Our northern migration saw us arrive at Airlie Beach, which bills itself as the Heart of the Reef. The town is very much geared towards getting people out onto the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), boating around the Whitsunday Islands or parting travellers from their money at the many restaurants, takeaways, beachwear/souvenir shops and pubs. The main street is roughly 50% tour providers then 25% each food or tatt places. We were very much part of the tourist crowd, using Airlie as our launchpad onto the reef.
We had booked ourselves a ReefSleep experience out on Hardy Reef – about 80km (3-hour trip) east of Airlie, past the Whitsundays, on the GBR. Our all-inclusive package covered return transport, dedicated staff, ridiculously fancy and delicious meals, unlimited drinks, unique accommodation, stinger suits, snorkelling gear and an underwater observatory boat trip. We added a scuba diving experience to the trip just to complete the list! The reef is incredibly healthy and the fish are so acclimatised to the multitude of humans invading their space that they come right up to you. Even the green turtles are oblivious to the gawking, using the pontoon hull's weed growth as a local feeding spot. The ReefSleep was amazing; we felt like royalty with the attentive service and private areas. Even the canvas swag-like beds on the upper deck (our private glamping area away from the day visitors) were perfect for lounging in the sun and taking in the views (with a cheeky glass of chardonnay or pinot gris) with the additional bonus of sleeping under the stars. We had perfect weather and the tides co-operated, so we had fantastic snorkelling and scuba opportunities. We met wonderful people, had amazing experiences, were looked after brilliantly, made lasting memories and thoroughly enjoyed the two-day trip.
We spent the rest of time in Airlie walking along their lovely boardwalks, taking in the sunsets, spotting turtles and relaxing. We also checked out Shute Harbour, Cedar Creek Falls and the vast sugar-cane plantatins (criss-crossed with narrow-gauge railway tracks). Total aside: bush curlews are a local bird that unfortunately makes for an interrupted night’s sleep … their call is reminiscent of a crying child, lost in the bush, screaming all night long … not conducive to restful slumber.
From Airlie we headed north. Bowen was a delightful stop … with its Big Mango, very wide streets, split jetty and turtle-filled harbour (four just off the pier). It was a lovely stop on our trip to Townsville.
A lasting and unwanted souvenir of 1770 was a multitude of sandfly and midge bites. The welts are worse than mosquito bites and seem to last for ages. It has been nearly 10 days (at time of writing) and the itching and heat from our bodies’ reactions are still present and uncomfortable.
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