Day 57 Airlie Beach (Whitsunday Islands)

We had a very brief visit from the sun this morning which was pleasing as we were to go cruising through the Whitsunday Islands.  Ashley was kind enough to come and wake us up half an hour before our alarm, so we were definitely going to meet our pick up on time...supposedly.

This morning was Emma's birthday, and we were super excited to celebrate her 7th one here at Airlie Beach.  There was some singing and present opening, and just a little bit of flapping and bouncing with all of the excitement.

After the cruise to the Great Barrier Reef, the kids were almost organised and sort of helped us get ready...by not standing in the way too much.  We had to meet the bus at 0820, and to my calculation we were out the front by 0805.

At 0830 I rang to check that we were still being picked up, and was assured the bus was coming.  So we waited with our three very impatient children on the side of the highway...and waited...and waited...

At 0855 I range the booking agent again and enquired as to the existence of said bus, and was told that there had been some stuff ups today, and that they would send a taxi for us.  They then confirmed a departure time of 0900 for our ferry which they assured they would ring and hold for us as their transfer was late.

The bus arrived at 0905, and deposited us at the marina at 0910, just as the ferry was pulling away from the berth.  The reception radioed the boat, turned it around and we had to make dash down to the end of the pier to climb on board.  At 0920, we got an SMS from the caravan park to inform us our taxi had arrived.  Anyhow, we were on board (Albeit under the disapproving gaze of grey nomads who had to wait for the parents with kids.) and on our way to Daydream Island.  The wind was blowing a constant 30 knots, and gusting to 45 knots (60-90kmh) so the sea was again very rough, choppy, 2m swell.  Travacalm you are my hero.

On arrival at the island, we had to check in with reception to get our lunch tickets for the restaurant as they didn't have time to get them for us when we arrived at the ferry terminal.  They were supposed to be faxed through, but they were having problems with the machine, and we were asked to wait for them to be emailed through.  An hour after arrival we were able to start our day.  I was a bit annoyed as this trip was just on $450.00 and no recompense was offered for the inconvenience.  So this is my payback airliebeach.com travel service...YOU SUCK!!!

Whilst I was sorting out lunch, Lisa took the kids to see the sharks and the stingrays being fed in the living reef display.  They have several rays including shovel nose rays and manta rays that they hand feed, and a few black tip, white tip, and reef sharks that they feed off a length of PVC pipe.  The kids looked as if they were enjoying the show, so it must have been worth while.



the other side of the pond was an area that had been segregated for some anemone and clown fish were flitting around through them.  It seems that Nemo has been very good for the tourist industry in these parts.

There was one particular anemone that had at least 7 clownfish in it that we could see, but couldn't photograph because of the reflective light on the pond surface.



After watching the feeding, we trekked across the island on their Rain forest walk.  For some reason I felt like I was going to tribal council on Survivor.  The walk was pretty, but certainly not like some of the rain forest that we have seen further North around Cape Tribulation, Atherton and Mission Beach. 

They have a very extensive mini golf course as well, which we were all keen to have a go at.

Some of the holes were extremely challenging even for a golf pro like myself...LOL.

The course was very well laid out with each hole representing an Australian landmark...Snowy River, Parliament House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi, Whitsunday Islands, The Daintree, Uluru...you get the picture. 

Lisa couldn't help but have a bit of a playful hug with old mate life guard here.  The kids had a ball, and although we didn't actually tally the scores, I am confidently going to declare myself the winner, before any one else tries to.

Because of all of the mornings delays, we ran out of time and had to rush back to the other side of the island to get to the restaurant where our lunch was to be had.  I was bang up for their Angus burger until they mentioned that the fish of the day was Coral Trout.  How cruel and unusual...and delicious.  The food was a massive turning point in our enjoyment of the day.  Emma was able to have her spaghetti which was her birthday food wish, whilst Ashley, Lisa and I all had Fish and Chips.  Rowan of course had steak which he can't look past on a menu. 

The kids all finished lunch with ice cream, and Lisa and I had the most indulgent Mango and Macadamia Cheesecake.  SO GOOD, OH YEAH!  Throughout lunch, we were stalked by Curlew which are accepted as part of the furniture in the restaurant.  They are just big enough to make the kids think twice about getting out of their seats.

Time was getting away from us though and we had to rush back to the pier to catch our shuttle ferry to Whitehaven Beach.

The trip out to Whitehaven Beach was again, quite lumpy with very strong winds, so it was difficult to be entirely comfortable on the boat.  The skipper was very knowledgeable of the islands, and gave some great commentary whilst we were cruising.  We rounded one of the bays coming into Whitehaven Beach, and it spread out before us as 7km of shimmering white sands.  Lisa and I weren't interested in swimming, but still we had to change as there was transfer from catamaran to shore via zodiac.

 

 We jumped out of the zodiac into thigh high frigid water (Forgot to mention that today maxed out at 17 Deg C.) The beach admittedly was very pretty, but again I feel that we are spoilt in WA as we can find beautiful white fine sand on many beaches within a couple of hours drive from Perth. 

The water was gorgeous though as a deep turquoise, and aside for the strong winds, and chill in the air, this was a brilliant stop.



Whitehaven Beach has been voted in the top 5 beaches in the world, so it is definitely a must stop on this tour.  The sand was clean white silica with no seaweed and no litter.  Truly a magnificent sight. 

There was to be a competition for the best sand castle built on the day, so I thought I would try my hand at it. 



I gathered a plastic kids shovel and started on my mermaid here.  Lisa took a relaxing stroll up the beach without the kids in tow, and came back looking completely rejuvenated.  I think we have all been a little bit off colour for a couple of days, but we are soldiering on despite our ailments.

I had many people come and ask me questions about my mermaid..."Are you a sculptor?" "Have you done this before?"  "Can you teach me how to do this?" and many others.  At one stage there were around 30 people standing about taking pictures.  I had to line up to get a picture of my own sand castle...PFFFFT!

I had fun though, and many people got some enjoyment out of her.  Needless to say, I won the sand castle contest, but there was no prize...BOOOOO!

The wind had picked up, and the sun was setting, so we were off the beach again, and preparing for a return cruise through the islands, back to Daydream and then on to Airlie Beach.  With the wind and incoming tide behind us, the trip back was much smoother. 

We got to see some of the very pretty inlets and bays where private and hire yachts are moored out of the destructive winds.  Cid Harbour here was almost flat watered although the winds were still very strong.  We saw two sea turtles in Cid Harbour, and my have caught a very fleeting glimpse at a Dugong. 

Most of the boat trip today was to be inside the cabin though due to the freezing wind, salt spray, rain, and violent rolling of the catamaran in large swell that had the potential to launch you over the side rails of the boat.

We didn't get back to Airlie Beach until 1800 hours, and found our transfer bus which returned us efficiently (2nd last) to our caravan park.

Emma still had a longing for more spaghetti, so we went in search of birthday dinner for her.  We found ourselves at a pub called Banjo's.  Monday night is $15.00 Parmy night, so it was to be chicken in pajamas for us all...except Rowan who opted for the nuggets and chips (Creative) and Emma who wanted spaghetti and got it.  I had Chicken Parmy with chili and mango sauce...so good....so full...so tired now. 

Big day of driving tomorrow, gonna miss the en-suite that we have had for the past couple of days.