>Day 18. Whitehaven Beach

>Well, despite a forecast of thunderstorms, the weather cooperated again yesterday! Again, as we left the harbor, the sun started peeking through the clouds over the islands.

And so we were off. This time just me and 18 close friends, as I chose the small family run boat today to get a smaller group. So with Scottie and Bryan to guide us, our first stop was Hook Island for some more snorkeling. And more stinger suits…

But because of the rain, and because we were now snorkeling close to the mainland, there was too much fresh water run-off and so while there was lots of nice coral, not many fish. So I was glad I had made it out to the reef the day before. Meanwhile, it was just good to cool off in the water as the day was beginning to get hot.

Then Scottie picked us up on the little dinghy to get us back on our boat….

For our next stop, it was Hill Inlet Scenic Lookout, for a short walk up to get a view down to what the Australians tout as one of the world’s top 10 beaches, Whitehaven Beach, named for its pure white sand. In looking this up, there are many different lists of best beaches, so not sure which list this is on, but…….

Wow, spectacular views….


For you Oprah fans, she brought her guests to this lookout and said it was the most beautiful view she had ever seen. Again, it’s one of those views that is even more spectacular in person and difficult to capture in a still photo. These islands are listed as national heritage sites, so will never be developed.

We stood and oohed and ahhed for a while, and took photos of each other..

Then it was time to motor around to the beach itself for our picnic lunch…

And one of my fantasies met of having a man cart everything to the beach and then fix me lunch…. Two men actually….

(I’m just checking to see if any of my Bethany Beach friends are paying attention 🙂

It was an Aussie barbq of steak, sausage and chili burgers. Plus salad and fresh fruit. Yum, after swimming and walking and being in the sun all day, it was great.

Then apparently sand writing is a big thing here….

So I made my mark in the sand!

Time to head back to the harbor, and again the waves started kicking up for an evening storm, so if I thought we had rocked and rolled the day before, take a boat that is about 1/5 the size. Whee…it was fun…like an amusement ride!! Reminded me of some exciting sails on the Chesapeake bay when storms started rolling in. but then again, we were all also happy to pull into the harbor.

Today I had tried to sign up for a half day of sea kayaking, but it was all full up. Bummer! That would have been fun. They go someplace to look at the turtles…although then again, the night rains might affect that viewing as well. So looks like I’ll hang out by the pool here, go into Airlie Beach and walk along their 3 mile boardwalk, etc….because tomorrow it’s goodbye to Queensland, and on to the Northern Territory.

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Location:Whitsunday Islands, Australia

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