Advertisement
Published: January 16th 2017
Edit Blog Post
Heron Island!
Our first glimpse of Heron Island! We travelled to Australia for Christmas and we stopped at Heron Island for 5 nights. This is the most amazing place on earth we have ever been to (Right up there with Tibet!) The boat ride from Gladstone to the Island was only 2 and a half hours and was calm. When we could see Heron Island in our sights it was like looking at the photos we had seen when we researched this place. Stunning turquoise blue water that was crystal clear and white sandy beach. When we were walking along the jetty we could see a couple of sharks swimming past and so many parrot fish! There was a quick 15 minutes talk about the hotel and grounds then off to find our room and explore the island. Our room had lovely views of the ocean and we had a little seating area outside, there were trees all around us with so many birds nesting. It was very noisy! It was lovely sitting there and watching all the babies being fed, we saw so many different types. The island grounds were keep very nice, every now and then a bird or two would run or fly past you! Restaurant
Heron Island!
Amazing white sand was really nice and food tasty. There was a great pool, my 2 children had great fun while I sat and watched the world go by and admiring the views....they were outstanding!
Swimming on the reef was amazing and so much to explore under water. The water is so clear and I was able to get some great underwater photos! I am not a strong swimmer, I tend to stay in waters where my feet can touch the sand but I took the plunge and swam out to deeper water and I am so glad I did! The coral was so pretty and so many different types and colours with hundreds of fish swimming in and out. When my husband went out swimming he saw a few turtles munching by the coral! We saw stingrays, huge turtles and sharks swimming past. I was snorkelling on my own in shallow waters and as I turned I came face to face to one of these sharks!!! They are not that big but still frightened the life out of me!!! I don't think I have seen sand so white....when the sun was shining bright, the sand on the sea bed was so
bright white it stung my eyes!
On our last day we took the boys for a walk around the reef area while the water was shallow. There was so many colourful fish around that the boys could see up close. We also saw a few star fish, sea cucumber and a couple of crabs. My eldest son, Matthew loved exploring on his own and he spent an hour and a half using his GoPro filming and taking pictures of all the fish and coral. I on the other hand spent hours taking photos and filming! The coral was stunning and I found so many colourful fish darting around and the more you stood still and watched the more fish could be spotted!
Apart from swimming on the reef, the other reason we chose to visit Heron Island was to come a see the sea turtles. December time the turtles come up to the beach to lay their eggs. The best time to see this was around midnight. My husband and I got up in the middle of the night and walked along the beach to find not 1 or 2 but 8 turtles digging holes and
Heron Island!
So many pretty fish laying their eggs. The only sound that could be heard was the waves out on the edge of the reef and the sand flying! It was so still and only the only light was from the moon shining bright. We sat for ages just watching these amazing creatures. We were also lucky enough to see 2 more crawling from the sea up to the beach and we watched 3 crawling back to the sea......such a fantastic sight, not one that many people are lucky to see. Worth getting up at midnight to see this once in a life time chance to see! The following night I woke my eldest son up and took him to see the turtles.....we only saw 2 that night but still an amazing night. On our last day I took my 2 children for a walk around the island in the afternoon and we came across a turtle so my youngest got to see the turtles laying eggs and crawling back to the sea and swim away too.
We went on a nice boat / semi sub trip. This was great for kids. It took you to the edge of the reef and we saw
Heron Island!
And beautiful sunsets.... millions of colourful fish and we saw a couple of big turtles, sharks and a big stingray. To get close to the amazing sea life was amazing. It is like another world down there!
We also went on a little tour of the island, the lady was full of information. A lot of info! You could tell this was a passion of hers! At the end of the tour we could visit the touch pool and get up close and touch a few creatures of the sea! The sea cucumbers were interesting!!!! We live in China and have only seen these served up on a plate! My youngest son William enjoyed watching the blue star fish, I am amazed that he even touched it! This is a nice area for children.
The sky at night was so pretty. We did try to go on the star gazing walk but the night it was on was too cloudy.
Our time on Heron Island is one that we will treasure forever. So many memories were made during our stay. We felt so relaxed, it is a very calming place. It was so nice to be in a place where
there is no internet and no mobile phones. Pure Heaven!!!! We were very sad when it was time to leave.
We would recommend this place if you get the chance to go! I have read a couple bad reviews....take no notice of them!!! You go to Heron Island for 2 main reasons:
To swimming on the amazing reef and to see the millions of birds that come to nest on the island. And turtles if you come during turtle season!!!! You spend most of your time outside exploring this amazing wildlife. Who cares if the room is a little small or the hairdryer wasn't working.....
This place has to be on your bucket list / wish list!!!!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.082s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0586s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb