I’m a bit slow with this latest blog and not sure why – I think we have done and seen so much I just wanted to savour the magnificent time we had whilst in the Whitsundays. When we left Townsville, our first stop was Ayr, we stopped for a coffee as most people we talked too said, stop at Ayr it’s a lovely town to walk through – and so we did, it was an okay town – I stopped at an information centre and it was the worst I’ve ever encountered. Two elderly men manned the station and it was almost a surprise for anyone to walk in – I did say to them, you don’t seem as well stocked with information like other ‘i‘ places, they responded with “no we’re really not an information centre” – I said “funny there is an ‘i” outside the door” – they both laughed and rustled up some maps for me – it was very poor service.

From Ayr, journey took us through Bowen, it really was a picturesque coast drive. Bowen is most famous for being the birthplace of the Kensington Pride Mango – this is important to us as we have 8 mango trees growing on our property in WA, so we love mangos.

The giant mango – Bowens iconic Big Mango stands about 10 meters high and is situated just 5km south of Bowen on the Bruce Hwy, right next to the visitor information centre. We stopped and bought some souvenirs and a mango sorbet – it was a must and tasted great – however, I think my mango sorbet taste better.

We decided that we would stay a night out of Airlie but close by and peruse the area before deciding where to stay in Airlie. I was so pleased we did that because we choose to stay outside of The Whitsundays and go into Airlie for days out – best decision ever. I was driving so Mr C got to choose where we stayed and made the booking – that’s our rule, whoever is in the passenger seat is the one who chooses the next site. We booked at the Proserpine Tourist Park for a week, it was a great place, friendly & helpful people: Next to the caravan park is a 50-meter pool and water park which was free and run by the local Shire – I went swimming almost every day – it was fabulous. It was only a 30-minute drive to Airlie which was great: There were two spots we particularly liked, one was the Airlie Lagoon, and the other was Airlie beach. The Proserpine area is surrounded by sugar cane fields and cattle farms as far as the eye can see and the ever-present chance to see crocodiles in the wild on the Proserpine River – which I made sure I did not encounter. – there was always something to see when driving. To my surprise we saw signs for the Platypus, like you see for Kangaroos, but this was for a Platypus – so my next challenge was to find the elusive Platypus.

A day trip was to Cedar Creek Falls, sadly the falls was not falling, there was some water, however I did not fancy a swim. I felt there was not enough water so went for a walk instead. Mr C sat and watched the antics of the children in the swimming hole.

Other beaches we visited were Conway Beach and Wilson Beach south of Airlie – all beautiful.

We also drove out to Peter Faust Dam about 30 minutes from Proserpine town (funny name for a Dam) for Mr C to have a look at, being a dam man for the water Corp for many years, he was surprised how much he remembered from his working years and began to tell me the ins and outs of the Dam. Behind the Dam is Lake Proserpine which is used for recreational purposes, and some allocated space for free camping. There was so much to see and do, the bird life was amazing. If you like fishing, they have the biggest barramundi, so we’re told – Mr C has his fishing gear but I’ve yet to see him fish – and fishing is not for me.

The beaches of Airlie are pristine, reminds me of being in the Greek Islands- or closer to home a bit like Byron Bay. The marina is spectacular, with boats that you could only dream to own (not me) but Mr C would like one or two of them. There is a total of 74 Islands of the Whitsundays, including the famous island resorts of Long Island, Daydream Island, Hamilton Island and Hayman Island. We managed to get to two islands: that was enough for us – first one was Hamilton Island – what I loved about this place was the mode of transportation around the Island, it was a golf Buggie – you hire it online and once on the island it is a short bus-ride to pick up your golf Buggie and you are set for the day – great, we loved it:

I couldn’t wait for Whitehaven Beach, and it did not disappoint, I’ve never seen such soft white sand – the water was crystal clear. We were all briefed by the staff on the boat to wear stinger suits, which I did, however after being in the water for about 30minutes, I took off my stinger suite and continued to swim – there were no stingers. The water was divine, it was warm, refreshing and clear, I didn’t want the day to end. I was startled to swim amongst a shoal of fish, I think it was bream – it did feel like I was intruding. We also saw some turtles; they are amazing creatures. Mr C sat on the beach, watching me as I swam frolicked in the water, he wasn’t tempted to go in – however, he did go for a walk in the water.

At Airlie Beach we decided to treat ourselves to a sunset sailing cruise in the bay in an old sailing boat. It was fabulous, not only was the sunset spectacular, but we met the most amazing people – so had a ball. The following day I did a whole day of snorkelling off the Great Barrier Reef and Mr C had a rest day. This was by far for me the best ever day – I can’t begin to tell you how special this day was – swimming off the Great Barrier Reef was absolutely amazing – I wore a stinger suit, the water was not cold and it was breathtaking, I felt like I was in a huge aquarium, I felt so insignificant – the coral was amazing, some giant cauliflower, clams that seemed to be 100 years old, the colours were amazing and I saw Nemo and different coloured Clown fish, it truly was breathtaking. No amount of film could really do justice to what I saw. We swam for almost 2 hours in each setting – the boat trip took approximately 45 minutes each way – first session was inside the reef and was about 1.5hrs, it truly went so quickly – we then had lunch and then back in the water, this time the outer reef – this is where I saw a small reef shark and my heart skipped a beat, it was so exciting and then to see turtles as well, just amazing is all I can say.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Proserpine and Airlie Beach – we had some lovely meals out in Airlie, and ice-cream on the beach – we sailed into the sunset, and I snorkelled and saw the most amazing fish and coral. It was an adventure of a lifetime – we are so lucky to live in such an amazing country. If you ever get the chance to come to this part of the world, please do – there’s a budget that fits anyone, from cheap to expensive – we choose to stay out of Airlie so that we could afford to do the things we wanted to do rather than spend all on accommodation – as I said there’s a budget to fit everyone.

On my quest to see a Platypus I googled where to see a Platypus in the wild – the result was a place called Eungella National Park. I asked Mr C if we could go Eungella, they have Platypus there – its only 350km round trip. He said, “are you kidding”? me: “no please, I’ve never seen a real live Platypus, we can share the driving”. anyway, we did it and thank goodness we saw Platypus, they are very hard to find, and they are quick as lightening. We also managed to see many turtles. As a side issue we saw lots of signs that said “SAVE EUNGELLA” It’s about building a massive dam in the Burdekin rangelands for hydro-electric scheme – which is supposed to be renewable energy – I personally don’t understand the issue enough to comment any further.

Both Mr C and I really loved staying at Proserpine and visiting Airlie and the Whitsundays, it has been a fabulous experience. Next stop Mackay.