Our last day in Airlie Beach, and I required a very quiet and chilled out day after yesterday, my body was protesting most strongly at what I had put it through. Our trip today, was a Segway Sunset tour with supper. so nothing strenuous at all. The trip owner was brilliant, great communication and prompt pick up. There were only three of us on the trip, which we really liked, and the other lad was on the bus when we got on it.
It was only a short bus trip to the marina, and there were four segways laid down on the grass waiting for us. Before getting on we had a safety talk, which was very clear, and we were all allocated crash helmets. The segways themselves cost $12000 each, but are pretty substantial for that price! Zak gave us detailed instruction on how to get on and off it, which was easier than I was expecting, and once we were on, he expained how to make it move. Basically we had to lean forward to forward and lean back to slow down and to stop. Steering was simple enough, we just had to move the steering bar to the left if we wanted to go left and the opposite if we wanted to go right. I found it helped to lean in the direction i wanted to go in. With the instructions clear in our minds we slowly made our way around the grassy area until he was happy that we were competent on level ground. It was definately easier with no obstacles in the way and on open ground!
From that we exited the grass and rode to the car park adjacent which was on an incline. Going up hill was much trickier than I anticipated it would be, it was like I couldn't lean forward far enough. I obviously managed to do it because I made it up the hill ok. To come back down, all that was required was to lean back. Not too far, or you'd go backwards, but just put your weight through your heels, and you slowed down . The lad on the trip, was a bit nervous to start with and was keen to not fall off, well none of us wanted to make a complete tit of ourselves really, thats why we took it nice and slowly.
From the safety of the car park we began the tour and it took us along the pavements from the Marina and along the shoreline. It was quite busy, and we had to do a lot of weaving in and out of the people and dogs so we didn't skittle them. Amazingly it went really well and we got to The Coral Bay marina without incident. We stopped for a breather and photo opportunities along the way which was really nice. Once we left the Coral Marina, there were less people around, so we were able to pick up some speed. There is a new boardwalk which was completed a few months ago, and not only was it asthetically pleasing, it was a joy to travel over. We paused to see the yachts in the marina and had a guess as to how much they were worth, we concluded that there was several million dollars worth in there and that we didn't want one anyway. Our journey continued through Cannonvale Beach Foreshore reserve through the Mangroves and we could see mud crabs scuttling in and out of their holes. Halfway through there is a crab sculpture and is made up of components from the three main industries in Airlie Beach. Agriculture, Fishing and marine engineering. Its very impressive and in the sunshine you can fry an egg on the top of it. We didn't try it, mainly because it was mosquito time of day and we had no desire to be eaten alive. Oh, and we had no eggs with us either.
From the Mangroves, we came to a stop at the far end of Airlie beach, we'd gone 4km in what seemed no time at all. There is a little Island that you can walk to at low tide called Pigeon Island. It's not a long walk, and because the beach is stony its quite safe underfoot. The Island isn't inhabited and has no facilities on it, so isn't somewhere you'd want to stay the night particularily.
As that was the end of the road in that direction, we made our way back towards Sorento in Coral Bay Marina for our supper. On the way there were lots more photo opportunites, and Zak took videos of us with our phones which was great to have. We had also all switched positions and Zak was now bringing up the rear and the other lad was leading. He shot off ahead of us and as we went through the Mangroves, there was a massive crash and he was off his segway, on the floor, and the segway was in the bushes. He hadn't listened to what we were told and had decided to ride it in the sand, and it spat him off in spectacular style. Si and I just looked at each other, raised our eyebrows and needed to say not a single word because we were both thinking the exact same thing... Tit. We watched on from our Segways as he was helped up by Zak and once it was established that he and the segway were ok we were back on our way. Personally I was more concerned about the Segway. This time, he was going a bit slower and stayed on the path. Before we arrived at the Marina, there is a huge grassy area, kind of a park really, and we were told we could have a race if we wanted. We didn't bother racing but whizzed around on the grass as fast as we could go. We felt it prudent to avoid the other lad like the plague. Having already seen him in action, we deemed it sensible to give him a wide berth as we have another three months to go on this little jaunt of ours. There was an automatic lawn mower in operation on the grass and a really ugly dog was in a mexican standoff with it. Hilarious. Neither the dog or the mower paid us any mind as we wove in and out of cherry trees down the side of the park. Zak called time on the fun and games and we made our way to the Marina for our supper. As we went up the hill to the restaraunt there were some people cheering at us, so i gave them my very best Quenie wave, which resulted in much laughter. They got my title right as well, 'Your Majesty.' We parked up outside, took off our crash helmets and were led inside to our table. As we had pre ordered the food, it came really fast so we were able to tuck in within minutes. Si and I both opted for a bolognaise which didn't disappoint in the slightest, and was really tasty. The other fruit loop had a chicken pizza and I have to say it looked really good. Because the meal and ice water were included in the tour, we didn't feel the need to have any other drinks, mainly because it was our last night and we had a few things to do before leaving tomorrow. The surroundings were lovely, looking out over the marina, as the sun was setting. Not a spectacular sunset, but pretty nevertheless.
Having full bellies, we went to where we had left the segways and got on, then pulled out of the space in an orderly fashion and continued the rest of the way back to where the minibus was parked. We all drove around a bit waiting for Zak to open the trailer and load his machine in, then one by one our faithful steeds were loaded up ready to go. It has to be said, they load a lot easier than horses do. We returned our crash helmets, got into the minibus, and were driven the short distance to the Apartments. Bob and Kev managed to get in on a few of the photos so they were happy, and we were happy and had had a fun last day in Airlie Beach.
Much Love
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