Day 14 – Whitsunday Island – 28 September 2017

Our trip to Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island was only scheduled for 12:00 so we spent a nice, relaxing morning at the hotel. They had complimentary breakfast, and the room a balcony for Brian to sit on, so we were more than happy to just chill for a bit. Just before 11:00

we took a stroll to check out the town centre, and didn’t really find anything too interesting, though the seafront and pools looked really good. Airlie Beach seems to be another town with a LOT of young people and backpackers, so most of the bars and restaurants seem to be geared towards that demographic, though of course I may be wildly off in my assumptions!

We got to the departure point for the boat in good time and checked ourselves in before getting a couple of ice creams and waiting along with all the other pilgrims for the trip to Whitehaven. The Whitehaven trip takes quite a while, and we had to stop at Hamilton Island to change boats, and again when we came back in the evening to pick people up.

Once we got to Whitehaven they had little boats taking us onto the island, before we could get our feet into the incredible sand and go for a walk. When we rounded the point and first spotted Whitehaven Beach I was surprised and disheartened at the amount of boats in the bay, and the amount of people on the beach, but it turns out most of the people on our boat couldn’t be bothered to walk more than about 10 feet from where we were dropped off, so we set off to find a quieter spot, which wasn’t too hard in the end. It is very hard to describe the sand on Whitehaven Beach as it really is spectacular and incredibly special and it consists of 98% Silica. Most people go on about how white it is, which it is, but what struck me more was just how fine it is, almost like powder, and immensely clingy of course! The white sand also means it reflects sunlight and therefore stays cool, meaning no burning of your feet while walking on it! We spent a lovely couple of hours on the beach, and even though I don’t like beaches, the sand on this one meant that I actually enjoyed it! All too soon we had to make the long trip back, but Whitehaven definitely is a must-see and I regretted not doing the longer tour that includes the walk to the lookout as well. For us half a day was pretty much enough, but if you are into swimming and snorkeling one of the longer trips may make more sense.

Back in the marina just after 18:00 we decided that nothing in the town proper really struck our fancy, so ended up in the sailing club again for some dinner and drinks, followed by another good night’s sleep!