After our whistle stop tour through Brisbane we flew into Arlie beach, the home of the Whitsunday islands. The area is truly picturesque with palm trees and beautiful beaches. Our hostel felt like we were living inside a rain forest, and was cheap enough for us to get our own room, which was a nice change of pace. Our hostel also had an open section in front with a bar, club and shops, all a stones throw from the beach. We met some very friendly Aussie blokes and blokesses (?) as well as many English people, Canadians and Germans. We got to learn some cool Aussie slang and field questions on what American is really like (“So, have you guys like, ever been to the ghetto?” “Is California like the OC?” etc.)