Croc resort and flying over Whitsundays
AUSTRALIA | Wednesday, 27 September 2006 | Views [566]
Friday 15 September 2006
The Great Barrier Reef & The Whitsunday Islands
We arrived late at night and parked next to the ‘No parking in this car park sign’ we were woken at 5.30 by the ranger banging on the van, “you can’t park here” so we moved and drove around till the rest of the town woke up, got breakfast and went strait to the Pro Dive centre booked a 5 day intensive dive course on a boat to the outer barrier reef, excellent we were starting on Monday.
So what do we do till then? We searched the travel companies and booked 2 days on a Island resort for some luxury, away from the town at ‘Club Croc’. We got the Ferry boat from Shute Harbour and landed on Long Island.
The weather changed and it rained again…the tide was wrong for sailing and they had no wind surf boards so we went to the bar, “two bloody mary’s please barman“, “sorry mate no tomato juice, oh and this is a no smoking area!!”. Great it was looking good already, the second day was fab and sunny the food was good and plenty of it we were lazy and bummed about drinking and sunbathing, we decided to book in with the massage and some waxing of bikini line and legs. Debs legs were hairy like a monkeys back and Rick’s back was sore from horseback riding. We went to club spa and Debs couldn’t get waxed and Rick would have a massage the next day. However they would call us if there was a spare space for waxing. We are still waiting for the call and Rick forgot his massage and forgot to call to cancel his appointment, ooops!
When we booked this all inclusive resort we didn’t know we had to pay for about everything. For the drinks, for hiring kayaks, for the sunbath towels etc. It was average and to do something special we were picked up the next day by a sea plane.
Sunday 17 September 2006
WhitSunday Islands and Great Barrier Reef by seaplane
Erick Hersel was the pilot of the Cessna six seater who picked us up at 10:45 from ’Club Croc’. People were staring at us when we walked in the sea and stepped in the plane. We flew to Air Whitsunday airfield to transfer to a bigger plane because eight other people had booked for this luxury flight over the Great Barrier Reef.
We left with four people to Long Island to pick up the other six. Debs was lucky to sit next to the pilot, Michael East, because he hadn’t enough seats.
The flight was terrific, the sight of the Great Barrier Reef from out the sky amazing and magical. The Great Barrier Reef exists of coral reef islands when it’s low tide and the lagoons seem light blue with white edges. There is one coral reef who is heart shaped and according to Michael, many couples were married above this coral. After 45 minutes of flying and picture taking we landed in the middle of the lagoon next to a boat. On the boat we put on our swimming suits and made us ready to do some snorkelling around the reef.
It was wonderful. The colours and different fishes over there were amazing. We snorkelled for about 1 hour and when we entered the boat again we had a glass of champagne and some toast with cheese. After exploring the reef in the water we took off for visiting Whitehaven beach.
Whitehaven beach is one of the whitest beaches Australia has. The sand is as white as salt and when you walk along the shore the sand squeaks under your feet.
The lunch we had was excellent and the seagulls couldn’t hold their eagerness. Debs was enjoying her sandwich and in an instant her sandwich was snatched away by a cheeky seagull. We made some pictures for Wicked Weasel and swam in the blue sea. Then it was time to get on the plane again and we took off for the way back to Air Whitsunday airfield. It was a perfect day and this day made it up for ‘Club Croc’.
After this adventure we went straight to camping site ‘Airlie Cove’ and spend the night in our van.
Tags: Beaches & sunshine
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