The Whitsunday Islands

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November 15, 2010

We left Sydney and flew north to the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef with high hopes of meeting up with sunny weather. It was about a two hour flight to Hamilton Island where we had reservations at the Palm Bungalow Resort. The accommodations were cute - basically a cabin (bungalow) with a small kitchen and bathroom.

Unfortunately, it rained for most of the 48 hours we were there, so lots of sleeping and relaxing occurred. On one of the breaks from the rain we did take advantage of the clear sky and attempted to go snorkeling. Though we saw absolutely nothing snorkeling, the water was amazingly warm - practically like bath water, and it didn’t even reach eighty degrees that day. Can you imagine what that water would be like on a hot day?

From Hamilton we ferried over to the mainland and headed to Airlie Beach. No one actually swims in the ocean at Airlie Beach due to the deadly iracongi jellyfish. Iracongi are supposedly most dangerous to the young and old. Considering I am caring as young as it gets, we stayed away from the ocean water. Instead, Airlie Beach provides a huge public lagoon (which Sean has decided he wants in his backyard one day).

In the parking lot by the lagoon there were decorated vans and trucks full of Backpackers. The lagoon seemed to be a big hang out spot for them as well. Backpacking seems to be the most popular way to travel in Australia. There are tons of deals for Backpackers on excursions as well, so Sean, of course, inquired as to how to prove one was a Backpacker. Apparently you can buy a Backpacker card at any of the shops in town for $37.00 to prove your Backpacker status. I have a feeling that if I was not carrying our child right now, we may have been investing in those cards.

In case anyone is looking for an investment opportunity, I suggest you come out this way, buy a house, and rent it out to Backpackers. Our Canadian waitress that we met at a bar/restaurant called Hog’s Breath (yes, that is why we went there) told us she was staying in a house with eleven other people for $100 a week. She also informed us that waitstaff in Australia make around $16-$18 an hour! Keep in mind, they don’t usually receive tips, but still . . . not a bad deal. Tipping, in general, in Australia is not standard - bars, restaurants, taxis, etc.

Weather.com told us Wednesday would be our sunny day this week, so we decided to book an excursion to go to Whitehaven Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven wonders of the world. The morning did not hold up to weather.com’s prediction but off we went (We were used to this by now). Brothers and Captains, Dan & Shane, welcomed us aboard their boat, Xpress Whitsunday, where we were joined by about sixteen other people from around the world. It was about a forty minute ride to a lookout called Hill Inlet where you hike up to look down at the beautiful swirling sands of Whitehaven Beach. Whitehaven Beach is on Whitsunday Island itself. (All of the islands in this area are referred to as the Whitsunday Islands but no one actually inhabits Whitsunday itself.) From the inlet we could also see tons of Stingray (that the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was killed by). In better news, the sun peeked out from behind a cloud - sunshine was in our future!

From the inlet we boated over to the southern part of the beach where we had a couple of hours to hang out as the Brothers prepared an Australian Barbecue for us. As a precaution we were all encouraged to rent stinger suits for swimming and snorkeling. They would supposedly protect us from the iracongi jellyfish and box jellyfish (deadlier and bigger than the jellyfish - if you get stung near the heart or throat you are dead immediately). They're basically like a wetsuit with stirrups, a hood, and mittens for your hands. I traveled over to the beach with most of the travelers by boat. Sean decided to put on his suit and dive into the ocean from the top of the boat and swim ashore.


The barbecue was fun. We had a chance to get to know some of the other travelers. At out table were two women from Belgium - one was visiting her friend who was working in Sydney, and a guy from Brazil who was in Australia studying as an agricultural engineer. We discussed the differences in vacation time between our countries. In Belgium pregnant women get three months paid and can take off work up to a year with jobs guaranteed when they come back!

The last stop on our excursion was snorkeling, so we got dressed head to toe in our condom suits, masks, and flippers and swam out to the reef. There was certainly a range of fish, but it couldn’t compare to scuba diving in Mexico or snorkeling in St. John. The coolest thing we saw was this massive clam. Sean found a stick to gently touch it with and we watched it protectively retract into its shell (http://bit.ly/bYFNee ). The coral was also very impressive - so many colors, shapes and sizes.

Another forty minute ride back to Airlie Beach ended our excursion. We thanked Captain Shane & Dan, counted our blessings that the weather had held out, and headed back to our hotel.

Our remaining days in Airlie Beach were some of the worst storms we had experienced yet. It managed to calm down at night, so we ventured out into town. We chowed down at our favorite greek place Cafe Mykonos (We had been there twice already - super fresh chicken and lamb gyros.) and headed to one of the main bars in town, Magnums. We had been persuaded to come in by the advertised American Idol Karaoke contest. It proved to be an entertaining experience. The bar had about thirty to forty backpackers lingering around looking for a good time. We watched a series of games, led by the DJ, from who could imitate the best orgasm to a heads/tails quarter toss where if you guessed wrong you had to remove an article of clothing (Yes, it did whittle down to topless girls in panties). There did not seem to be any sign of karaoke happening, so we eventually peaced out.

All in all, Airlie Beach was a relaxing experience, and I’m sure it would have been even more so it we’d had good weather. That said, my beach recommendation if you visit Australia? Bondi all the way.

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