Airlie Reef Festival

Saturday 1^st August 2015

The Airlie Reef festival gets into full swing today, and the weather is perfect. After breakfast we head off for the Saturday markets to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables (and also get some for Mark and Janet who return tomorrow). We stock up as we plan to start our trip to Magnetic Island on Monday and will be away from civilization for 3 or 4 days.

Shopping pretty much consumes the whole morning, as it is a decent walk to and from the markets. We managed to load Mark and Janet's purchases into their boat and by then it is almost lunchtime.

This afternoon is the Reef Festival parade which is one of the festivals main events, so we walked back into town to see it just before 4 pm when it started. There were plenty of floats representing local businesses, schools, and not for profit organisations. 

One of the local schools with a jellyfish theme

The Frog was a great hit with the girls at the pub !

The local nightclub "Mama Africa" was there

Something for the rev heads

The streets of Airlie are full of people and the festival must be a great boost for the local economy. The pubs that line the main street seem to be special beneficiaries.

When the parade came to an end we had a brief wander around before heading back to the marina to have a quiet dinner on board by ourselves.