Whitsundays from the Air, Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet

Monday 24 June 2019 – 266 000 

This morning started early for a one-hour flight from Proserpine over Conway National Park, the Whitsunday Islands and Hardy Reef – part of the Great Barrier Reef. I got to sit in the co-pilot seat, with Drew and Hayden in the first row. The reef is very impressive in scale when seen from the air. The Whitsunday Islands are an incredible collection of volcanic islands – given their proximity to the reef I had wrongly assumed they were coral in origin and hence low lying. I was wrong – they jut impressively and steeply out of the ocean.
 https://gslaviation.com.au/airlie/reefandisland

After our flight we were driven back to the Port of Airlie to catch our boat. https://gslaviation.com.au/airlie/flyandcruisepackage We picked up more passengers at Daydream Island and headed to a snorkelling area between Hook and Whitsunday Islands. The water was very cold, but the coral was pretty and there were plenty of fish. I stayed in as long as I could to enjoy the beauty but had to climb out eventually due to the cold. This was my first time using a full-face snorkel. I definitely preferred it to the traditional face mask and snorkel, and I think with a little practice I will be better able to appreciate the wide view it gives.

From here we travelled to the southern end of Whitehaven Beach.

https://www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au/whitehaven-beach We had one and a half hours here – we walked north along the beach. Not only is the sand incredibly white, it is superfine and gently files the dead skin from your feet as you walk. It was amazing and daunting to see some of the damage done to the dunes and trees by Cyclone Debbie. As we walked along the beach, we saw some awesome sand creations and sand drawings done by other tourists. The water was incredibly clear!

The northern end of the beach was our next destination for Hill Inlet. https://www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au/hill-inlet  We enjoyed a short pleasant walk through the bush to the lookout. The tour guides advised us that the sand patterns here change continuously with the wind and tides, such that no two visits reveal the same pattern. 

Then a one-hour boat ride home via Daydream Island. Once again, a full and tiring fantastic day!