Airlie Beach Stopover

Airlie Beach stopover

By the time we leave Australia I will have spent eight days here in Airlie Beach, both working hard on the boat and being a tourist. The latter has certainly been the most enjoyable so I am going to forget about UNICEF for the moment and concentrate on the more pleasurable things in life.

Cousin Anne and her family have come up here from Sydney for a short holiday, somewhere they have ever been to before, so I have been able to spend time with them. The day after they arrived Anne, Andrew and I headed out to Shute Harbour to the east of Airlie Beach and went for a short walk through endangered tropical rain forest and along a lovely coral sand beach to a lookout point over the sea. It was good to get out of the sun and to walk along a beautiful shady track down to the beach where there were warnings about estuarine crocodiles. Luckily none were spotted and we returned safe and sound.

The following day I went for a short flight over The Whitsundays and outer reef with some Clipper friends. I had thought long and hard before booking as it wasn't cheap but I am so glad I splashed out. Looking at it all from the air gave me a sense of perspective and has helped put it all into context. I hadn't realised how rocky and rugged the interior of these small islands are, and I imagine totally impenetrable on foot. We saw Shute Harbour and then further out Dent Island where a couple of the UNICEF boys went to play golf the other day. Then on to fly over Whitehaven Beach where I am snorkelling later today and a further 10 minutes offshore to the outer reef.

The plane dropped down to about 500 ft over the reef so we got a reasonable view on what was going on down below. A large Ray was spotted 'flying' through the water along with a shark by someone else. It was then over to see the iconic heart shaped piece of reef that is on all the tourist brochures. It is only about 17metres wide so if you blink at the wrong time you miss it. The pilot was a great help and counted down from about 15 seconds so that the iconic picture could be taken. It was also interesting to see a 'river' course through the reef with diving platforms and boats moored up for the ultimate diving experience. There were sea planes on the beaches and small helicopters on floating landing pads - so a well visited area.

As I said earlier it was great to see it all from the air and I now look forward to visiting it from the sea, though unfortunately not the outer reef. It takes about three hours to get to the outer reef by boat, six hours travel time in total, and I think I will have enough boat time over the next few weeks not to worry about missing this trip.

Our boat trip started on the jetty being given a 'stinger' suit which is an all in one light weight suit that everyone wears to protect them from being stung by jellyfish. Practical though not particularly beautiful. We then got into a large inflatable boat that had 'Ocean Rafting' down  one side and after a quick safety briefing off we went. This was not a trip for the faint hearted and we sped along at just under 28 knots. A little bumpy but nothing like it could have been with waves coming over bow.

We had a lovely day snorkelling on a small reef off Hamilton Island, a walk to a look out overlooking Whitehaven Beach and then lunch on the beach followed by a swim - in a stinger suit. So wonderful to be sharing this experience with Anne and her family.

We are leaving tomorrow and I have typically run out of time. Watches and rotas still have to be be done and I haven't started to pack yet. Still, it will all be completed by tomorrow morning, well hopefully.

Thank you to everyone who is following this blog and to those that are supporting me with their thoughts. Da Nang, Vietnam, is our next stop and our expected arrival window is between 17th - 21st February, to leave on the 27th. My camera has died so not many photos on the next Leg but I will do my best with iPad and phone.

Take care everyone and bye for now.
Kate xx