Whitsundays & a bit inland

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What a fabulous week we've had. I keep thinking it doesn't get any better and then all my expectations are surpassed again! We travelled from Townsville down to the Whitsunday islands, actually staying at Airlie Beach which is the "Gateway" to the islands. We stayed on a Big4 campsite again this time as they are such great places for kids with playparks, swimming pools, jumping pillows etc so it allows Kiera to make a few friends and gives us a bit of a break entertaining her. We arrived on the Friday night and had to make a rapid decision in 15 minutes (not hard for hasty decision me) as to whether to go on a trip to the Barrier Reef the next day, thereby getting a free trip to a couple of the islands on the Monday. As in my normal fashion, I threw a load of brochures at long-suffering Rik, gabbled all the info in 2 minutes flat, grabbed some money, and we were booked on! The poor bloke only wanted a cup of tea after driving for 7 hours......
Anyway, an early start the next day saw us on the big Fantasea catamaran heading for the Barrier Reef. We had intended to go with that company anyway as it was very geared for kids, with a big floating pontoon, kids club, submarine etc. It looked utterly beautiful when we arrived; I will never be able to describe the colours of the water around the reef and we had a great 4 hours there. Rik did lots of snorkelling but after getting all kitted out (Wetsuits the lot - oh the shame - lucky I didn't know anyone!) the tide changed and the current was very strong for Kiera. She got a bit freaked and in the end would not go in snorkelling. To be honest, it is incredibly deep where the coral wall is and is a big disconcerting where it shelves away into the deep water, coupled with the millions of fish swimming around, its no wonder she got spooked. Me and her had a great time though in the little shallow cage pool that they have for children and we were lying on our fronts looking at all the fish through the snorkel masks. We all went on the little submarine as well so we got to see all of the coral and the resident big fish Wally the Maori Wrasse - You would be hard pushed to find an uglier creature, but he was quite sweet.
On the way back we were so lucky to see hump back whales which are breeding in the Whitsunday waters at the moment and also some dolphins; we hope to go on a whale spotting trip from Hervey Bay further down the coast.
Monday saw us on a trip to Hamilton Island which is a nice resort island, and then an afternoon on Whitehaven Beach. It is the purest beach in the world being made of pure silica, and they still don't know why. The sand was squeaky underfoot and so white it was blinding. The water was lovely and warm and we saw turtles swimming along.
We had some pictures taken and you can see them if you want by going to:
http://photos.hamiltonisland.com.au
click on the left hand side where it says Whitehaven
click on the album marked Whitehaven B 31.07.06 (Brendan)(166) and you will see our photos near the top. Kiera is in pink sun suit and we have our England towel on display; he wanted us to hold the Aussie one!!! The photos only stay on for about 6 weeks so you will have to be quick.
After the Whitsundays, we drove to Eungella National Park to look at the Platypuses. The drive up was lovely and the view of Pioneer Valley from the top of the mountain was stunning. The whole of the pioneer valley is a big sugar cane and sugar producing area and it smelt just like the sugar factory at Bury St Edmunds! Our campsite was perched on the edge of the mountain and although basic, was worth it for the view. We went off the see the platypuses just before dusk and we had to be patient. Trying to explain the concept of keeping quiet and patience to Kiera was a bit difficult - not helped by the fact we were being stalked by a bush turkey!!! We did eventually see a few platypuses though which was great and probably something we will never see again as they only live in Australia and in certain areas.
This is quite a long blog entry, so I will sign off now and update again later with our exploits at Gem Fossiking!
Keep safe and lots of love xxxxx

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Comments

[Mum/Nanny]

No Whitehaven photo
Just looked at the wHITEHAVEN SITE YOU GAVE AND NO PHOTO OF YOU - PERHAPS THEY DIDN'T WANT YOU HOLDING THE UK FLAG INSTEAD OF THE AUSSIE ONE! cONTINUE TO HAVE FUN XXX