

Today was the first “photo day”, I have been walking around taking the pictures in this post and some pretty cool panoramas I will upload later when I am on a better connection. Today I have consumed more of those pastries with cheese, green apples and I am currently deciding what I will eat for dinner.