Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands

Airlie Beach is beautiful, one of the most picturesque places I have visited in Australia so far. As we drove in along the coastal cliffside road we were greeted with an unbelievable view. Hundreds of gleaming white boats were moored up in the marina and the sun was just starting to set over the bright blue water.

This is what I came travelling for, to see places like this. The whole town is really laid back and our hostel was no different. It was so unlike the other hostels I have stayed in. Outside there were hammocks, big enough for 2 people to lie in (we know, we tried) that over looked the bay. On a night we would just lie there and look at the stars,

On Friday morning we parked up the car and walked along the boardwalk to the marina where we were to catch our boat, the Wings 3. We had decided to avoid the notorious party boat and opted for a more relaxed trip instead and we were glad we did. The boat held around 22 passengers and three crew members. Although we were expecting it to be a lot bigger, it was still deceptively spacious.  The group we went with was an eclectic mix made up of every nationality. Everyone was really friendly and the crew were great.

 

In typical Lucy style, within the first half an hour of being on the boat my bikini top popped open and I flashed to half of the boat. Mortified doesn’t even come close to how I felt but everyone else, Dean in particular, thought it was hilarious!

Embarrassing moment aside, we had chosen the perfect weekend to go sailing. There was no wind and the sea was like glass, good news for our seasickness as this is one of the things we had been worried about beforehand.

Our first port of call was the famous Hayman Island. This is where the rich and famous come and stay when they visit the Whisundays. It is privately owned and Rich, one of the crewmen, told us that Will Smith had once paid $40,000 to dive there. Luckily for us, the other side of the island is a national park and owned by the Australian government, meaning we could moor up the boat and go snorkelling.

As the water was so calm, it also meant it was perfectly clear. This by far stands out as my favourite snorkelling spot so far. It was so relaxed and peaceful and the fish we saw were beautiful. Now if I’m honest, I kind of had the attitude that a fish is a fish, you see one and you’ve seen them all but some of the ones we saw there were really incredible.

That night, as we were sailing towards our overnight destination and watching the sun go down, we saw Dolphins jumping next to the boat. I have seen dolphins in marine parks but never in the wild so this was really special for me and I think I will remember it for a long time.

 

The next morning, we woke up early to go and explore the stunning Whitehaven Beach, known for its beautiful white sands. It didn’t disappoint. The water was crystal clear and the views from the lookout were spectacular.  As far as views go, this is going to be pretty hard to top. Whitehaven is paradise.

 

 

Although nothing could top the morning, the afternoon was also pretty incredible as I saw my first sea turtle. It was huge and nothing like I expected. I have been diving and snorkelling about 4 times now and I had missed them every time so this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

We are now back on dry land and at the beginning of an eight and a half hour drive to our next stop at 1770. This is where Captain Cook first landed when we discovered Australia. We are supposed to be going on the castaway experience but have been told that the plane that takes us there is broken so we aren’t sure if we will be able to now. Both myself and Dean will be pretty gutted if this is the case as it is one of the things we were both looking forward to.

Anyway, that’s all for now. If we don’t get to go on the trip I’ll update again after Fraser Island this weekend.

Much love to you all,

Luce xxx