It all began when I asked Rita to give me some ideas for gifts for her upcoming birthday. I had considered a new watch since hers didn't seem to keep the date very well but I had bought her the watch that was malfunctioning so that didn't seem like such a good idea. She suggested that instead of exchanging gifts for birthdays we should go somewhere on a trip instead. Good idea! As long as I'm invited along, I get to share in her birthday gift.
So we began planning a trip with possibilities of Adelaide or Melbourne but they are further south. Since we are in winter time and in the southern hemisphere, going further south is going closer to the south pole. The equivalent in the USA would be to go from Washington DC to Chicago in the winter. We wanted to go somewhere warmer which means going north towards the equator. We decided on a package deal with Ansett Airlines that included a resort hotel stay, breakfasts and airline tickets. We decided on the Great Barrier Reef!
There are several resorts to choose from in the Coral Sea off Queensland and we decided on Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday Islands. The Whitsunday Islands were named by Captain James Cook, the first European discoverer to explore this area. One account I read says there are about 100 islands all total in the Whitsunday group; our boat captain told us there are 72 islands. So take your pick. At any count, they are beautiful. They actually are called mainland islands because they were coastal mountains connected to the mainland before the Ice Age. They are considered "sunken mountains" and have the same flora and fauna as the mainland.
We left Canberra Thursday morning, July 28 in 21 F degree temperature and flew to Sydney. Our connecting flight took us across the Tropic of Capricorn directly to Hamilton Island which has an airport large enough for small jets. We arrived about 2:00 pm and walked off the plane into temperatures in the 70's. Our bags were taken straight to our room and we were taken to reception. We intended to come to Hamilton and do nothing but relax, read books and lie in the sun. We were advised to attend a meeting on all the activities available and were surprised at how much we could do and how much we wanted to do. There were all sorts of planned activities from crafts, hikes, cruises, games, etc. We opted for a couple of cruises and determined to play the rest by ear.
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Hamilton is the largest of the Whitsunday resorts with the island divided into two main areas. One is the harbor area and the other is the resort. The walk between the two is about fifteen minutes. There are very few cars on the island but hundreds of golf carts that one can rent by the week, day, or hour. I think the only reason Rita and I didn't gain weight on this trip is because we walked everywhere. There are a variety of room types in the resort area from high rise hotel to double story apartments, and individual cabins. We chose the standalone cabins that were built in a tropical style called the Polynesian bure. The bure is the island house used throughout the South Pacific. But ours was a bit nicer, I suspect, with air conditioning, bar with refrigerator, indoor plumbing, and king-size bed. We had a nice front porch that we occasionally sat on and read our books.
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The harbor area has boat docks that can accommodate about 100 boats. It was nearly filled with many fine yachts. In the harbor area are restaurants, gift shops, art galleries and other private businesses. It is very small but does give you options for dinner. The entire island was built up in late 1980s and, with the recession, went bankrupt in 1989. It only recently came out of receivership and is now run by Holiday Inn Crown Plaza. For those of you who think of highway motels when you hear Holiday Inn, overseas they are known for their big, multistory hotels.
Hamilton Island, like the other Whitsundays, has a few beaches, mountain peaks and tropical rain forests. In the 1800s they were used for farms and some of the large hoop pines were cut down by lumber mills. But there are still forests of pines and gum trees with lots of tropical birds and sea birds. We saw plenty of sulfur-crested cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets and even fruit bats which the Australians call flying foxes. Flowers, as well as butterflies, color the islands. Hibiscus seemed to be the most popular flower along with bougainvillea and lots of coconut palm trees. It is very tropical.
Our first day was spent getting oriented to the island and walking around the harbor and resort areas. We signed up for our cruises and planned our days in advance. Since the weather was nice we decided to go to the Great Barrier Reef the next day. The wind picked up some in the evening and a scheduled night trip to the observatory was canceled because of the wind. We had a good seafood dinner at the Mariners restaurant in the harbor area. Rita had local barrimundi while I had Morton Bay bugs, a type of small lobster. We ate outside on the balcony overlooking the harbor and felt sorry for our friends in cold Canberra. Not really; we didn't think of them at all.
Friday morning we woke to clear, sunny skies. Our bure cooled off in the night since we left windows open. We went to the Dolphin Room in the resort for our breakfast buffet. The restaurant is on Catseye Beach and overlooks a tank with two performing dolphins. We were told that one of the dolphins is sick and the two will be transferred to Seaworld on the Gold Coast. I really don't approve of capturing dolphins in tanks but they were fun to watch while eating breakfast. I suppose that without our zoos and aquariums many people would never see these animals in real life.
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After breakfast we packed cameras, towels and suntan lotion and walked to the harbor to catch our boat. Light winds of 10 to 15 knots were forecast along with swells of about one meter and visibility of three meters (10 feet) at the reef. The reef trip left at 9:45 am and returned 4:15 pm for a day at sea. Our ship was run by the FantaSea company and was called the "2000". We headed through the Whitsunday passage and out to fairly rough seas in the 70 kilometers between islands and reef. This is the beginning of the whale season when the humpback whales migrate from cold, polar waters to warmer seas. They come up the Australian coasts and we happened to view three of them very close to the boat. We had seen humpbacks before in Hawaii but they never cease to amaze us with their size.
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Hamilton Island has their own pontoon station that is anchored at the Great Barrier Reef and the boat ties up there while you are served lunch and take part in whatever activities you want. For a fee you could sign up for a scuba course. Snorkel gear is free as was a ride in nice glass bottom boats. We first rode the glass bottom boats to Line Reef with beautiful views of tropical fish, giant clams and corals of all kinds. Then we decided we really had to snorkel the reef even though I'm not a good swimmer and don't like water over my head much less 200 feet deep. We got into wet suits and after a little hyperventilating took the plunge. Rita went first and then helped me overcome my fears. We started out at the edge of Hardy Reef in 200 feet of water along side huge potato cods that weight about 300 pounds. They are harmless but look like giants that could swallow you up. Then we snorkeled over the reef which was about six feet below us. We saw beautiful fish that we could reach out to but they wouldn't let us pet them. Sharks and jellyfish were not a problem this day.
We missed lunch because we spent so much time with the activities. Actually they did have a little leftover cold chicken and pasta so we were happy with that. On our trip back in we again saw humpback whales near our boat. What a nice bonus! We arrived back on time and exhausted after a day of sun and sea. We had an okay barbecue meal at the Verandah Chargrill restaurant - I had chicken while Rita had sea perch. We went to bed fairly early and dreamed of our exhausting day snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.
Saturday was a planned "do nothing" day. After about 10 hours of sleep we had a big breakfast buffet at the Cascades restaurant in the resort. The wind had abated and it turned out to be a very hot day. But we weren't complaining. We decided to sign up on an island bus tour that took us to the resort's fauna animal park. We saw koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles and a performing cockatoo show. It was nice and low keyed. We had a small lunch and wrote out our postcards. We went to Catseye beach in the resort and took it easy reading our books and lying in the sun as we planned. We did walk along the beach and I played some beach volleyball for a short time. Then we went to one of the nice swimming pools along the beachside and had a couple of XXXX beers, a specialty of Queensland. We cleaned up and had late dinner at Romero's Italian restaurant in the harbor area. It was very good and I had my bugs again while Rita had rainbow trout. I think Rita is developing gills! Afterwards we tried to walk off the effects of wine and dinner.
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Sunday was Rita's birthday and our last day on the island. After our breakfast buffet we the met the FantaSea 2000 again for a cruise to Whitehaven beach on the island named Whitsunday. Captain Cook sighted these islands on Whits Sunday, hence their names. The island of Whitsunday is the biggest in the chain of islands and is a national park. No resorts are allowed on the island and special permit is required to even land there. Whitehaven beach is a long expanse of pure white beach. The sand is 95% silica and squeaks when you walk on it. You are not allowed to take any sand away. We lay around on the beach, played some volleyball and tossed a frisbee. It was a half day trip and we arrived back at 1:00 pm. We had a small lunch and then went to Catseye beach again. It was windy today so we didn't stay at the beach for long. For dinner we had a nice meal at the Outrigger restaurant in the resort. All the buildings and restaurants in the resort are built in the Polynesian style and reminded us very much of living in Hawaii. The Outrigger was like that and on the beach. We had fish again - Rita had brim while I had orange ruffy and scallops. We both seem to be developing scales and gills! We regretfully went back to our room and packed for tomorrow's departure.
Monday morning we had our last breakfast buffet (all outdoors) and took one last walk to the harbor area. Our flight left at 10:45 am and arrived in Brisbane at noon. We checked our bags and took a bus into Brisbane since we had a six hour layover. We went to the only Fuddruckers in Australia and had a hamburger and malt. It was just like home. Then we walked in the Myer Center in the Queen Street Mall and found a gourmet deli that had exotic foods from around the world. We bought a six-pack of Dr. Pepper at inflated prices. They also had oreos, root beer and cream soda but we abstained. We headed back to the airport and caught our flight to Canberra arriving at 8:00 pm amidst cold rain and sleet. We didn't miss that. On our flight back we read an article about Tasmania. Hmmm, I wonder if Rita's watch just needs a battery?
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