Airlie Beach

Stayed at the Big4 adventure whitsunday caravan park at Airlie Beach. Cabin was nice and comfy but they do like to squeeze us all close together at these parks and of course, being school holidays there was screaming,whining kids everywhere!!! No worries though, because we were hardly there. Airlie Beach the town is a really pretty scenic town with a huge marina to cater for all the boats cruising the whitsundays and lots of homes and holiday units clinging to the sides of the hills.
The main drag is Shute Harbour Road and there are lots of travel agents and cruise shops to organise cruises and holidays on the islands. We could have stayed at Hamilton Island for $111 per night!!
We decided on a 3 island cruise on the voyager. Bus picked us up at 7.45am and took us down to the marina .Set off about 8.30. weather was pretty cool but no rain. Too cold and choppy for me to go snorkelling though!! There are 74 whitsunday islands but only a few are inhabited, the rest are national parks. First stop was Hook Island - some people went snorkelling and the rest of us went to the underwater observatory and later a cruise to the reef on a glass bottomed boat to view the coral. Back on to the catamaran, which is a very smooth ride out in the open water. Then on to whitsunday island where we had lunch then disembarked onto beautiful whitehaven beach. The sand here is pure white . By now it was warm enough to do some sunbathing and Peter went in the water for a dip. Back on board again to continue our cruise. We passed Hamilton Island and this is the most developed island with quite a few high rise buildings and lots of development going on - apparently this island is not just a resort but a town as well where people live,having its own airport. Last island to visit was Daydream. This is a lovely little resort - very picturesque. It has a unique little coral lagoon in the resort with fish in. It also has a lovely pool area overlooking the water. We had some 'whitsunday dreaming' cocktails at the pool bar. Back on board the voyager for the last time to return to the marina at 5.30pm for our bus trip back to accommodation. The cruise was really good value for money and we really enjoyed it.
Next morning heading south again, but first a visit to the Airlie Beach markets on the front!!!!
Travelling downQueensland's coast means driving on the awful Bruce Highway. We got on this at Mission Beach and it travels all the way down to Brisbane. It is in very bad condition with lots of pot holes and uneven. It is also a single lane highway with few overtaking lanes and has a lot of traffic - especially long trucks and slow caravans!!! Joy!!!!