A look around Airlie

Saturday 1^st July 2017

Now settled in to the marina and provisioned, we have a chance to have a good look around and assess the impact of Cyclone Debbie.

The initial impact at the marina is obvious, and whilst the staff here have done a wonderful job in trying to get everything back to normal, there is still a fair bit to be done. We are located on the South Marina, on the most distant arm from the facilities. We were more than a bit surprised to hear that the laundry on the south marina has been closed and the only laundry available is at the north marina, a very, very long walk from where we are.

They are in the process of addressing this problem, by installing showers, toilets and a laundry plus and entertainment area on a barge "Ocean Club" moored at the entrance to our marina leg. Unfortunately it is some weeks away from being commissioned. Apparently part of the delay in getting it up and going is that it was moored at Shute Harbour (where it was built) during cyclone Debbie and it ended upon the road above the marina there.

Anyway, the Saturday fresh food markets are still occurring on the waterfront near the sailing club, so we walked in there early to re provision our fresh vegetables. The produce is as good as ever and it is great to see this market still very popular, although there were a few less stalls than 2 years ago.

There are a few new stalls

And the coffee place on the beach is still there serving great coffee and very decadent waffles which we were strong enough to resist

Fortunately we took our own carry bags, as apparently there has been a crackdown on the stallholders providing plastic bags.

It is clear that the local economy is struggling to get back on its feet and evidence of cyclone damage is not hard to find. The lagoon, a large man made water park in the centre of town is empty and closed to repair cyclone damage.

A number of local businesses, including the biggest hotel complex in town, The Airlie Beach Hotel, is closed and undergoing what looks like major repair work. A couple of backpacker resorts are also closed, as are a number of small retailers.

A previously upmarket restaurant now closed

Airlie Beach Hotel, host to a number of restaurants and a bottle shop closed

This bacpackers resort in the main street is also closed due to cyclone damage. You can see the yellow writing and a line on the left hand front door which marks the flood level during the cyclone

Over at the Port of Airlie the Mantra Resort seemed to not have sustained much damage, although the TV coverage at the time showed significant damage to the marina, which now seems to be back to normal. 

The balcony ceiling fans at Mantra did not fare well

Back at the marina we decide to book dinner at Sorrento’s restaurant, an old favourite with consistently good food and a nice view from their upper deck. We arrived for dinner and struggled to find someone to serve us, but did find a table with a reserved notice with our name on it downstairs. It soon became clear that the upper deck of the restaurant was still not open, obviously undergoing some repairs from the cyclone damage.

The service was pretty ordinary, but the food still good, but we saw many customers arrive and walk away because they were not attended to. You would think when they are trying to rebuild the customer base that someone would meet and greet and try to organize a table for much needed paying customers.

On the way back to the south marina, the new restaurant, Hemmingways, seemed to be very busy, so we have booked there for dinner tomorrow night.

Things are quiet in Airlie and they desperately need the tourists to return. The marina is not running anywhere near capacity and there appears to be less people here  than when we were here 2 years ago, acknowledging that they are still rebuilding the marina.

Tonight there was a fireworks display from the north wall of the marina, adding a bit of life to the place.

Once all of the repair work is done, I am sure the place will bounce back, but the work is far from finished, and then they need to encourage people back to the area.

The cyclone has been pretty devastating for much of the coast north of  Mackay, but you can’t help noticing that there are other underlying problems, characterized by the increasing list of closed island resorts, that requires a bit of political will to keep tourism here competitive, as without tourism there isn’t a lot else.

At Airlie, if it weren't for the enormous investment going into the Abell Point Marina, I am sure the place would be going backwards. Despite this the local council were very pleased to announce that they are trading at a surplus.