Airlie Beach QLD (May - 7 days)

We have really enjoyed our time at Airlie Beach. We will be here another two or three days, (7-8 days in total). We are staying alongside our travelling friends from Melbourne and are striking up quite a friendship with them. The children are having a ball together. It is going to be quite sad to farewell them at Townsville where they turn around.

The colour of the water here is quite beautiful and there is a great public foreshore area in town. Although the ocean is unswimmable, due to the dreaded marine stingers, we have not missed our ocean dips too much because of the magnificent public lagoon on the foreshore. The council here have very tastefully built an amazing lagoon (several Olympic swimming pools worth in total) with beach areas, beautifully landscaped surrounds and depths to suit everyone. Photos just can’t do it justice, but it has been a fabulous place to swim with the kids while looking out to the Whitsunday islands.

We ventured out to the islands yesterday on a cruise to get a small taste of the Whitsundays. Kate, Annabelle and Harrison snorkelled off Hook Island donned in ‘stinger suits’ (lots of good laughs for all!). Although the snorkelling was all too brief, we did see some gorgeous fish and coral, especially when the fish were being fed - they were close enough to touch. It certainly gave the kids a taste for snorkelling and we are looking forward to more as we head up the reef. We also went on an underwater viewing boat and saw some amazing coral (it was good to see that there are still colourful parts of the reef left). We then went to pristine Whitehaven Beach and enjoyed some swimming and playing (the kids were keen to run around after being on the boat). The cruise ended with a short stop at Daydream Island which was definitely the low point of the trip. A great day in all, lots of laughs and lovely just cruising by the various islands.

Moving on to Bowen (for more snorkelling) in a few days time, then to Townsville.