Up in the Air in Airlie

Our train arrives with a slight delay (I'll refrain from making any jokes about the German railway, as no one here seems to get them) early in the morning in Airlie Beach. We all slept on the train somewhat poorly, and I'm still a bit under the weather. After we have stored our luggage in the storage room and the remaining supplies in the refrigerator, I go for a coffee with Antonia (from my second travel group) and Göki (from my first travel group) and explore the area a bit. We walk along the beach and decide to take a little nap under the palm trees. Here in the Southern Hemisphere, as mentioned, everything is upside down, so the weather gets warmer and more tropical the further north we go. Therefore, a little cooling off in the sea wouldn't hurt, one might think... sadly no!
Because all those who warned me about Australian snakes and spiders don't know that there's something else that scares me even more: Jellyfish! So jellyfish... One even got me on the Lofoten Islands. Here it would be a bit more dramatic, as the most dangerous jellyfish in the world inhabit the Australian east coast, including box jellyfish like the sea wasp (I've even given a lecture about it at university, and I don't want to meet it) and Irukandji jellyfish (they are particularly dangerous because they are very small and therefore hard to spot). At the beaches in the northern part of Queensland, you'll find various warning signs and emergency vinegar as well as the corresponding emergency numbers. It's somewhat tragic to live right by the sea and then still have to go to a public swimming pool... However, it is truly beautiful here, and it's called 'Lagoon' for a reason.
A tiny area in the sea is enclosed and protected with nets, so we dare to take an emergency 90-second dip. After that, we walk a bit further until we split up. I get to take to the air today. A small plane takes me and 8 other people from my travel group up and far over the sea. We fly for 20 minutes towards the horizon, and slowly the Whitsunday Islands appear below us. These 74 islands lie between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef; Airlie Beach is kind of the 'gateway' to this region. The islands, both small and large, have white sandy beaches, are covered with dense rainforests, and the water around them paints blue-white-turquoise-yellow patterns on the surface. It not only looks dreamily beautiful, but it feels like a dream. Especially in the moment when we leave the islands behind us, fly a little further, and more patterns appear in the water, small islands underwater that are obviously not islands, as if someone painted their feelings on very light blue crepe paper to beautiful music in different shades of turquoise, outlined with gray-brown felt-tip pens. This is the Great Barrier Reef, and my heart is soaring, not only because we are about to fly over the heart-shaped Heart Reef twice, but also because even though I've been talking about this huge ecosystem and its threats in school for 10 years, I can only truly feel the magic in this moment. How could it be otherwise? No image in the world can surpass reality. I have a little tear in my eye as we fly back, not only because it's already over, but because I am once again overwhelmed by the beauty of the world.
Back in Airlie Beach, I still settle into my room very moved and take Antonia for a walk along the coast before we end the evening together with the rest of the group at an Australian pub. There you can find emu sausage, kangaroo steak, and crocodile skewers - I try a tiny piece of everything for a complete Australian experience, and I affirm: meat is absolutely not my thing. Not even on the other side of the world.