Whitehaven Heaven

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Today we took a ferry to Whitsunday Island, which is not only the largest of the 74 Whitsunday Islands, but also home of Whitehaven Beach, one of the best beaches in the world!

Along the way, the ferry stopped briefly at Hamilton Island, which is the most commercialized of the islands. It has the capacity to sleep 5000 people per night, and has heaps of shops.

Now, on to the main attraction... Whitsunday Island is a National Park, so there is no facilities on the beach, but you can camp there if you want. It has a beautiful, white sand beach. The sand is about 98% pure silica (I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but I can tell you that it makes a damn fine beach!) The sand was like baby powder (compared to the sand on the Gold Coast, which was like brown sugar without the stickiness). They aren't exactly sure why the sand it so gorgeous on this one Island, but they think it may have something to do with 2 of the earth's plates that rub together close by.

The weather wasn't all that great, it almost rained on us on the beach, but settled for just spitting down a few drops. It also rained on the ferry ride back to mainland, and during our drive back to Townsville.

Oz Oddities:
- The ferry picked up a lot of construction workers on Hamilton Island on the way home, and we estimate that they averaged about 2 beers each on the ferry ride home
- Nice road signs along the highway that say things like "Tired Drivers Die".
- The air conditioning is ALWAYS on, no matter what the temperature is outside.

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