Lost in a Daydream…..
Location: Daydream Island
Weather: Blustery wind but that sun has still got his hat on! 30c
It’s like going back home every time I arrive at Daydream Island. My first visit to West Molle, or Daydream as it’s now more affectionately known, was back in May during the final of the Best Job in the World when all 16 of the finalists got a chance to get close to the fish and sharks in the touch pool and sample the delights of the kitchen in Mermaids restaurant.
Daydream is one of the Molle Island group and sits about 4kms from the mainland, it’s a tiny place though measuring 200m wide and a kilometre long but there’s loads to do and never feels over crowded or developed.
As Bre and I arrived off the ferry from Hamilton we were greeted by the usual smiling faces of the band, the four playing away at the top of the jetty just as the traditional shell necklaces are dropped over our shoulders and we make our way to reception to check in.
Our room is on the first floor over looking the Whitsunday Passage with its crystal clear blue waters today broken up by small breaking white crests as the wind is up to around 25 knots. There was a plan to have a parasail but it’s been cancelled and instead we’ll be taking to the water by more extreme means – jetskis and the banana tube ride! Much more my idea of fun….come on the adrenaline needs to keep flowing!
The south end of the island houses the activities and together with Merryn, our host for our stay, we don our rash vests (or rashies as the locals call them) and lifejackets, drop our belongings off at the reception and make for the beach. There’s something about preparing to jump onboard a fast, engine-driven machine that ignites the little boy inside me and I become a little over-excited, that’ll be the adrenaline then Ben.
I jump on the floating rocket-ship and familiarise myself with the controls – nothing complex here….push the finger trigger to go faster, let it go to stop…which I won’t be doing much of course. Bre hasn’t had the chance to get onto a jetski yet and had been harping on at me about it for ages, now she finally had her chance and I could see from her facial expressions just how much she loved it!
The choppy conditions made it great fun…it’s great racing flat out across a super-smooth ocean but throw in a few waves and a bit of surface chop then all of a sudden it becomes more about jumping and having a blast!
But the fun didn’t stop there, as soon as we touched terra firma and beached the jetskis our next experience was waiting there for us…the banana tube ride! Now, I haven’t been on one of these for years and had forgotten quite what a battle of attrition it is trying to stay on the thing as it bounces and scythes its way through the water.
Daydream Island has the largest open lagoon in the southern hemisphere which is made up of three separate pools, harboring all types of marine life including coral, anemones, rays, sharks and so many fish the water sometimes appears to boil as they come to you expecting food.
Bre and I were lucky enough to be introduced to some of the smaller residents of the pools which are kept in a different nursery area until they are old enough….the very cute striped sharks which have been hatched from eggs, or purses as they’re known. As they get older they loose their distinctive brown stripes and eventually, once they can fend for themselves, are released into the main pool to socialise with the others.
The Stingray Splash allows you to actually stand in the water with these amazing creatures and they came right up to you, brushing against my legs and feet as I temptingly dangled a prawn in their face. It doesn’t take long to digest a single prawn when you’re that hungry I imagine….it doesn’t even touch the sides.
Dinner for the evening was to be taken at Mermaids Restaurant on the beach and was up to and almost beyond the standard I’d been expecting from Daydream…or maybe it was the fact that management were dining with us tonight, I went for the Spanish Mackerel and wasn’t disappointed at all – it’s a really chunky fish that’s so different from the type we get back in the UK.
Early the next morning there were still a whole heap of things we could and should have done but the priority had to go to trying to get a complete round of mini-golf in before our boat departs….we’ve come close to missing it and only completed 9 holes before.
Bre is particularly good at her short golf game and convincingly kicked my ass….even getting a hole in one at the famous ‘Whale Hole’ which usually ends up being a 6 or 7 shot task! Here’s the video to prove it:
We raced back up the jetty to meet the ferry which signalled the end of another action-packed adventure on Daydream Island….it never fails to deliver a busy, excellent way to entertain adults and children alike. Me more than most….
End of day location: Hamilton Island
Distance covered: 18kms
