We FINALLY got our luggage around 10pm on our second night (Thursday, July 3) - this was the same day as the Seaflight cruise. So we finally got clothes, toothbrushes etc :) We were thrilled, to say the least.
Friday, July 4: A "free day" - nothing planned for the itinerary. So we took a walk along the Boardwalk to Able Point Marina and on towards... well... I forget the name of the beach... but it was a nice long walk. Pretty sure it was about 3km... Bryan might have to correct me on that. After getting back to Airlie Beach we decided to take in a little bit of sun by the lagoon (which I, regrettably, did not take pictures of). That night, so that we could celebrate the 4th of the July properly, we found the closest thing to American as we could and ate dinner at a Tex-Mex restaurant :) where I finally found a descent margarita. :) We also discovered that Absinthe was on the menu, and - seeing as how it's illegal in the States - thought it'd be something worth trying. Fearful of its potency, however, we split the shot in half :)
Saturday, July 5: Today we boarded the Camira, a smaller, sailing catamaran destined for snorkeling and Whitehaven Beach. It was a nice, relaxing trip. The wind kicked up a bit, but this was more than welcomed by the crew. The cruise included snorkeling, buffet lunch, morning and afternoon tea and also an "open bar" that consisted of two brews of Aussie beer and a Chardonnay. This became interesting as the ship had a large group of men that seemed to be enjoying themselves more than others. But it was all good fun. None got too out of hand. In fact, they happily welcomed Bryan in a game of cricket once we arrived at Whitehaven Beach. It was hilarious! They kept calling him "USA" whilst trying to teach him the ways of cricket. Although, I'm pretty sure he has yet to really understand the game. Whitehaven was BEAUTIFUL. The beach consists of 98% pure silica sand. It's protected from the currents from the ocean bringing in any other material, keeping it white, powdery and beautiful. We were able to come back to it during our final outing. Tonight we transferred to an Island Lodge on Long Island (within the Whitsunday Islands). Again, we were less than satisfied with our living arrangements, but made due with what we were given.
Sunday, July 6: Now on Long Island and with another free day, we decided to go for a morning Bush Walk with the hotel activities staff. Nothing spectacular, but nice to get out and see a little more of the island. Following this we took in the sun at the beach, and I gained enough courage to jump into the water and do a little waterskiing with the watersports crew that was stationed with the hotel. I fell.... a lot.... but it was still really nice to get back onto the ski after two years.
Monday, July 7: Our final outing... Ocean Rafting. Today got cloudy and was even more windy... but it made for an exciting ride on the water. :) We returned to another section of Whitehaven Beach called the Hill Inlet.... you'll see the pictures for this... where the sand bars just run into each other and the water curves back into the mountains. After the lookout, we ate lunch on the beach. This sand was even whiter than the sand from the previous Whitehaven beach!! It was beautiful!!! After jetting out on the water again, we found a prime snorkeling spot where we were able to see more Reef and an abundance of beautiful fish. Unfortunately I don't have the pictures of this yet - as we haven't developed our underwater pictures yet... but I'll get them up as soon as I can.
Tuesday, July 8: After a delicious buffet breakfast at the Long Island Resort, we were off, back to Brisbane.
The trip was amazing!! I would go back in a flash and would recommend it to everyone!
Click on the picture below to go to slideshow of all the pictures from the trip.
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