Airlie Beach & Whitsunday Islands

---

Aside of being the gateway to the dreamy Whitsunday Islands, Airlie Beach is also a little town with a beautiful harbour, a nice broadwalk and a relaxing swimming lagoon.

We though it would be fun and something else to sleep on a camping, so we experienced this town a bit different by sleeping in a cute tipi tent. What we totally forgot dough, is that kitchens in campings usually are not equipped.. As followed we bought a lot of food, which we discovered couldn't be cooked. Lucky, ressource full as we are, we could manage to borrow some equipments from other backpackers and create ourself some plates from our plastic waste. Despite this little snag, we fancied a lot the tennis court and watching the hunderds of multicolored birds being fed.

What we tough was pretty unusual, is that they offer beach walks on camels. Imagine our faces by seeing some camels passing by, while we were strolling through a little market at the beachfront. In the afternoon, we enjoyed the refreshment of the pool, as swimming in the sea is not an opinion during the stinger season.

The last day, we sailed on a beautiful catamaran to the Whitsunday Islands. As the islands are sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef, there are no crashing waves and the waters are perfect for sailing. There are 74 islands, wherefrom seven have tourist resorts, but most of them are uninhabited. Of the numerous stunning beaches and secluded bays, we anchored on one of the most beautiful and impressive pure white silica sand beaches in the world, called the Whitehaven Beach. From the sandy fringes the ocean spreads towards the horizon in beautiful shades of crystal, aqua, blue and indigo. Unfortunately, we didn't had the time to go to the mirador to admire this from above, but we enjoyed a little swim (with our special stinger suits of course) in the magnificent crystal blue waters. On our way back, we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets ever, but we prefer to let the pictures talk for us.

---