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| The pool at Daydream Island |
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| Above, a professional photo at Whitehaven Beach. Below, Gary, Dianne and Glenn in their stinger suits at Whitehaven |
| Erin's Journal for 2-19-03 Queensland Today we got up and got our bathing suits on, then realized that it was pouring down rain outside! Undeterred, we grabbed our raincoats and our bag of books/camera for the day, then headed to the bus stop. It came a little late, but we got a nice tour of the small town before it headed down to the marina at Shute Harbor. We were dropped off right in front of Fantasea Cruise lines' office, where we showed our ticket and were directed to our boat. It was a pretty big boat, although nothing like the ferries to Tasmania or anything! We sat and waited the 15 minutes till we arrived at our first stop for the day, Daydream Island. There we exited for a 2 hour visit. This resort island is pretty small, but has 3 pools, several beaches and a couple of entertainment areas for its guests. The jetty where we got off was on the backside of the island, which boasted a pool and a hugely expensive mini-golf course, shops, watersports center, etc. We watched a guide feed the fish in the newly-built reef (still developing but very cool), then wandered the golf course before deciding to do the little forest hike to the resort side. Most of the other day-trippers were a bit older, and so we were almost alone on this little trail. We were passed by another couple though, and ended up finishing the walk and wandering through the resort together. Gary and Diane were from Sydney, and very easy to talk to. We all got back to the jetty about 10 minutes before the boat was due to pick us up again, and as we were sweating heavily in the muggy heat, we all shedded our shorts and dove in the pool for a few minutes of refreshment. Daydream Island is a nice resort, but wouldn't have enough for us to do, we agreed. We got back on the boat and headed for our next stop. First we put in at South Molle island, another resort with a more established set of bungalows, rather than the hotel-style rooms at Daydream. We didn't get off here, though, as there was a golf tournament in progress and we were booked to go to Hamilton island next. The rain was pouring down in places as we rode out to Hamilton, but the ride was pleasant as we chatted with our new friends. At first sight, Hamilton island wasn't a place we'd want to stay. It has an airport any a couple of highrise buildings, and is the largest resort island in the south Pacific! We thought the secluded quiet bungalows of South Molle sounded more appealing. But we disembarked and walked over a small hill, and were surprised by the range of choices in accommodation at this one resort. You could stay in the deluxe hotel style rooms of the highrises, a more private apartment-style room in a 3-story building, or in cabin-style bungalows set off in the trees. There were also condo-style homes built further from the main resort buildings, and several activity areas for things like archery, zip-line gliding, fishing, etc. There were also several gorgeous pools and beaches, which we immediately made use of. We were surprised by how many people were in the ocean, as it's still stinger season and potentially deadly to be stung! The pool was great here - huge, circular, with dive classes going on way off to one side, a swim-up bar at the island center, and a lukewarm hot tub that was comfortable even on such a warm day. Gary and Diane agreed with us that this would be a fun place to come back to after all! We reboarded our boat araound 12:30, just in time for an on-board lunch. This was a good meal, we were happily surprised to find, and we ate well while the boat took us to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. This is the largest island in the chain, and is national park and protected. The beach itself has white silica sand, very fine and clean-looking, and was absolutely stunning with the aquamarine-colored water and the blue sky. There were lots of boats anchored here for the day too, including some of the masted ones that take people sailing for a few days. What scenery! We all got off the boat here, and were able to requisition a sun shelter for the blindingly bright beach. I sat under this while the other three donned lycra stinger-suits and went in the water. After a few minutes though, they came back and took off the suits and went right back in. Lots of people were out there unprotected, and luckily nobody got stung by any jellyfish. After about an hour the guides got a volleyball game set up, and Gary & Glenn went off to join in. Diane joined soon, and I followed just to watch. Well, no sooner was I standing there watching when Diane asked me to sub for her and I was in the game. We played three games with some funny moments (not the competitive games Glenn might be craving, but still fun), and when we were done it was time to start getting back on the boat. A professional photographer was taking shots of everyone for a website-based selling gambit, and we agreed to a few photos. After all, it was a gorgeous place! We finally got back on the boat, all gritty and sweaty, and headed back for Hamilton Island. We had the option to get off here again for another hour and to catch the last boat back at 5:30, so we took it. Gary and Diane joined us, and we had happy hour drinks at the pool bar while chatting with a young honeymooning couple from Melbourne. We were all talking about weddings and having a blast when we realized we had to hurry up and get back to the boat! So we made it for the sunset ride, and chatted about politics all the way to Shute Harbor. We agreed to meet up with Gary and Diane for dinner in town, and went to our cabin for a quick shower and clean up before racing back to town. We wanted to book another boat tour tomorrow with some snorkeling, but were disappointed to learn that the one we wanted was all booked out - a new load of backpackers had arrived in town today and booked out most of the day trips for tomorrow! We met Gary and Diane at the Hogsbreath Cafe and had some dinner, then took them down to a picnic table at the town's Lagoon for a game of Shanghai Rummy. They picked it up really quickly and we enjoyed a rousing game. By the time we were done, it was almost midnight and we had to say goodnight - they were driving back to Brisbane in the morning, an 1100 km trip! But we hope to see them again in future, as we've talked about meeting up here in Airlie sometime to do the 3-day boating tour together! |
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