Whitsundays - Jetskiing

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We slept in and lounged about the room for a bit in the morning, making it to breakfast just as they were about to finish service. Sonia and John returned to the marina after breakfast to watch the daily feeding of the giant grouper. The skies were again a beautiful blue, but it was much windier than the previous day and our plans for waterskiing had to be cancelled due to the wind. As an alternative, we were offered an opportunity to go jet-skiing which we accepted, although Andrew was quite disappointed that he was not old enough (16 yrs) to be allowed to drive. The tentative plan was that John and Lauren would drive two jet-skis and Sonia and Andrew would ride on back, but Sonia ultimately decided to stay on land and shoot photographs instead. Our instructor clearly thought it was not the greatest day for jet-skiing (high winds, choppy water, potential for rain), but we decided to give it a try anyway. Lauren took to it quite naturally and John had a good time although was constantly worried that Andrew would fall off the back. Jet-skis turn out to be surprisingly simple to drive and surprisingly hard to screw up. We zipped back and forth following the instructor for an hour, reaching speeds of 40 knots if we were reading the dashboard displays correctly. We occasionally found some flat water but spent most of the time bouncing over waves, stopping occasionally to look for turtles around the edges of some of the smaller islands (we didn’t see any). It turns out that Andrew also was constantly worried that Andrew would fall off the back. His knuckles were white when back on land and provided a colorful account of being constantly sprayed in the face, wet, cold, out-of-control, and so happy to be back on land. At that point, Sonia was sure she would not have enjoyed riding on the back with daredevil, Lauren at the helm and was very happy indeed that she had chosen to sit this one out. Afterwards, we had a late lunch by the pool and relaxed through the late afternoon, with Sonia shooting photos while John and Andrew goofed around in the warm freshwater pool. Lauren opted out of our later dinner reservation at Bamboo to get some sleep. After a very pleasant meal and a little TV in the room, the rest of us joined her.

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Photos

Bush Stone Curlews
These birds frequent the restaurants on Hayman Island. Their brown blends in with the decor of many places, so they are constantly a surprise. They were not too pesky and we enjoyed watching them while we ate.

Jacko, the 500 pound grouper
Cute, eh He frequents the docks and is available at the scheduled feeding times for 9 months of the year.

Jacko coming up for food
The video is better, but you can see his open mouth here. He is big, fast, and makes the kids scream.

Lauren on Jet Ski
She was a natural! The instructor/guide called her a speed demon.

Jet Ski: Andrew Rides on Back
Too young to drive, Andrew must ride on back. He had to hang on for dear life! Says he hated every minute of the wet, cold, blind and out-of-control experience, but thought he would like to drive one himself. Sonia is happy she opted not to ride on back with Lauren in charge.

Friendly Swan
This beautiful swan graces the pond at Hayman and comes over to greet visitors. All the animals, and even Jacko, the grouper, come over to greet people. Okay, not the wallabies.

Blue Lotus -- Lilly Pad
Wow -- these were gorgeous, with luminous yellow centers and deep blue petals.