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Friday, October 25, 2013

Airlie Beach makeover sparks retro-fabulous flashbacks




Thing sure looked different in the ‘90s.

Billy Ray Cyrus wouldn’t stop crooning about his “achy, breaky heart”, Hypercolour T-shirts were a wardrobe must-have, and Will Smith was still an up-and-coming Fresh Prince.

And if you were in Airlie Beach in the ‘90s, chances are you would have been wearing neon shorts and carving up the dance floor at Magnums. But the recent $22 million redevelopment of the Airlie Beach main street means the town is looking fresher than a Kardashian post-Botox.

Airlie Beach has long been seen as a backpacker's nirvana, and rightly so, but with trendy new cafes that will satisfy any caffeine addiction, upmarket serviced apartments with sweeping views, restaurants worth flying to, and the chance to jump on a yacht and sail around 74 island wonders, it’s obvious the town has had more than a celebrity nip and tuck.

A new competition launched today promises to take revellers of the past on a trip down memory lane and offers the chance for one lucky winner and three mates to ‘flash-forward’ for a Whitsundays getaway.

The #loveairliebeach social media campaign will be highlighting how far Airlie Beach has come in the past 20 years and with the inaugural Airlie Beach Music Festival kicking off on Friday 8 November, 74 bands, including The Hoodoo Gurus, Mental as Anything and Diesel, will have the place hopping like it’s 1993.

Check out the ‘then and now’ gallery of Whitsundays photos to see how far we've come.

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The Expeditionist

The Expeditionist
Venturing to the world's special places