Whitsundays, we've arrived!

Those that know me, know my life long dream has been to jetski around the Whitsundays.

I'm a simple man, just wanting a jetski and the aqua water of the Whitsundays.....Oh, and a wife and little girl to join me.. in an F-250....with a luxury camper on the back.... after staying at all the good places on the way up... and then continuing around Australia... but I'm just a simple man not asking for much.

I'M HERE!!!

Time for a holiday, no rush, just ease into it all and soak up the sundays of whit.

I wake up on Friday morning full of excitement. We all get ourselves organised for a good day out. While the girls were showering I thought I better check those keys I got cut at Yeppoon.

Me being me, go straight to the important key, and lock the door of the camper with it. Cool it works, one down, 16 keys to go. No, hang on, what the, the damn key, arrrrgh, it's friggen stuck in the lock. I wiggle it, I twist it, I pull it, I shake it, but the damn thing is stuck in the lock and the camper is now locked.... Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!.

The wife strolls back from the relaxing showers of the caravan park with a satisfied and pleasant look on her face. Me frantically wiggling around looking like a primary school boy busting to go to the toilet.

"What's wrong?" she asks. 

Well, how do I explain this; "Um, something weird happened, I come back from the showers and I 'found' this key in the camper lock, I think someone tried to get in while we were away". Like a religious confessional of the highest level, with the Pope, otherwise known as my wife, she immediately knew I was lying and simply looked down and shook her head at me in total disgust.

But it's not my fault.....

So day 1 of my dream was spent organising a locksmith to come and fix my bad juju. Unfortunately he did arrive later that day, while not ridding me of said juju he did fix the camper.

While Day 1 was thinking about Day 2, it was decided we'd go on a tour boat called the Big Fury. This 900hp 80kph+ monster speedboat was exactly what "we" wanted. I mean who wants to slowly sail around the Whitsundays taking in all the sights when we can speed around to just the best ones right?. I've got 10 days to soak up the whit'ness, so why not go full speed on day 1.

The Big Fury on Whitehaven Beach

"cruising" past some of the islands and landmarks around the Whitsundays was living a dream. I couldn't think of anything else I could be doing... 

Then we passed some rock formations that our little excited tour guide friend aptly named Adam and Eve..... I don't get it???

 Adam and Eve

We then went snorkeling in a secret cove; that oddly didn't have one fish or piece of alive coral... yep, no wonder no one was there! 

It was at this point my bad juju had returned. 

First, my fantastic Drift camera had died. Yep, wouldn't turn on. I'm glad there was nothing to see. Then, while snorkeling, my little 4 year old girl tapped me on the shoulder and said she had dropped her snorkel back "there". Where?? Not in that deep hole? Yep, of course it was. It could have been on the shallower stuff, but nooooo.

Well, after a giant "Ian Thorpe" breath in, down I went. Approximately 10 minutes later I resurfaced with a snorkel trophy in my hand that even Laurie Lawrence would have been proud of. Now who's the man!

Next stop, we were dropped off for some lunch at Whithaven Beach

 Whitehaven Beach with Big Fury

After lazing around for an hour I thought I'd walk up to the Whitehaven lookout... by myself.... as everyone else was too laaaaaazy!

Along a spooky path, with giant Lace Monitors ready to eat me at every turn, I wandered up ALONE. Like from a movie, when the chased character keeps jumping and looking around frantically with every rustle, that was me and my award winning "terrified" performance.

The spooky path

I survived, barely, and we headed home. This is really when I thought the boat driver would open up all four of his 225hp engines and speed on home. Nope. A maximum speed of 43kph. Whaaaat. And this is the Big Fury... more like the Big Fairy. Luckily we did make it back before sunset.

The next day was Jetskiing Day. Yeehar!!

The water was magic, so smooth that I was "cruising" around at 80kph. In your face Big Fairy that's how you cruise the Whitsundays.

 Daydream Island - Mermaids

Next stop Long Island. This is by far my favorite island. It's welcoming with a better beach. unlike Day Dream that was a broken coral beach.

 Long Island

Next on the jetski trip was Hamilton Island. It wasn't a long stay, as soon as the anchor hit the water I was told you can't stop. What! Seriously, this is what it's like. With the exception of Long Island, it's all about money. With the rates varying from $20 to $120 just to get access to them. That's before you decide to buy a crappy pie for $5. So wow, you could find yourself essentially paying $125 for a pie!

 Hamilton Island

Next, South Molle Island. It was deserted. Weird? I idled along the resort front, but no one there. Then in the distance I noticed a guy sitting, working on a laptop, at the end of the jetty.

"Hey mate, you've got the island to yourself hey" I yell out.

In a European accent (Swedish I think) he said "No, they are all out the back". huh? Later he tells me everyone arrives on Monday??? Um, yeah ok, something is a little fishy here. When I get home I read some reviews that say the resort was damaged in a cyclone and is a really bad place to stay. I guess that it's not a secret to visitors. It's a shame as it looked like a great place from the water.

 South Molle Island

Finally on my way back to the harbor I come across someone with way worse juju than mine. Called the Whitsunday Magic, I'm not sure the spell he cast to park his ship was right. Either that or his sandalwood and dragon blood mix was contaminated. Just west of the harbor and Airlie Beach, I think he'll be stranded here for a very long time to come.

We're still here for a few more days, then we're off to Townsville and Magnetic Island. The jaunt continues.