Planes, trains and automobiles…oh and boats!
Day One
Location: Blue Pearl, Hamilton Island.
Weather: Scattered clouds, warm sunshine and blustery winds. 23°c
Chaperone to Mr Frankie Chee from Singapore…
One of the jobs I have to do whilst in the role of Island Caretaker is meet and greet some of the journalists reporting on the Best Job campaign and today was no different…well a little bit different.
Instead of having a quick interview on the balcony at Blue Pearl, Mr Chee was here on the island for a few days to soak up the activities and atmosphere of the Whitsundays. Frankie works for the Straits Times in Singapore and this is surely his best posting yet – go to Hamilton island, enjoy what’s on offer and by the end of August have put together a two page story for the Life section of the paper, simple.
Met the man in question from the boat (he’d missed his flight in Brisbane by accident!) and had a good giggle with him driving up to Qualia (the 6* resort at the tip of Hamilton Island) and sat down in the Long Pavilion for an informal interview.
I hadn’t seen any of the rooms here – oh my gosh, they’re incredible. Each of the windward side properties have their own classy little plunge pools overlooking the ocean and are around $1750 a night! Check out the photos below:
Time was against us so after we’d raced to the Buggy Shop (which was closing in 5 minutes), collected his ride and checked him into the Reef View Hotel for his stay. Met him for dinner at Steakhouse Restaurant and Bar on the marina (worth trying out if you’re staying on the island but make sure you queue for a table before queueing to place your order – we waited in the wrong line for half an hour….arghhhhh!) and then headed home to bed.
End of day location: Hamilton Island
Distance travelled: 5kms
Day Two
Location: Blue Pearl, Hamilton Island.
Weather: Scattered clouds, warm sunshine and strong winds. 22°c
Early birds catch the first boat, that’ll be us then! We’re off to Whitehaven Beach again today together with Frankie but this time we’re catching the ferry to Shute Harbour and taking a Panoramic Flight with Air Whitsundays in a Cessna Caravan to Whitehaven and then onto Hardy Reef. It’s a great chance for him to see some of the amazing locations on offer here and report back to the Singapore market with his story.
“Mr Talkative’ or Rob who manages the airport gave us a quick guided tour of the ambitious development that’ll be taking place here over the next few years, 57 runway-side lots with each house capable of housing a light aircraft in the garage…..how mad is that? Have a look for yourself at www.whitsundayairport.com.au
We left the airfield with a total of nine on board, including Drew the captain, just after 10.30am heading due east out over the Whitsunday Passage passing Molle, Lindeman and Hamilton Islands with the white crests of the waves breaking far below in the strong wind – no sign of whales down there though, they must be swimming low in the heavier conditions today.
As we approach Whitehaven we swooped low over Hill Inlet and landed on the choppy surface coming to a stop 5m from the beach. Drew our pilot secured the plane and hauled two Eskies (Australian for Cool Boxes as we call them in the UK!) full of sparkling wine, cheese, and assorted nibbles up the beach for our consumption.
But there’s no time for that as I head off down the beach for a run…there’s 7kms of glorious white sand here so I had to, then into the ocean for a long overdue swim in the crystal clear water. The wind howling down the beach whips the soft sand off the surface covering my sunbathing girl Bre in a fine dust much to my amusement, she then takes her revenge by burying me up to my neck in it!
An hour later we pack up, clamber aboard and start the taxi into the headwind before sweeping further east towards the Great Barrier Reef itself and our destination Hardy Reef. It’s a spectacular 13km long reef with a suspended lagoon that three waterfalls drain from and as you approach the dark blue water of the channels are clearly visible, at some points up to 80m deep. Another landing on the choppy water and ten minutes later we’re tied up alongside the semi-submersible and cruising slowly through the reef gawping at the underwater world through the windows of the sub. Passing squid, big parrotfish and a stack of other marine life which stick around for too short a time to be identified clearly! I will get better at this spotting game I’m sure.
Wetsuits on and into the choppy water, awesome snorkeling again – it’d be very easy to become complacent about the things you see underwater here, there’s so many varieties of coral on this reef and most only just below the surface so it’s an easy job even in these conditions to float about and take far too many pictures of them all! Did get my first underwater sighting of a squid today and how cool are they? Almost a translucent white when I first saw it changing into a brown and black as I approached and scared it, amazing.
The cold took its effect on me far too quickly and 40 minutes later I was back on the pontoon, joined by Bre and Frankie shortly after where we gulped down our light lunch before jumping on board our plane back to the Whitsundays Airport. Superb day out exploring this part of the reef and I think Frankie will go back with a very positive outlook from which to compile his story!
After a quick dinner with Racheal from Tourism Queensland, she drove us to Proserpine rail station where we caught the Queenslander train south to Gladstone (the Gateway to Heron and Wilson Islands) – our first Australian train ride.
The last train Bre caught was a third class rust-bucket in India so her expectations weren’t good but as the 8.55pm pulled into the platform her fears turned into a beaming smile. We made our way to ‘B’ coach and the awaiting cabin which had been booked for us. What a pleasant surprise – these are great little rooms with two bunks, wash room and attendant service. I only wish this was a day service instead of an overnight one so we’d see the view!
The Queenslander service is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and provides a rail link from Cairns down the east coast to Brisbane with fine dining and a range of accommodation options on board. The total distance of 1600kms takes 31 hours but we’ll only experience around a third of that on the overnight service.
Shelley checked us in, showed us how to operate the beds and brought us a cheese platter to help give us nightmares that night. Does that really happen!?
The sunshine and travel of the day had made us tired and just after midnight I slipped under the covers ready for a new destination and challenge tomorrow, the hypnotic sound of the sleepers below helping to knock me out….
End of day location: Somewhere between Proserpine and Gladstone
Distance travelled: Around 120kms by air, 30kms by car, 20kms by sea and 400kms by rail – WOW!
