Airlie Beach (The Whitsundays)

We went to Airlie Beach with the intention of somehow seeing the Whitsundays. We soon worked out that it would be hugely expensive to hire a yacht or stay at one of the island the resorts. We had, however, heard that that the 3 Island (8 hour) Cruise was really good value and great fun - particularly if the weather is good.

Fortunately we had to wait a couple of days for the tour to run as we were lucky enough to strike a really beautiful day. While it was only just warm enough to swim, it was a bright and clear sunny day with no wind at all. Our (quarter full) boat left Shute Harbour at 8.30am and travelled straight out to Hook Island for snorkeling - I'm happy to report that the girls thought the snorkeling was "just as good as Quobba", which is a big rap. From Hook we headed to Whitehaven Beach, which was just as beautiful as it looks in the brochures. We spent a couple of hours there playing cricket, swimming and bush walking. Our last stop was at Daydream Island where was watched the sharks and rays in the (man made) reef pool and enjoyed the pool and spa. What a day - our boat arrived back at Shute Harbour at 5.30pm, so it was straight back to the camper for dinner and bed!

We ended up spending 3 night in Airlie Beach and enjoyed it a lot. We camped out of town in a nice quiet park, and generally avoided the (loud) backpackers. It is definitely quite touristy but it still very beautiful looking out across the water to the islands.

Photos below are-
1: leaving Shute Harbour on the boat
2: in the glass bottom boat
3: snorkeling photo
4: Pia sleeping on the boat
5-6: Whitehaven Beach
7: lunch on the boat
8: chasing wallabies on Daydream
9: the big girls with mermaid statues on Daydream