Whitsundays Winter Getaway, June 2009

My very good and beautiful friend and her partner now live and work in Airlie Beach. After moving from Brisbane in Queensland, I haven't being coping so well with the cold winter temperature in Victoria, and with an opportunity to visit family in Brisbane, I was able to take a little side trip to heaven and spent 4 days up in the warmth of this lovely part of the Sunshine State.

There are 74 islands in the Whitsunday group in North Queensland. The transport and mainland accommodation and eating and meeting hub is Airlie Beach and it's commonly known as the Gateway to the Whitsundays. Airlie Beach is on the mainland in the centre of the 2,000km precinct of the Great Barrier Reef. Holidaymakers and backpackers from all over the world love it here because of the great climate, sailing, the proximity to the reef and the islands, nightlife and all you can eat or drink pubs in the town of Airlie. There's a market on Saturday mornings at Airlie Point which is good fun to wander around and shop, then you can head off to get a cool or cleansing ale at one of the local pubs or stop in and have lunch. There are heaps of tour operators running day trips or adventure tours out of shops on the main street, Shute Harbour Road and you can find cheap or upmarket accommodation here .. whatever your fancy or price range. You can charter yachts to sail around the islands and then choose to moor at many of the beautiful spots available or you can catch the high speed catamarans or ferries that visit the islands and the reef. There is so much to do, you really should get a plan so you don't miss out on anything.

This is winter in the Whitsundays and probably as bad as it gets!

The local Council has built this artificial lagoon right in town at Airlie Beach for use by the public and have a lifeguard on duty. During the hot and humid summers here, which of course also include the stinger season (October through to April), this lagoon is chock a block (full) with locals and tourists taking advantage of its cool and safe swimming. It also has a view out over the water at the sailboats and some of the surrounding offshore islands.

There are many safety signs along beachfronts, on the islands and near waterways to warn the public of the dangers of swimming without precautions in the stinger season.

We drove up to the top of Whitsunday Hill and looked out to the Coral Sea over the construction of the new Port of Airlie which is going to take a few more years to finish yet. There will be apartments, waterfront homes, retail areas and marina berths.

I wandered along the Bicentennial Walkway from town, around past beaches and the panoramic sea vistas. The pathways and boardwalks go for 3km connecting to each other, starting in town at Airlie Beach, past the lagoon, Abel Point Marina, Shingley Beach and linking up to Cannonvale.







Abel Point Marina stretches from the Point to Shingley Beach.






The Waterline on Shingley has beautiful views out over the marina and the Coral Sea and is fully air-conditioned. The food is absolutely fantastic and so fresh. You should try the seafood curry or the scallops or the crocodile tail entree or the amazing looking house specialty seafood platter, or, or, or!!!!! The wine selection is decently priced too.

Here's the website if you get a chance to get there - http://www.waterlineonshingley.com.au/

The atmosphere here is so relaxing, you feel like you are on an island, not the mainland.

Next was a day trip to Daydream Island. We caught the cat from Shute Harbour and within 10 minutes we were stepping onto the marina at Daydream.

Hello Paradise!! Hotel and suite accommodation, swimming pools, restaurants, cafes, shopping, tours, watersports, gyms, bars and spas and an open air cinema PLUS ... there is wedding chapel, mini golf and giant chess. Not bad for 10 minutes from the mainland.

The atrium

My favourite feature on this island is the Living Coral Reef Lagoons that meander through the island. The living reef is the largest manmade living coral reef lagoon in the world and was designed with conservation of the Barrier Reef's marine animals and corals in mind. The live coral and marine specimens have been collected under license and there are said to be more than 80 species of fish and 50 varieties of coral as well as starfish and anemones. I saw parrot fish, clown fish (known as Nemo's because of the animated movie), wrasse, barramundi, angel fish, red emperor, sharks and stingrays. You can hand feed the fish here including the sharks and stingrays which is pretty special. The water is pumped from the ocean and replenished all the time and when there is a lagoon staff member around, they are always helpful at answering your questions about the marine life in the lagoon.

The rays come right up to the water's edge to be fed.
Soft corals are growing and damsel fish love hanging around.

A juvenile Red Emperor showing his colours. Their stripes start out light and then darken and then go pink, then red. A bit like a mood ring!

Yes, that would be a shark with its ever present remora friend.

Starfish, seashells, soft and hard corals

The human's lagoon - sparkling clean - no chompies in here.

The pristine clear waters of Lovers Cove at Daydream Island.

Once you're all loved up you can get hitched at the Island's Chapel.

More stinger warnings on the island and some treated vinegar in case of stings.

The ladies of Mermaid Point.

These funny little birds with long legs and huge eyes are bush stone curlews, found all over Daydream Island. They co-habitate with the tourists, cockatoos and currawongs.

Oh, and the local wallabies who mostly like to sunbake on the warm sand and munch on the resort's lush lawns.

Catamaran sailing boats on Mermaid Beach

My day at the island is over, so off on the boat back to Shute Harbour and Airlie Beach.

The swing moorings in Shute Harbour are very protected and coveted by those who have managed to get one.

Brooms Head, New South Wales, Australia - 2004

Brooms Head was originally known as Cakora Point, the name Brooms Head was first used in 1870 when a broom thought to have come from the wreck of the schooner 'Eureka', was washed up on the beach. Brooms Head is one of those places where time seems to stand still and it still has the little fishing village feel. You can get a great view from the lookout or go fishing around the headland and it's only a three and a half hour drive from Brisbane. It was a fantastic and inexpensive place for a family holiday with a younger child. There are beautiful beaches and scenery and you can go fishing off the beach or the rocks. We stayed in 2 bedroom cabin at the Brooms Head Caravan Park which comfortably housed our group of 3 kids and 4 adults. You look out from the cabin over to the ocean and you are surrounded by the Yuraygir National Park.





We drove 10km south through the park down to the Sandon River and the Sandon Beach picnic and camping grounds. We saw kangaroos and coastal emus along the way going through the National Park.

The village of Sandon is settled on the southern side of the River across from the camping ground and can only be reached by travelling along the beach from Minnie Water or by boat. The beach near the estuary is peaceful and secluded and we spent the day there making sandcastles, burying the kids and turning them into sand sculptures of mermaids, fishing and swimming in the shallows.

Ta dah!!! What kid doesn't just love building sandcastles (or adult for that matter). I spent the day helping to make the turrets. Good for the upper arms I say.

Smiles all 'round. Didn't cost anything to build either.

At the northern end of the beach, near the ocean, large rocky pools are exposed at low tide and you can explore Plover Island by foot at low tide.

Caloundra, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia - 2008

The view from our apartment at Kings Beach Caloundra out to the shipping lane.

This poor brown snake was found on the beach very tired after being washed out to sea in a storm. The ranger suggested it may have come from a tiny island about 200m out from the beach. All it wanted to do was find a nice warm rock to hide under. PS - they are usually very agressive and poisonous.

Moreton Island - Queensland, Australia - 2004

Moreton Bay consists of a 100km expanse of water and is sheltered by a band of long sand islands. The eastern beaches of these islands, Bribie, Moreton, North Stradbroke and South Stradbroke are pounded by the Pacific Ocean and it is said that there are 365 sheltered islands in the bay.

We took our 4WD Pajero and visiting Uncle and Aunt from England on a 40km trip on the vehicular ferry the 'Combie Trader' departing from Scarborough Point on the mainland. The ferry crossing over Moreton Bay took about 2 hours until we drove off onto the beach at Bulwer. We had booked to stay in a room above the local shops. This was a good find, it could sleep 10 people and was very reasonably priced, plus the local store and bottle shop were downstairs and you were only about a 100m walk back to the beach. Bulwer is the site of a 19th century pilot station for ships entering Moreton Bay and was established in 1848 and closed in 1909. Now there are only some holiday homes, a general store, fishing supply shop and a petrol bowser. There are three scuttled boats from 1930 which were used to form a small boat harbour now lying on the beach.



Moreton Island is a large sand island noted for the height of its hills. Mount Tempest is said to the highest permanent sand mountain in the world at approximately 273 m. The 17,000 hectare island itself is 94% protected National Park and is surrounded by the waters of the Moreton Bay Marine Park.

Moreton Island was for thousands of years home to the "Ngugi" Aboriginal people. Captain Cook passed through the bay 1770 on the Endeavour and Matthew Flinders entered Moreton Bay in 1799 exploring southwards to the bay islands.

There are heaps of walking tracks to explore the sandhills and beaches, some are around 8-9km long. Camping is very popular and permits must be acquired from barge operators or rangers before a visit.

Tangalooma is the island's main settlement, where there is a resort transformed from the old whaling station that operated from 1951 until 1962, an artificial reef 'the Wrecks' made from 15 scuttled barges is great for snorkelling and viewing fish. The beach directly in front of the resort is purely for guests only - no 4wd and no pedestrian traffic. The Resort allows groups to hand feed dolphins (at a cost of course). This is a very popular resort for day trippers and weekenders because of its close proximity to Brisbane.

Blue Lagoon lake is the largest freshwater lake on the Island. The water is refreshed by rainwater filtered by the surrounding dunes. The sand here is white as white and pure.

You can purchase a permit for 4 wheel drive and off road access on the island as there are no sealed roads.

The inland 'highway', a 7km sandy track which winds up to camping grounds at Eagers Creek. You can head to Cape Moreton or Reeders Point.

Birds like honeyeaters, quails, kites, sea-eagles, pelicans are found here. Bandicoots are the largest marsupial found on the island, there are no kangaroos, wallabies or koalas. The island's waters are ideal for spotting marine life such as dugongs, dolphins, manta rays and turtles and Cape Moreton is a perfect spot to whale watch during the humpback migrations during June through to November as it rises 100m above sea level and offers views south to Stradbroke Island, west to Bribie Island and the Glass House Mountains and north and east across the Pacific Ocean. Cape Moreton also boasts Queensland's 1st Lighthouse, a 23m tower built in 1857 by prisoners out of local sandstone, but the actual lighthouse is closed to the public.