goodness me, it has taken a long time
for me to find a way to upload my photos
so that they don't look like pieces of
'modern art'......
but finally, here we are and it is great to
be able to share some of our holiday
snapshots with you......
we decided that for our final holiday here in
Australia we had to go 'all out' and visit one
of the 'dream' places we had mentioned
during our time here......
there were a few of them on the list but we
whittled it down and finally decided on a
holiday in the Whitsunday region in Queensland.....
we decided to drive there (over 2,800kms each way),
make it a camping holiday (in a teeny, tiny tent), and
do a few 'firsts' for us on the way.......
we started our camping adventure in Hay, NSW....
where lots of knitting was accomplished..... both outside.......
and inside the tent.........
one of our 'firsts' was driving through the outback which meant
that the roads went on FOREVER into the distance.....
you passed another vehicle every couple of hours.....
you had to dodge the goannas enjoying warming themselves on the tarmac.......
and you got stuck behind a lot of road trains like
this one.......
some of them were massive in length and swayed quite a bit,
so overtaking them was an adventure in itself.......
our little car was packed very snuggly and every inch was utilised,
but we had everything we needed....... and a few things we
didn't (mostly of the knitting yarn variety...... which I needed but
Brian wasn't so sure about.....!)
we passed through some lovely little towns on the way........
and sometimes wondered out loud how little towns like that survived
in what seemed like the middle of nowhere......
but eventually, after 3 and a half days on the road,
we made it.......
our campsite was just outside the main town at Airlie Beach and
was set in a lovely area of tropical rainforest......
our pitch was right on the edge of some bushland so we had all sorts
of critters scampering/flying about, especially at night.........
scrub turkies, possoms, kookaburras, rainbow lorikeets, goannas.....
and every morning Evie would get a chance to hand feed some of the
rainbow lorikeets........
one of the reasons we chose to come to this beautiful part of
Australia was so that we could do some snorkelling at
the fringing coral reefs around the Whitsunday Islands......
and so we booked a couple of cruises that would give us an opportunity
to visit some of the islands during our stay........
this was our mode of transport for our first day out to the Islands.....
it was a fast little boat and the kids had a lot of fun when the skipper
decided to do a few 'fast and furious moves' - they said it reminded
them of a theme park ride......
during our morning of snorkelling we got a chance to spend time in the
water with LOTS of fish including this monster......
he's a Maori Wrasse and he was HUGE....... it took Evie a little while to get
into the water at this stop...... I think she was
a bit worried that she was going to jump into the water and land on some
of the fish and hurt them.......
but once she was in, she was like a water baby.......
we saw the most amazing coral (unfortunately the underwater camera
just can't capture the colours in the same way the eye can).......
this coral was bright lime green........
this one was a beautiful purple.......
and the fish........ there was hundred of them just swimming around with us.....
Evie even had a little gasp or two as they were swimming within arms
reach of her......
this stag horn coral was a bright electric blue colour......
our destination for lunch was a place I had
dreamed about visiting ever since seeing Judith Charmers'
visit it on 'Wish you Were Here' during my teenage year
(that's showing my age isn't it?.....)
Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach......
just had to relish the feeling of that powdery white sand under
my feet...... it was so soft.......
and the view from Hill Lookout was one of the most amazing
views I have ever seen.......
when we arrived at the beach for lunch there were Manta Rays
swimming in the crystal clear shallow (and warm!) water......
this one was taken with the underwater camera again.....
and we spent our time enjoying the warm water and
lapping up the beautiful scenery.......
our second 'cruise' day was spent on one of the inhabited islands
called Daydream Island and here we had a fun day checking
out the coral beach with its amazing coral shapes....
and also managed to fit in some reading and relaxing time too......
along with some local wildlife spotting.......
on Saturday morning we wandered into town to the local market
where we enjoyed a browse around an eclectic range of market
stalls.......
the view wasn't too shabby either........
and then for our final cruise day, we chose to journey out to
the Great Barrier Reef.....
on the journey out to the reef we were treated to a whale and her calf playing
in the water around the boat....... I didn't get any good shots of them but here
is one of the calf's back!.......
out at the GBR we were able to take a ride out over the reef on a glass
bottomed boat which gave us the most amazing views of the fish and
coral.......
then we jumped into the water and snorkelled around to get some more
amazing views of the fish and coral........
and some squid too........
the Reef pontoon had a fab water slide which both the kids had a
lot of fun playing on......
and I did manage to drag them away from it for a short
while to have a bit of a snorkel for themselves!!!
we cruised home at sunset after another truly
fab day......
we had a couple of other days out planned that didn't involve
cruising but keeping our feet on dry land, and so we took a little
jaunt to a place called Cedar Creek Falls.....
however, because we visited at the driest time of the
year, the falls weren't falling....
it didn't matter though, we skimmed stones......
explored dry(ish) river beds.....
and Evie had a little swim in the watering hole.....
and so, after all our adventures, our time in Airlie Beach had come to an end.....
but we still had the journey home to enjoy.....
we took time to explore the Capricorn Caves just north
of Rockhampton (named because the Tropic of Capricorn
runs through this area) and were treated to some lovely
music in the Cathedral Cave where they regularly
have concerts (because of the near perfect acoustics)
and weddings.....
on leaving the caves we had to cross a swinging rope bridge......
not one of Brian's favourite experiences......
and then we made our way down the coast to a little place
called Tin Can Bay where wild dolphins come into the bay
each morning and you get a chance to hand feed them....
they are only given a certain amount of fish each day so that
they don't become dependent on human feeding.......
both Isaac and Evie took the opportunity to feed them and both
said afterwards that it was 'awesome'.......
we left Tin Can Bay with a very wet tent and when we arrived at our
next overnight stop it was freezing and hailing so we all agreed that
we didn't want to have to pitch a wet tent in the freezing hail so we
booked into a motel for the night which felt absolutely luxurious after
two weeks in the tent.......
the kids were excited to sleep in real beds and be able to watch
the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on TV with a plate of
hot buttered toast......
phew, that was a long post wasn't it...... I hope I didn't
bore you with all the photos and commentary.......
we did have the most amazing holiday and made
a bundle of great family memories...... priceless.....
