East Coast Stop Eight - Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands

---

We had quite a long drive from Rockhampton to Airlie Beach – around five and a half hours altogether - but the time passed quickly and we didn’t get lost this time! We arrived at Paradise Court Holiday Apartments mid-afternoon, and were soon checked into our studio apartment that we had booked for 6 nights. We went on a quick shopping trip to Coles which was in a shopping centre just across the road to buy some food for the next few days. After a long day driving we had a pretty relaxed evening and an early night ready to get up in the morning for our first day at Airlie Beach.

We had heard that there was a market on down the front on Saturday morning so we headed there first at around 10am. We parked up and had a look around the stalls, which were mainly selling various arts and crafts items, clothes and food. Someone had also sculpted a very impressive dragon on the sand just in front of the stalls – it even breathed fire! The stalls took us along the front of Airlie Beach, and once we reached the end of the market, we continued along the street and had a look in a few shops around there. We eventually reached Airlie Lagoon, where we took a few photos before heading back along the promenade to the car.

We soon discovered that the weather at Airlie Beach (at the time we were there anyway) was a bit strange – one minute it would be beautiful sunshine, the next it would be throwing it down with rain! Temperature-wise it stayed nice and warm but it was a little unpredictable, and also varied wildly between very short distances. Whilst at the markets it was very hot, mainly sunny, with just a few clouds around. By the time we had made it back to the car and had a drive just up the road towards the mountains and national park, it suddenly turned very dark and wet! I guess this showery weather is fairly typical for a tropical climate but it was quite weird to experience for us!

We had a drive up to Shute Harbour, mainly on the lookout for a petrol station as we still needed to fill up after our trip the previous day, but ended up driving back to one that was near our apartment. We stopped and took a few pictures along the way of the Whitsunday Islands in the distance and also of the bays that we were driving past, where the water was a really nice blue/turquoise colour and very inviting! We dropped off the car at the apartment and then took a walk down to the small beach nearby. Rather than sand, the beach was mainly made up of small pebbles and lots of tiny seashells, which were pretty interesting to look through. There was also a yacht just off the beach that was at a very strange angle, almost tipped right onto its side – we’re guessing that it may have beached there and whoever was on it just abandoned it there but we’re not sure! The following day we would be going on a cruise around the Whitsundays, and pick up was 6.20am, so we again had a chilled out evening watching TV and getting an early night.

The coach picked us up, all bleary-eyed and tired, bright and early the next morning, and we picked up a couple of other people before heading down to Abel Point Marina, where our boat would be departing from. We had booked a two-island full day cruise, which would allow us to explore Whitehaven Beach and Hamilton Island, and would also sail around some of the other islands, providing information and commentary about each one as we went by. Once checked in and given our tickets and lunch voucher to use on Hamilton Island, we boarded our catamaran at 6:45am and set sail at 7am.

We had to pick up and drop off a few different passengers on both Daydream Island and Hamilton Island (both have resorts so many people choose to holiday there and take the cruises from there), then we had a cruise around to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island - the biggest island that they are all, as a group, named after. As we made our way there, we had to pass in between two islands, where the water was rather choppy to say the least! For a good half an hour or so, we were all required to stay seated whilst the boat bounced up and down on the waves. We were loving it – the sensation in your tummy as you dropped was like that the you experience at a theme park, however some people were a little scared (some screams were heard at various points!) and for two poor women, it caused them to become incredibly seasick very quickly, and both were soon spewing up their guts into paper bags and looked like death! Eventually the sea calmed and the rest was smooth sailing from that point.

The weather so far had been a bit iffy – we first got onto the top deck of the boat for a better view, until it started raining heavily and everyone ran down to the indoors lower deck! The guide on the boat assured us that the weather at Whitehaven Beach would be beautiful and sunny and that it has its own little ecosystem and pretty much never rains there – naturally, we were dubious, but hoped for the best, as we would be spending a couple of hours there!

Amazingly, the guide was spot on! We arrived at Whitehaven Beach just before 9am and the sun was shining, with just a few wispy clouds around – perfect! The sand was white, the water was blue and it just looked stunning as we approached it – we understand now why it’s so famous. The catamaran could not quite get all the way to the beach just in case it got stuck in the sand, so a walkway was lowered into the water, where we would then have to wade in knee-deep water to get to the beach. We got a little more wet than intended as a wave came up behind us just as we stepped off the walkway; however we figured that we would soon dry off in the sun. We got out our towels and lay them out a little further up the beach, then just sat/lay down for a little while, taking in the views. The crew had provided stinger suits for those that fancied a swim (although it’s not main stinger season up here, you do still get them at this time of year, so they advise to wear them), but we decided to just stay on the beach instead.

After about 45 minutes, we decided to go and explore more of the island, so we set off along a trail into the bush. The trail led us up a hill, where we eventually emerged onto a clearing on a huge flat rock near the centre of the island. The views up there were amazing, and we could see for miles on each side of the island to the neighbouring islands and beyond. Note that there is a picture of an island that we have rotated on its side – the guide pointed this out earlier on but we hadn’t got a picture of it at the time – when you tilt your head it looks like a gorilla/Abe Simpson! We sat up there for a while and then continued along the trail, which looped back around to the beach.

Although we didn’t go for a swim, we did go for a little paddle in the waves, where the sand was like quicksand and our feet would just start sinking in if we stood still! It was then that, despite what the guide said, it started raining! Everyone ran for cover under the trees, but it was short-lived as after about ten seconds it started just as suddenly as it started, and we didn’t see any more rain for the rest of the day. As everyone made their way back onto the beach, we spotted a HUGE lizard under a picnic bench nearby that nobody else had seen. We got a bit closer and it turned out to be a big monitor lizard – we were pretty impressed, as we were used to just seeing the little tiny lizards that run around over here.

At 11am, the boat came back to the beach to pick us up (it had moved away from the beach and anchored just off there for the two hours that we were there), and we waded back to the walkway to board once again. Another leisurely cruise followed, and we were taken around the other side of the island before making our way past a few others on our way to Hamilton Island. We reached the marina at Hamilton Island at around 1pm, where we disembarked and were informed that the boat back to Abel Point marina would be leaving at 5.10pm. We were quite hungry by this point, so we headed first to Marina Tavern, where we could use our lunch voucher. We walked all along the marina to reach the restaurant, and were quite amused that most people on the island got around by golf buggies! The island is largely a resort, so we assume that each guest is assigned a buggy when they check in to the resort, although they were also available for hire – as there was a free shuttle that would take us around the island, we decided to save our money, although it was quite tempting and we probably would have got one if we were there for longer! As we walked along we found a couple of cheeky cockatoos had helped themselves to some leftover pizza that someone had left on the seat of their buggy – they had opened up the box and there was just pizza everywhere, including all over both of their beaks!

We eventually found Marina Tavern, and were told, after presenting our voucher, that we could pick anything from the menu. We both went for chicken parmigiana -

Craig just going for a standard one whilst Emma chose a Mexican one. Both were delicious and the Mexican one was quite different, with a little salsa/chilli, sour cream and guacamole piled on top of it – yum! Both full to the brim, we found a shuttle stop just outside the restaurant, where a shuttle soon pulled up and took us along the marina and up a steep hill, where we got off at the island’s wildlife park. We had done a little research beforehand and found that our Merlin Annual Passes included admission into here – we had definitely gotten our money’s worth out of them! The park turned out to be very small – probably the smallest that we have ever been to – but did have a good variety of indigenous animals that we watched as we wandered around. We even made a friend in a cockatoo called Freddy, who kept trying to give us twigs through his bars and would occasionally say a few words – mainly “Hello Freddy!” He would also get a stick of the floor every now and again and would then actually weave it around his bars – very clever little guy and it kept him entertained when there were not many people around to talk to him.

Once we had seen everything in the park, we walked back to the resort centre, where we had a little walk around there – the pool there looked beautiful – and then jumped onto another shuttle bus for a little tour of the rest of the island. We reached an area called ‘One Tree Hill’ (nothing to do with the TV show!), where the driver said that we could get off if we wanted to take some pictures, as he would just be going down the other side of the hill to turn back around. The view of the other islands surrounding us was amazing and we took a few photos before the shuttle turned up again. We toured the rest of the island and passed a large golf course and also the island’s airport. Earlier on the boat, Craig had quite a shock when he saw what he thought was a large Virgin Australia plane crashing into the ocean right next to us – thankfully it was just about to land on the runway, but we were amazed that they were able to land such large planes on such a small island and short runway!

We eventually arrived back at the resort centre, where we walked down the hill back to the marina and we found a bench to sit on to wait for our boat to arrive to take us back to Airlie Beach. Right on time, the boat arrived just before 5.10pm, although there was a bit of confusion as they ended up switching the destination and all of the passengers on there onto a different, larger boat that had also docked into the marina. Once everyone was on board, we set off first to Daydream Island to drop off some people, and then onto Abel Point marina. The journey took around an hour or so, and we got some great shots of the sun setting behind the islands.

Once back onto the mainland, we were directed towards a bus that would take us back to our apartment, where we once again had a very relaxed evening after a very busy, but amazing day!

We didn’t really have much else planned for Airlie Beach, so over the next few days we took a few trips out to the town to have a walk around the shops, and also had a drive up to the national park to have a walk around one of the trails. We ended up on a trail that would take us to a place called ‘Swamp Bay’, and we walked through dense woodland and tropical rainforest before emerging onto a large pebble beach, which was also piled up with shells and coral which had been washed in from the Great Barrier Reef. On our way there and back, which was just over 4km altogether, we were passed several times by a couple of rangers on bikes, who seemed to be scoping out the area to see if it would be suitable for an official bike trail – the earlier parts of the walk probably would have been fine but as we got closer to the coast, the path got very narrow along a steep drop and tree roots and large rocks were shooting up all over the place, so I’m guessing they probably decided against it in the end! It was quite amusing when they first passed us as they stopped to ask us whether we would ride a bike along there if we were allowed, at the same time as one of them just randomly fell off his bike after misjudging how far away a tree was that he went to lean against! We promptly gestured towards the guy picking himself up and replied “probably not, mate”, whilst trying our best to hold back laughter!

We also had a lovely lunch on our final day at Airlie Beach at a place just across the road from our apartment called ‘Banjo’s Bar and Bistro’, where they offered a ‘2 for 1’ deal on a selection of meals twice a week. They had a couple of specials included in the deal, and Emma had a chicken kiev and Craig had a beef madras pie. It was probably one of the best meals that we have had over here and was an absolute bargain at only $10 each! We spent the rest of our last day down at Airlie Beach, where Craig bought some new sunglasses as his had somehow became ridiculously cracked, and we took a few photos of the beach and also of this MASSIVE backpack that Ripcurl had in front of their shop – we assume it was just for show but we found it quite amusing!

We loved Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays – it’s such a stunning part of the world and we feel very lucky to have got to explore the area and the islands – the views are breath-taking and the water always looked so inviting, even when it was overcast and pouring it down with rain! Next stop – Townsville!

---