QLD - Sunshine Coast

After Straddie, we had a bit of a lay in and John & Sasha made a few calls for their new house. In the arvo, they took us on a walking tour of the CBD, taking in the major sites - casino, shops, old drinking establishments, botanical gardens, and the university, before ending up in one of the classier drinking establishments - The Regatta. We had a couple of drinks here and were introduced to Keno. Its basically like the lottery in the UK, but with a few twists and draws take place every 3 minutes. There are 80 numbers, and you chose how many to match. We chose 4 numbers - 7, 13, 23, 74 - and you get different prizes depending on how many you match - 2/4 gives $1, 3/4 = $5, 4/4 = $120 (and so on if you have more than 4 numbers). We know the prize for 4 numbers, as we got all 4!!! Cha-ching!!! We were all pretty stoked, and it set up a nice little kitty for the Sunshine Coast...

Next day, we headed out to the Sunshine Coast, staying at Alexandra Heads, which is a stretch of beach in between Maloolahbah and Maroochydoor, though about 7ks covered all three towns and were all effectively joined. This is about 30ks south of Noosa. On our drive to Alexandra, we stopped off to have a look at the Glass House Mountains (which weren't as big as we were expecting) and then stopped in Beerwah for lunch. This is where Steve Irwin was from, so we only said nice things about him ;) We also stopped at the Ettamogah pub which is a reconstruction of a cartoon pub, and is a bit wobbly and has lots of gravity defying angles, with a truck on the roof...

The hotel in Alexandra, Seaforth Hotel, exceeded all our expectations considering how cheap it was and is a 4* complex with a couple of pools, gym, and a bottle shop next door. The room was really lovely and spacious, on the 3rd floor (not quite penthouse), and we had a nice balcony with partial beach views. There was only 1 double, so we tossed a coin for it, which Sasha called. We were happy to let them have as they had arranged everything for us - that was until we heard that they had air con, en suite and a spa bath ;) It was then down to the pool for some R&R...

For our first night, we went to Surf Club which is the Auzzie equivalent of a Weatherspoons - cheap food & drink, though a bit lacking in atmosphere. Still, they had Keno, so we had another go at that, and had a go on the Pokies, but the luck of yesterday has deserted us ;(

Wednesday is market day, so we headed out to Eumundi to see what bargains we could find. There were lots of good arts and crafts here, with some funky vases, wine holders, some cool pictures (John got a B&W photo of a spitfire) and we got a nice water jug & glasses set. We could have brought more, but decided that we'll come back for the larger Saturday market later in our travels. There was some entertainment, with a couple of old guys playing guitars and singing, then a random joined in for a jam!! Marc then lost his cash card in the ATM - it just shut itself down after entering the PIN!! Luckily there was a teller still working inside, though we didn't have much hope of getting the card back as they say the teller cant access the ATM. This would have been a mini disaster for the rest of our travels, but luckily the teller was really helpful, made a few phone calls, and managed to get it back for us. PHEW!! Meanwhile, the ATM had switched itself back on and was fully operational again?!?

We then headed over to Noosa for lunch and a swim at the beach, though the beach didn't seem as nice as Alexandra which seemed less crowded and less sea-weedy (though we didn't actually get to this beach) - it had better waves though. Noosa is a bit more up market, and the restaurants and shops look a bit pricier. Glad we're staying where we are ;)

On Weds night we had some drinks to start the night off and watched the thunderstorms building up. This was pretty cool to watch as it was quite a loud & bright storm and we had front row seats on our balcony. The night then turned out to be a large one, as headed out for a great Thai meal first, which has a nice authentic feel to it, and you can eat cross legged on the floor if you wish. As it was a BYO we picked up a few bottles of wine on the way- which we polished off before leaving the restaurant.

We then headed to the bar closest to the hotel, which had karaoke on. John was keen for a go, but it was booked out for the next hour and a half until closing! So fortunately we were spared Johns rendition of "I think we're alone now". We fancied a game of pool, and ended up playing some of the locals. We were a bit nervous about doing this as you never know how they will react if they lose, but luckily they didn't throw chairs or bottles at us ;)

The girls then headed home to bed as the shooters and wine was getting to them - Ev once again fell asleep in the bathroom... In the mean time, the boys headed off to Maloolahbah up the road and landed up in the first pub they got, which happened to be an Irish bar with a band playing. This kept us out of mischief for a while, supping Cafferies to begin with (though Marc later changed this for proper beer;) and chatting with some locals. At closing we headed to the next nearest nightclub. This had just opened so was a bit empty when we arrived. There was just a women dancing on stage, miming to a song. We wondered why she was miming, and it suddenly became clear when she spoke with the voice of a biker!! We took a closer look around the room and it became very obvious that we weren't the only all male couple in the room!! But not phased by this we stayed for a few more drinks, and John upset someone by suggesting they were gay, so it was shortly after that we left and headed home...

Understandably, the next day we weren't full of energy, although Marc went to the gym!!! Crazy boy! We decided it best to go down to the local shops & cinema to while away the afternoon. We tried to get into another Surf Club for dinner, but got turned away as Sasha was wearing thongs (flip flops), so we ended up at an Italian for dinner and with our appetite back had a great meal - although only water was ordered ;) On the way home John & Sasha introduced us to Cold Rock - now this is good ice-cream. You get to choose your ice-cream and a topping (such as m&m's or oreos) and they blend it together on a frozen table - pretty cool to watch & even better to taste :)

Next day, feeling a little better we headed off back to Bris. Along the way we stopped off at the Australian Zoo (Steve Irwin's famous one) and found out that it was little Bob Irwin's 4th birthday - so all the kids had come in their droves as they could get in for free. First stop was the Elephant feeding - this was very sloppy and you came away with drool all over your hands.

Sasha feeding Nelly

We also sat through most of the Crocoseum show, this was the main event for the b-day boy and although John had said that the normal show was really cool with guys tackling crocs - a typical Steve thing, we got treated to Noddy and friends doing tap dancing and Santa tempting a large angry croc with some meat.

When we finally made it out of there we made our way up to the tiger enclosure, now this is more like it. The trainers were making the tigers leap over logs and stand up against the glass wall so you could see how big and lean they were. We were also treated to one of the tigers going for a swim (this glass panel covered the pool too) and leaving a little present behind in the pool for everyone to see - yuck!

Once done here we headed through the Koala and Kangaroo gardens where we got to pet some of these amazing creatures. John was telling us some interesting things about Koalas - they eat loads of eucalyptus leaves and has the same effect as other such herbal leaves, and that this is the reason that they sleep for 20 hrs a day ;D

When we finally got back to Bris we landed up at the RE for some drinks and raffles (consisting of platters of Ham, steaks and money), this then ended up being a bit of a large night and in the cab home Evelyn was designated to put the order through to Hungry Jacks (Burger King). The only thing was that Evelyn didn't realise that you had to put your order through a speaker box and confused her slightly...

QLD - Brisbane: Stradbroke Island

So, the day after the Ashes, we were up fairly early as we had to pack and prepare for our weekend away on Stradbroke Island, which is a small island just off the coast of Bris. John was borrowing his brother Darren's 4x4 as the only way to get around Straddie is by driving along the beach. We just managed to load all the tents, bags, food and drink into the back of the truck, but as we weren't feeling the sharpest we decided their wasn't room for all 48 beers!! We dashed off to catch the ferry, and arrived with about 5mins to spare. Matty & Caroline, and kids Lawson (7) & Ella (5), were the last to arrive, and turned up literally as the ferry was about to depart. On the ferry, we saw loads of jellyfish in the water, and heard horror stories about the latest shark attacks on the island - great ;) There have been none in the last year though!!

Once on the island, we had to get the tide timetable, to check when the low tide is as this is the best time to drive along the beach. At low tide the sand is harder and lower down the beach, rather than the soft sand at the top, and more beach means a bigger run up to get over the sand dunes!! So, we found out that we had a couple of hours before we could go for our beach drive and find our camp spot, so we grabbed some fish & chips - Marc had the flake (shark) and Ev the whitebate. We then made our way down to the beach, dropping the tyre pressure in prep for sand driving

Driving along the beach was pretty cool, windows down, with the wind blowing, and just cruising at about 60ks across the sand next to the ocean. Matt & co have been here loads of times, so led the way with John & us following. Matt stopped the 4x4 about half way along the beach and got out... we then found out that with the fishing that the boys were going to do they needed some bait. So we all went to the shallowes and did the "twist", by doing this we came across pippies (mollusks) in the sand by our feet - this was so cool to do & we soon filled the bucket! Although this was in vein as the boys didn't catch a thing ;)

Boys twisting for pippies

Then Matt picked a spot to drive up the dunes to a camp spot, and after giving it a couple of tries we gave up. He then remember that there was a better place to camp further up the beach ;) So we carried on to the next spot, and after Matt made it up, John gave it a go. We didn't make it 1st, 2nd or 3rd time, but it's John's first time beach driving so we'll let him off, and at least we didn't get stuck...

We didn't have to wait too long for that though, as on the top of the dunes, the sand is a lot softer, and the track is pretty narrow. At one stage, the left side of the track went up a bank, and driving at 35 degree angle was a bit tough, and we came to a standstill, with the lower tyres buried in the sand;) Matty leading way, didn't see us, and despite Johns verbal outburst and hooting of the horn, Matt didn't hear us and disappeared around the corner! So out we got, dug out the wheels, rocked the car slowly back and forth, but couldn't make any progress. Also, we should mention that there was a yucky burning smell coming form the direction of the clutch ;) Eventually Matt came back, and with all his 4x4 wisdom managed to get us out - we just dug the wheels out a bit more, had a bit of extra muscle for pushing, and a bit more juice on the pedal ;)

When we found a good place to pitch up, right next to the beach, and we got started. We were sharing a big 4 man tent with John & Sasha, and we had some fun and games putting this up, and none of us had ever put up this tent before and with the instructions not being very accurate, this proved a little difficult. By trial and error - putting the long poles on the outside, then inside, putting the canvas and poles on back to front - we got it up eventually. Meanwhile, Matty & Caroline had pitched their tent, the gazebo, and the lighting and the port-a-loo (for female use only;) They did have Lawson & Ella to help though ;)

Views from camp site

The rest of the day was spent just chilling around the tent and beach, with a few bevvies - though we didn't really feel like drinking after the cricket yesterday ;) Matt rumbled up a killer BBQ which was a mega meat fest with some mean t-bones - yummy.

The next day was Sasha's birthday, and was kicked off by a cooked brekkie. We then headed down to the beach with a few toys and a boogie board, and enjoyed the waves (though we didn't go out passed the surf due to the possibility of sharks!) for a couple of hours. In the arvo, at low tide, we headed back along the beach and Marc had a go at driving Matty's 4x4, which was pretty cool, and when coming off the beach Marc made it through the soft sand 1st time. If only the same could be said for John, who tried to follow Marcs tracks, but about 20mts from the end attempted a gear change only to lose power and get a bit stuck ;) Matty & I went back and helped push John out and were almost overcome by the smell of the burning clutch - the smell lingered in our clothes for days ;)

Once inland, we headed to a beautiful fresh water brown lake, which went from yellow to red to blue - rainbow style. The reason it's called brown lake is cause the water gets filtered through tea leaves and gets stain a brownish colour. It was a bit chilly but we all went in as it was the closest we would come to having a shower during our stay here ;) Once in, it was really nice and refreshing, and the ground was sandy/stoney rather than muddy, which was good. John maintained his hold as favourite uncle by continuously picking up the kids and launching them through the air for a big splash at the end ;)

We then headed over to the cliffs for a bit of a walk, and got some great views of the wildlife below - we saw the shadows of turtles, manta rays and sharks, and also watched some dolphins swim passed and jump around in the surf :D

Finally, we headed to Amity Point, where the shark attack was, and it was pretty eerie - it is like something out of jaws, where the ocean is still and quiet. Since the attack, a netted swimming enclosure has been built, not that any kids used it - they thought it was more fun to jump off the jetty into the open water!! I think the parents should have been paying more attention, especially as it was coming to the end of the day, and there were loads of fishing boats around, which would have attracted the sharks main course!!

Sunday was Matt & Caroline's last day, and as most of the camping stuff was theirs, we decided to head home as well. We're not sure if we'd have survived the night without the luxuries that they had. Besides, after the Ashes and a few days of camping, we were all ready to head home for a good nights sleep ;) As part of the packing up ritual, John & Matt had the lovely job of emptying the port-a-loo. John being the younger brother, did the bulk of the work, and when they came back, looked a bit green and said that was the worst smell he had ever had to endure!! They had both been dry retching and had tears in their eyes!! Marc is glad he wasn't called in to help ;)

Despite not being booked on the ferry home, we were allowed on, though the ticket inspector made us sweat until the last minute before letting us on!! Straddie is a really nice place to come, and whilst we had originally hoped to go to Fraser Island, we cant see what would be on Fraser and not on Straddie. Nice beaches, lovely lake, great walks along the cliffs and camping with nature. Fantastic!!

QLD - Brisbane: THE ASHES

The first day of the massively hyped Ashes test series begins today, and we're all quite excited, and a bit nervous being outnumbered 18-2 by Aussies. John's uncle arrived at 6:30 and we left the house for the 7:40 train. When we got to the city, we found out that the buses to the Gabba aren't running yet, and there was already a massive queue. So, we met some of the other guys and decided to brave the 30min walk. It wasn't too bad for us as we didn't know how far it was but by the time we got to the Gabba it was getting a bit hot. We met Matty & Caroline (Johns brother and sister-in-law who we're going to Straddie with), then headed into the ground to find our seats. They were in the perfect location on the shady side of the ground at the Ipswich Rd / Stanley str end. We'll get a good view of any catches to the slips. The first round of XXXX Gold is ordered by 9:30 ;)

We had good views of the cricket, but talking about the game is history now as we all know how it turned out it the end ;( I guess Harmison's opening delivery of the test which was about 6ft wide summed up the series!! Still, it was a fairly good natured day. We were fairly close to the Barmy Army which gave us a bit of entertainment, like the old guy with the flag, the singing, and the guy dressed as the queen. A shame that the authorities had banned the trumpeter though ;( The game was ok, we got a few wickets, Ponting got a century, so a few things happened. Though after a few beers, by the afternoon, the game seemed less important, and we spent most of the time chatting amongst our group.

1st wicket taken by Freddie

Evelyn was getting a bit tired of the beer (the only alcohol on sale), and one guy in our group had managed to smuggle in some vodka. The stewards had seen someone else try this in the morning and during the first over, this poor chap was escorted from the ground ;) Anyway, Evelyn sneakily managed to get some and boy was it strong!! It was at this point when Ev was told that between the two bottles of "pop", she was drinking the lethal stuff!

So it was that at around 5:30, and quite a few beers later we, stumbled out the stadium and down the road to the next pub. The Plough Inn was the target, being on the Southbank close to the city cat to take us home. It served decent beer and most of the seating is outside, which is nice. There was a bit of banter going on through out the evening, and luckily, on our way to the Plough, a couple of other English blokes joined us for some beers - so Marc didn't take the full force of the banter ;) We then caught the citi cat (ferry) to the RE pub (more of a backpackers/uni pub) which was holding a beach party, and a bit closer to home. It was at this stage where we started losing people, and we decided it best to head home. It was a good fun day, and whilst the cricket wasn't as we'd have hoped, we all had a great time.

QLD - Arrive in Brisbane

So, after two weeks of being on the road , we are now on our final leg from Cairns to Brisbane. The final 400ks from Bundy/Mon Repos to Brisbane is fairly easy going. After our late night with the turtles, we had a lie in, and when showering, Marc noticed some gold & green beetles on the door to the bathrooms. These were weird colors and a bit Egyptian like. But before leaving the campsite we parked up so Evelyn can go to the loo, and then when pulling away Marc scraped the underside of the front bumper against the concrete caravan site (caravan no longer there ;) We hope the car company doesn't notice anything, not that there's much to see;)

On our departure, we stopped at the ginger beer factory, and then closer to Brisbane, a spur of the moment decision sees us stopping at the Ginger Factory - its becoming a very gingery day ;) We just really needed a break from driving, so had a quick look around the shop and chuckled at the Chillie Willie sauces what include the Hot Bot, Fire in the Hole, and Aussie Ring Stinger ;) We avoided buying these, and just picked up some yummy ginger biscuits...

Finally we arrive at the airport to drop the car off (no damage reported ;) and when Marc filled up the tank he picked up the premium fuel instead (more expensive) of the standard - Marc says the reason for this was that he chose the standard colour from the UK and didn't realise that the colours differed in different countries, luckily enough he realised after a couple of dollars so didn't come off too bad ;)

We were then picked up by John (We worked with John at Masons). We just managed to squeeze all our luggage in the car, and then headed to his place. On the way home John gave us a quick tour of Bris, which basically covers all the pubs we will be visiting ;) When back home with Sasha, John tells us that their offer on a house has accepted today, which is great news for them, though it seems like it may take a while to sink in!! We're really grateful that they're letting us stay esp. as its going to be so busy for them now. There's so much to chat about having not seen them for a couple of years, and its a bit manic as we're going to Straddie at the weekend for Sasha's birthday, and of course, tomorrow is the first day of the Ashes...

QLD - Rocky, Bundy & Mon Repos

From Eungella to Brisbane, there isnt a great deal to see and it's a bit of a long, uneventful drive. The two main towns are Rockhampton (Rocky) and Bundaberg (Bundy). Rocky, which is located on the Tropic of Capricorn, is known as the steak capital of Australia so we stopped here for the eve, and headed to The Great Western pub for dinner. This place is a rodeo venue, and after dinner we had a look around the arena where it all happens. They also hold concerts here, with the John Butler Trio due here in a few days. The meal itself wasn't quite as good as we were expecting, which wasn't really due to the food, but the bus load of American oldies which arrived minutes before we did. We had to wait ages for our food, and kept getting bumped by the tour guide who had a habit of standing next to our table and shouting out the food orders ;( So we decided to move tables. After dinner, we found the jukebox and put on a few tunes, and sunk a few balls on the pool table, which was a nice end to the evening...

Bundy is famous for its rum, and no trip here is complete without a tour of the distillery. This was pretty good, though the molasses was a bit stinky. As always, the best part of the tour is the tasting afterwards. We tried everything from Lemon Lime Bundy, to the Dark & Stormy (Ginger beer & Rum). The next day, we popped to the ginger beer factory, another beverage Bundy is also renowned for. Evelyn has also become quiet addicted to the stuff since Cairns so we just had to stop off here. We didn't have time for the tour, so went straight for the tastings and couldn't leave without buying half the store ;)

Lets not forget the main reason we came to Bundy, 10kms down the road is the coast and Mon Repos beach. Mon Repos is one of the best beaches in the world for watching turtles come ashore to lay eggs, and then watching the eggs hatch 8 weeks later. We pitched camp at the campsite right on the beach, and sat on the beach with our pizza hut dinner & ginger beer, which was nice as dusk set in. We then headed down to the info centre to watch the turtles. Luckily, we brought our tickets early, so were in group 1 - there's no guarantee that any turtles will come ashore in an evening its best to be in the first viewing group (there have been fist fights before as people try to get into the first group!!).

Luckily, tonight was a good night and we only had to wait about 30mins before being called to the beach to see the first turtle. We headed down, but had to wait on the beach for another 30mins, as another turtle came ashore. The turtles are easily disturbed by light or movement (they hear on a lower frequency than human voices so noise isn't a problem), and no-one is allowed near the turtles, whilst they are finding a suitable place or then digging the hole in which to lay their eggs (about 30mins). Only once they begin laying eggs, can we get close enough to see and light up the area. In this instance, we were waiting for two turtles, and the 2nd turtle got scared off by the 1st so decided to head back to the sea & try again later.

We then got a good spot behind the Loggerhead turtle, and got to see her lay over 150 eggs (takes about 45 mins), fill in the hole with sand (20mins), and then head back to the ocean (15mins) by looking for the light of the moon reflecting off the ocean. As you can see, the whole process takes a couple of hours, and must be incredibly tiring for the turtle. And they do this up to 6 times during the breeding season, laying almost 1000 eggs. Of these, only one will survive to adulthood and come back to the beach on which they were born in 30 years time! This is why they are a protected species as their population is decreasing considerably.

Because the loggerhead is endangered, the guides take extra care of the eggs, and if they are laid too low down the beach (if they are below the hide tide line, the eggs drown) the guides dig them up and relocates them further up the beach. In this case, an egg relocation was needed, so the guides took measurements of the hole and replaced this higher up the beach. We then helped relocate the eggs, and carried some up the beach to the new hole :-) The eggs are the size of ping pong balls and really delicate.

When we got back to base, another turtle had just landed on shore, so we joined up with group 2 and headed back to the beach. This one was a flatback, and was just as beautiful.

In the morning, we headed back to this part of the beach to find the turtle tracks and reminisce about the night before. We'll definitely be back in Feb when we're back in Oz, so that we can see the babies hatching...

QLD - Eungella

After the marine delights of Airlie, we headed inland to Eungella National Park - the main draw here is the platypus.

We pitched camp at the Platypus Bush Camp which is run by a very eccentric old guy named Wazza who must have lived here all his life, and smoked herbs for just as long!! This place is as natural as they come, with no power and really odd bush showers that are open to the bush - conveniently Wazza was building his new lodge within view of these ;)



Before the sun went down, we took a look at the platypus pool next to the camp, but didn't see anything stirring, so headed over to Broken River. The platypus is supposed to be a very shy animal, only coming out at dawn or dusk, and is very easily disturbed. However, this isn't so at broken river, and they are very used to humans. We could stand on the platform chatting to other sight-seers, looking down on the tortoises gathered below, and the platypus just ignored us and went about their business. The tortoises were very inquisitive and kept looking up at us.



The viewing platform was perfect as it was elevated a few mtrs of the ground, so we could look down into the water to spot the animals (which is far easier than trying to spot things when you are at water level). Spotting platypus is fairly easy - you just look for the air bubbles coming up to the surface. This is sometimes confusing with some gases produced by decaying leaves on the river bed, and the little insects that skim the water, but you soon spot the difference ;) You just have to follow the trail of bubbles as they move, then every few minutes the platypus pops to the surface for air, and you can see these cute little marsupials properly...

Back at the campsite, Wazza invited everyone round to his place after dark to sit by his fire and swap yarns with the other travellers. This was quite interesting as we got chatting to this family from the Mississippi who were travelling for a year. We're not convinced that this is great for the kids (about 11 and 8), but they said they had school work to do and submit whilst away. The mum was somewhat religious and was continuously saying that we were going to get married sooner or later, and we just kept saying to her, "we'll see, we haven't really thought about that yet, we're just enjoying our travelling", but she just didn't get it and kept trying to convince us...

Next day we were up early (noisy birds) so headed back to the pool and we caught a glimpse of something moving on the far bank. The way its head cruised through the water, we thought it was a platypus, so sat deadly still, hoping it would come closer to us. After swimming along that far back a couple of times, it headed towards us and we thought we were going to get a real good glimpse of the platypus. As it got closer, we realised it wasn't swimming quite right, and that it was green, not brown. We stood up on our logs as we realised that this snake was coming onto shore, and into the bushes, just next to us. We're not sure if this snake is poisonous, but we didn't hang around to find out!! We gave it a couple of minutes to move away, then stomped our way back to camp ;)

Following day:

Today is Sunday, and we headed to Finch Hatton Gorge to see the waterfalls and do some more forest walks. Not too long after heading into this dense forest area we came across two Auzzie guys who had stopped dead. They had spotted something on the track so we joined them to see what was going on... when we finally discovered what they were looking at and were grateful that they discovered it first and not us. It was a large 2mtr long python laid out across the footpath, blocking our way. This snake was really beautiful, with some gorgeous colours, and it was laid there so peaceful without a care in the world. We got really close, and got a few photos, kind of hoping it would shoot off into the bush so we could continue our walk. However, it wasn't gonna budge for us, or anyone else. Eventually, the locals stepped over it (tail end ;) and it didn't blink an eyelid. We were a bit more cautious and took a bit more care and time to pass before running once over it ;)

We saw loads of lizards (skinks and geckos) along the way and passed the Auzzie guys too as they were sitting on the back having a drink. We discovered why they were so chilled at the sight of the python - their eski was full of beers!! A bit odd for 8:30am!

At the end of the track, was a nice waterfall and swimming hole, and as the sun was out, Marc checked no-one was around before doing a speedy change into his boardies. It took a bit of courage to go in, and the water felt a bit cool. Once in the shallows, the temperature seemed ok, so Marc dove into the deeper part, only to discover that the sun hadn't yet heated this part. He was soon out and drying off in the sunshine ;)

On the way back to the car we treaded very carefully - and somewhat noisy - as we couldn't find the python. It was a bit scary knowing what was out there but needing to continue our journey. We were also really glad to have done this walk early as it was reaching 10am and boiling hot!!

QLD - Airlie Beach: Whitsunday Islands

The boat we took today was slightly smaller and held maybe 50 people. We took a similar route to yesterday, with a pick up at Hamilton Island which is the most developed island, and slightly ugly, with sky rise hotels on the beach. We then cruised past the more natural Hook Island which is where the backpackers tend to go, just because its undeveloped; so cheaper. All these islands are really beautiful with gorgeous beaches and forests inland.

We then headed out to choppier waters, as the weather today is a bit worse than yesterday, and with the wind up, the waves are a bit higher. We were sat out the back, and it wasn't long before we moved as we got soaked from the back spray of taking off, and landing back down on the waves ;)

As we got close to Tongue Bay, our first stop of the day, we slowed and saw quite a few turtles swimming passed the side of our boat. After dropping anchor about 200mtrs from shore, the dingy was lowered to take us to the beach (none of us were too keen on swimming ;)

We landed on the beach, and then took the 15 minute walk through the forest to the lookout over Whitehaven beach. This is one of the most amazing beaches we've seen, with the gorgeous blue of the sea in contrast with the brilliant white silica sand banks swirling just below the surface. It seemed we were here at the perfect time, between high and low tides, so the sand banks were just below the surface of the sea.

The next stop was down on the beach itself and as the beach has quite steep banks, the boat could moor within 10mts of the beach itself. The anchor was dropped onto the beach, and the crew had to dig a hole and bury the anchor before the tide dragged the boat back out to sea!! We stayed here for an hour or so, just chilling, laying on the soft silky sand, which is so fine it squeaked as we walked on it.

We then headed off to a small secluded bay at Hook Island for a bit of snorkeling. It got a bit crowded here, and with strong currents and the tide going out, it was difficult to avoid other people and the reef!! We were careful, but a few people probably bashed the reef a bit ;( Despite visibility only 5mtrs or so, this was one of the best snorkel sights we've been to. There was lots of soft coral here, which just floats in the water, moving with the tide. This is more attractive than the hard coral we've seen at most of the other dive sites. Again, there was a fantastic array of colourful fish, clams, etc

This was the perfect end to our Whitsundays adventures...

QLD - Airlie Beach: Pontoon Snorkel

Our first tour that we booked saw us getting up really early for our 7.20am bus to Shute Harbour. This proved very difficult as it was luxury sleeping in a bed :)

We got on our Fantasea boat which then took us out to Hardy Reef. Evelyn was very sure to take sea-sick tablets before boarding so as to not ruin this experience, and Marc did as well, just in case ;) The boat was once again a fairly big affair and there were between 100-150 people on tour today - it was probably 50/50 split between divers and snorkelers, and with the pontoon being so big, you didn't really notice the crowds. We finally arrived at the pontoon after a few hours at sea, which was perched right on the edge of the reef cliff, where it dropped down to about 30mtrs.

Our first experience on the pontoon was looking down into the viewing hole, where there was a massive 2mtr long groper - this baby was big, and thankfully harmless ;)

We booked ourselves on a few adventures on the way to the pontoon. It wasn't too long before our first when we went on a snorkel tour. We had to wear some very fetching lyrca stinger suits, which Marc says shows off all the wrong bulges;) In a group of 7 , we held onto a rubber ring and whilst we looked down into the underworld, our guide pulled us along and talked to us about the millions of different fish we could see. The little sergeant majors were the first on the scene and they followed us everywhere. We soon realised why, when the wrasse appeared. Peggy is about 1 mtr long, and gives a bit of a fright when you first see her. She is aptly named as she knows exactly where our guide keeps the fish food, and headbutts the rubber ring to get some nibbles. Whilst she's doing this you get to stroke her chin - how cute ;)

When we arrived at the reef shelf we got to see a really large clam, they come in so many different colours and when frightened they close up really tightly - which we got to see. We also got to see a few anemones and nemo, and the guide also gave us a bit of coral to touch

After our guided snorkel, we went freestyle, picking up the spaghetti buoyancy aid so we didn't have to work as hard to stay afloat. There was a rope running along the side of the reef, so we could follow this safely and avoid damaging the reef. We saw loads more colourful fish, reef, clams, etc.

The best sighting was when Marc spotted a reef shark in the depths below so called Evelyn over - this gave Evelyn quiet a fright once she spotted it, but as it was about 20-30 mtrs below she caught her breath back. Unfortunately as Marc was telling Evelyn about the shark, some girls overheard and started to panic a bit - it was quiet funny actually as we couldn't make out if they were crying or having fits of giggles ;)

Once we were done watching the shark we decided to head back to the pontoon for the main event, picking up a bit of speed along the way, naturally...

After a bit of lunch, we took our helicopter ride. This was a 5 seater and like something you see in the 80s cops shows, flying over LA looking for the bad guys. It was a surprisingly smooth flight and we got a great view of the reef. It was coming to low tide as well, which made it even better for us to see the wonderful colours. Even from up here we caught sight of manta rays and turtles, and the romantic heart shaped reef.

Thankfully, we still had time to go down to the underwater viewing chamber. The viewing chamber didn't really offer too much after snorkeling, and as the visibility wasn't great you couldn't see very deep. So we headed for the sub, which took us really close to the reef. In fact, it took us too close as the driver hit the reef on a couple of occasions which we were a bit annoyed about. We pay the money to see the reef in its glory, not to see it destroyed by a careless driver. It's this kind of thing which is damaging the reef and the habit of all this marine life. Still, the commentator was equally distressed and radioed the driver immediately to warm him, and hopefully he got a bit of a bollocking after!! The ride itself was pretty good, and gave us a chance to see the reef and fish without getting our feet wet. Snorkeling is better though.

We'd definitely recommend this tour to everyone as it is so much better than Cairns, with so much more colour on the reef, and the 'copter was very cool.