The Whitsunday islands are south of Cairns, but north of Brisbane. After our amazing dives in Cairns we boarded a Greyhound Bus and took it overnight to Airlie Beach, the town that is the gateway to the Whitsundays. These islands are a gorgeous paradise-like gem found between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef (yes it's so long that 12 hours south of Cairns you're still adjacent with the GBR). The islands were formed from the ancient volcanism on Australia's East Coast that was caused by a hotspot. When sea level rose the mountains were covered forming a group of 74 islands. Since the islands are between the GBR and shore they are incredibly sheltered making them ideal for kayaking and sailing. We went kayaking around some of the closer islands the afternoon that we arrived. Conditions were perfect, blue-skies and a surface as smooth as glass (see below), it was like gliding through a dream! We stopped at one of the islands to snorkel and even though the water visibility wasn't great, I was able to duck-dive down and see some corals.
The next day we took a boat ride out to the famous Whitehaven Beach (see top right). This is a 7 km long white sand beach on the largest of the Whitsunday Islands We had 4 hours on the beach, and we spent the time walking along the beach (we got a bit over half way before turning back), snorkeling off the beach, and, of course, relaxing in the sun with a good book! We were able to see a ton of corals just off shore, but had to wear stinger suits, due to the threat of deadly jellies. No worries, though. The beach was amazing and it was nice to be able to do all of the fun beach activities that I enjoy. The boat ride itself was also a wonderful part of the day. We got to see all of the islands and the scenery is spectacular (see top left). It reminded me of the islets around Vancouver Island, but in a subtropical setting rather than a temperate one. After an amazing day we came back to Airlie Beach for some dinner and a night out. Airlie is a back packer town. It's only one street, which is lined with hostels, pubs, and travel agencies. It's filled with young people and vacationing families, all coming and going. Some people are going out on sailing trips, others are returning. Some are passing through on their way up the east coast. It's a really fun bustling place, and for a backpacker town, its really pretty (see below).
The next morning, we grabbed some brekie and headed to the airport to catch a flight back to Brisbane. We had to leave because we were going on our next adventure in 12 hours: Fraser Island.
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