Wɔatintim: 01.12.2019
Hi guys,
what an amazing day!
The last two days, we were in the region around "Airlie Beach".
After having a nice day in the town yesterday, we both had a great first impression of the city. Not because the city itself was beautiful, but mainly because of the nature surrounding the place.
To explore it a bit better, we decided to take a day tour through the "Whitsundays" today, the surrounding island chain consisting of around 70 islands.
To be ready for this trip, we went to bed early in the evening and the alarm clock rang at 5:30 am this morning.
It was going to be an eventful day that we both were excited about, so we both got out of bed easily despite the early hour on a Sunday. We quickly got ready and packed everything. We left the campsite around 7 am and headed to the harbor of "Airlie Beach". Here, we had a wonderful breakfast and then we set off.
We booked a boat trip through the "Whitsundays" with the company "Ocean Rafting" today. However, it wasn't just a simple boat tour around the islands, which would have been nice as well. For us, it was about snorkeling in the "Great Barrier Reef", having a picnic on the whitest and finest sandy beach in the world, and taking an unforgettable hike.
Well-fed, we both got on the boat. The journey started with a fun greeting from our captain, who then took us to our first dive site at 35 knots. The way there alone was so beautiful that we could hardly believe it! We were driving along the islands on incredibly clear turquoise blue water, right through paradise!
When we arrived at the dive site, we couldn't wait. Now we could snorkel and dive in the "Great Barrier Reef". How cool is that? Mask on, snorkel ready, flippers on our feet, and whoosh, we were in the middle of colorful corals and fish. For about 45 minutes, we explored the reef and were simply amazed! Both the fish and the corals were really diverse in colors and sizes, and the 45 minutes flew by.
After about 10 minutes of driving, we reached our next dive site. We plunged into the water again. With the "GoPro", an underwater camera, we tried to capture as much as possible and couldn't get enough of the discoveries.
Finally, as the last part of the crew, we went back on board and by now we were really hungry again. We weren't the only ones, so we went to "Whitsunday Island" and what followed is still hard for me to believe. A beach landscape like I have never seen before. We dropped anchor and then had 1.5 hours for ourselves. During this time, a large buffet was served on board to satisfy our hunger. So there we sat, in the middle of a truly breathtaking beach landscape, in the finest sand in the world, and filled our bellies.
We took some more pictures and still couldn't believe the view.
As the last point, there was a short hike to a viewpoint. Since I thought it couldn't get any better, I approached it quite neutrally and was proven wrong in every way. After about 25 minutes of walking, we suddenly had a view that not even the advertisement can create. It was simply incredible and hard to put into words. We were just speechless, took plenty of pictures, and enjoyed the fantastic view.
What a trip! On the way back, we let the waves rock us once again and finally arrived back on land around 3:45 pm.
So many impressions in such a short time, it was a trip that couldn't have been more perfect. After cooling off with a cold drink, we took a quick shower to wash off the salt from our bodies and then took a dip in the city's outdoor pool.
From there, we went as quickly as possible to the campsite and went to bed accordingly quickly because we were both exhausted from the day. I think we will definitely have a great sleep! 😅
Greetings from Airlie Beach, Australia! 🇦🇺
Your Tim! 😊
Today's temperature: 30 degrees with 45% humidity ☀️