Day 205 - Friday 21 July - Whitehaven Beach and Hamilton Island

Day 205

Friday

21 July 2017

Airlie Beach – Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island – Hamilton Island

OMG! 5.10am buzzer this morning. When I shook off the sleep and went to the loo, it was still dark, the stars were still twinkling and the moon was out. It was a shock to the system. We had set out everything yesterday as we knew that we would be in no state to make decisions.

We made our way to the front of the park, a very pale pink tinge beginning to blush over the black. The courtesy bus was waiting for us and we were ferried to the port of Airlie, picked up our tickets and then waited at the café, as more of the day greeted us. It was quite cool, about 8°C, so our jackets were needed.

We boarded the Cruise Whitsundays boat, Sea Quest, just before 7am and began our journey to Hamilton Island. It was an easy run, nothing like the seas between Rotto and the mainland of Perth. I kept my eye out for whales but saw none while Paul used the iPad to write up his info on last night’s do.

We arrived at Hamilton island Marina at about 8am, collecting further passengers. I recognised the familiar streetscape of Front Street though the sailing club has been updated significantly. We didn't hang around for long and then we continued on for a further hour making our way to Whitsunday Island and the famous Whitehaven Beach.

A seaplane landed just as we were being ferried from the Sea Quest to the shore. Once on the beach we had free reign. We opted to walk the short end of the beach first and take in the view of the white sand and turquoise water. We then made our way towards the longer stretch. Much of the beach has been lost due to Cyclone Debbie, though they say it is slowly returning. The vegetation is also struggling to repair itself. Apparently not a single leaf remained after the storm but there is some green now. There were also a lot of downed trees that will take some time to disintegrate.

After completing our beach walk, we followed the loop path through the dishevelled bush to a large rock outcrop where we had great views of Whitehaven as well as the islands and the beautiful water.

When we returned to the beach, we set out our towels and had a lay down on the sand, something that Paul very rarely will do.

It wasn't for long though, as we were ushered back on board at 11.30am ready to head back to Hamilton Island. We sat out side so I could enjoy the view. We chatted with a young couple and at 12.30pm we were docked back at marina and off to find the Tavern where we were to have our lunch.

We sat out on the deck, ordered up and enjoyed the view over the marina, as we had a drink and our meal. We then made the move up the hill and over to the resort. As we did so, much of it came rushing back to me, recognising many of the buildings and facilities from my stay 17 years ago. We took in the view of the pools and the retreating Coral Sea. We pulled up a couple of sun lounges and enjoyed the sun as we reclined by the water.

Once warmed, we decided we would hop on the free island shuttle bus and make our way to one tree hill lookout to take in the views of the resort and some of the 74 islands that make up the Whitsundays. It was the perfect spot for the selfies and panoramic shots.

We jumped on the next bus for a quick run in the opposite direction before being returned to the front of the office.

We made our way to Sails restaurant, where I had spent most of my evenings when I was last here drinking Toblerone cocktails and I was determined to revisit my favourite. We found a comfy sofa in the corner with views of the pool and ocean and sat back and enjoyed.

When I was done, we returned to the pool and lounged about for another 30min before making the trek back over the hill to the marina. We had a look in the gift shop and then found a bench in the sun to sit and wait for the returning ferry, by 5pm we were back on the water and heading for home.

The sun was beginning to set and giving a golden glow to the islands. As we cruised back we passed many islands with resorts that appeared to be abandoned, not due to the cyclone, but because they went into receivership. It was really a shame seeing the ghost towns on the edge of the water.

One of the many abandoned resorts we saw

We made it back to the Port of Airlie for 6pm and thankfully our bus was there waiting for us, we were also fortunate to be the first group taken home and we were back in the park by 6.10pm. It was a quick unpack and then dinner was straight on.

After eating I spent some time catching up on blog stuff, which I have neglected over the past few days, however the day caught up with me and it wasn’t long before I was looking for bed.