Daydream Island (9/4/12 - 12/4/12)

After packing up and moving our caravan and car to the storage area at the caravan park, we caught the bus to Abel Point Marina to catch the ferry to Daydream Island.  Unfortunately, a number of boats with passengers from a cruise boat arrived when we were scheduled to board.  Needless to say we had to wait for all the cruise passengers to get off before we could board.

We finally boarded and arrived at Daydream Island after an half hour trip.  We had a great trip over - very calm and the views of this part of the Whitsunday's was gorgeous.  From the water Daydream Island looked beautiful - gorgeous blue, calm water and swaying palm trees.   It was a lot smaller than we thought it would be.  The island is only one kilometre long and at its widest point, 400 metres wide.   On our arrival we were given a shell necklace and a nice cold drink.  The kids thought this was great.

It was nice to get into our room and the air conditioning.   Daydream Island, like a lot of the islands in the Whitsundays are owned by the one owner.  This makes life very easy as you can charge everything back to your room, rather than carrying cash.  There is only one hotel - Daydream Island Resort and Spa.  We stayed in a garden room (us grey nomads went for the cheapest option!).  It was fine for what we needed, pretty basic and dated, but clean and tidy.

Chloe and Ben were able to have a bath (rather than a shower) here - the first time since we left home. They made the most of it by having very deep bubble baths each night.  Being in a hotel room also meant the kids had to share a queen size bed.  Neither of them were too keen on this and mucked around at bedtime.   So the first night Donna and Chloe shared a bed and Simon and Ben shared the other bed. This would have to be the worst night sleep any of us had had all holiday.  The kids kept tossing and turning, Ben fell out of bed and the kids chose this night to both get up during the night to use the toilet - aahhh!!  Needless to say night two and three the kids slept in the same bed and we all slept very well.  The kids even slept until 7 one morning - something that has not happened for a long time.

The island has two main areas - the north and south. The north end has the hotel, day spa, three pools, water sports, two bars and two restaurants.  The south end has a pool, outdoor cinema, a pool, a couple of shops and the Fish Bowl Tavern.  There is a 700 meter boardwalk between the two ends.  This became a well walked path for us, although we did make the most of the golf buggy transfer a few times.

There is a section of rainforest that starts at the hotel and ends at the wedding chapel at the south end of the island.  We walked through the rainforest which was lovely.  Also at the hotel, near the start of the rainforest is Lover's Cove, a beautiful sheltered bay, perfect for snorkelling.   There is no sand on the beach, just washed up coral.  We spent an hour or so sitting on the shore watching the snorkellers. It was windy the day we were there so the snorkelling conditions were not great.

We were all looking forward to a trip to Whitehaven Beach on Wednesday afternoon.  Unfortunately the wind picked up on Tuesday afternoon and by Wednesday morning it was SO windy.   Our tour was cancelled, which was such a shame as we didn't get to see Whitehaven Beach, one of the top five beaches in the world (apparently).  Whilst we were disappointed, we were thankful the tour didn't go ahead as the conditions were horrible and there is no way we would have been able to swim or snorkel.

We all enjoyed 19 holes of putt putt golf, with each hole being a different place in Australia.  Out of the 19 holes, there was only three that we had not been to or will not go to on our trip - Cape York, Birdsville and the Black Stump.  It was exciting for the kids to see which ones we had been to and talk about what we did at each place.

The kids found another great playground - Jumble Jungle Playground.  A fair bit of time was spent here. The rest of our time was spent at the pool.  The kids loved swimming under the bridges, going from one pool to the next and sitting in the spas.  They were fascinated by the pool bar.

On our last afternoon the kids saw a green tree snake on the path around the pool.  They were coming back to us, after being at the room.  They were so excited to tell us, especially as they had to jump over it.  They didn't even scream - very brave.

Ben made us laugh by referring many times during our stay to our "cabin" rather than our hotel room. Our kids are definitely camping kids not hotel/resort kids.

The downside of the island being owned by one owner is that everything is expensive on the island and if you want to eat, you must eat at their restaurants.   Thankfully we had buffet breakfast included so we ate a HUGE breakfast each morning.  Chloe and Ben thought they were in heaven - so many different foods and you could eat as much as you want!  The pancake machine was a big hit.

The Fish Bowl Tavern became the eating place of choice at nighttime.  Typical pub meals, great pizzas, kid friendly and expensive drinks!  The staff were dressed as pirates, which the kids thought was pretty good.

We enjoyed our three days at Daydream Island, although in hindsight two days would have been long enough.  The kids had an absolute ball and staying in a hotel was a new experience for them.

Unfortunately when we got back to Airlie Beach we discovered the gas on our fridge/freezer had gone out, which meant we had to throw out some food.  Thankfully the fridge wasn't too full.  A small price to pay for three relaxing days.

We had planned to head north to Townsville from Airlie Beach.   We had a change of heart and decided we really wanted to go to Longreach which meant backtracking south a bit.  Not sure where we will get to tonight....

Abel Point Marina.  Waiting to board our boat...

Daydream Island from the boat

Welcome to Daydream Island

In the hotel grounds

The view from the rainforest

The rainforest walk

View from jetty back to outdoor cinema and south of island

The well walked boardwalk - on our way to dinner

The kids had more fun than relaxation in the hammocks!

Pool at the south of the island

Look at all the coral

The dancing queen

The Jumble Jungle Playground


 Our last day...the girls!

 Look how windy it is!

Lover's Cove.  Team work

 Beautiful Lover's Cove

Gorgeous Ben

Feeding the manta rays

Airlie Beach (1/4/12 - 9/4/12)

We left Mackay on Sunday and drove 150kms north to Airlie Beach.  The kids were instantly impressed with the caravan park - BIG 4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort - and what kid wouldn't be.  Kid heaven!! Huge pool with two waterslides, 18 hole mini golf course, jumping pillow, playground, Kids Club, competitions, outdoor night movies, Easter activities and best of all heaps of other kids.

There were so many kids, especially over the four day Easter break.  This meant there were so many bikes, scooters, go karts and skateboards zipping past!  Chloe made friends with Tullia (but she left before Easter), Sarah and Abbey.  Chloe and Sarah were inseparable.  Ben made some "big buddies" at the bouncy pillow and enjoyed playing with Sarah's older brother, Thomas (8).  It was so great for the kids to meet some other kids - they had an absolute ball.  Plus they were off playing, which meant more relaxation time for the adults!  Simon and Donna also enjoyed a drink and chat with Kylie and Matt (Sarah and Thomas' parents).

We spent eight days at Airlie Beach, including Easter.  It was the second longest time we had spent in one spot on this trip and it was such a great eight days.  So relaxing.  The kids would have been happy to stay at the caravan park the entire time and no leave at all.  However, we did venture out on a few occasions.

We went to Airlie Beach Lagoon (another council run, free pool) twice and had a ball.  Two beautiful, huge pools.  The kids loved swimming under the bridge and being thrown in the air by Simon countless times.  How we didn't get in trouble from the lifeguards I don't know!  Ben is getting more and more confident and stronger with his swimming, which is so good to see.

On Saturday we wandered the Airlie Beach markets along the foreshore.  Chloe got a hair plait which she has been wanting to get for a long time, so was very pleased with herself.  She was even happier when she discovered Sarah got one too.  Ben wasted his money on some plastic Angry Bird toy that broke pretty quickly, but he was happy!  However, the best money spent was Ben's haircut.  Mum's haircuts are not too professional so it was $5 very well spent!

There is a great boardwalk that starts close to the caravan park we stayed at and follows the coast to the Lagoon right in town, about 3.5kms away.  We managed to walk a small portion of it from the Lagoon to the Abel Point Marina, before the kids were "hot" and wanted a swim.  What we did see was beautiful.  Like the rest of the coast at Airlie Beach, it was stunning.  Clear, blue and very calm water.  The only disappointing thing was that we couldn't swim in it due to all the nasties up here.  However, our swim at the Lagoon was lovely.

Airlie Beach is a beautiful spot.  The town itself is not very big, with a main street of a few hundred metres.  So much accommodation, heaps of eating places and even more tourist booking outlets.  Then there are the marinas (Abel Point Marina and Shute Harbour) - so many beautiful boats.  An absolute tourist mecca!  We discovered some amazing blocks of land for sale, high up on the hill, with stunning views of the town, ocean and islands.  Simon thinks he could live at Airlie Beach very easily!

For the rest of the time, we were at the park - in the pool, playing mini golf, reading or relaxing!  The kids went to Kids Club on two mornings and had a great time - making Easter baskets.  Chloe was lucky enough to win an Easter colouring in competition and was so impressed with her prize - easter eggs and a voucher for the hire of a go kart.  Ben didn't take this news too well - he was devastated that Chloe won and he didn't.  Oh dear!  Chloe, Sarah and Ben enjoyed the go kart ride and Ben got over his loss.  Then there was biscuit decorating (how many lollies can you fit on one biscuit?), a scavenger hunt, a play under the sprinklers with gelebaff, a photo trail, face painting and snow cones.

We enjoyed a pizza and movie night one night - we watched Zookeeper which we all enjoyed.  It was the first time for all of us to watch a movie outside.  We made the most of the nightly movies on a few other nights too.

The Easter Bunny definitely found us at Airlie Beach and the kids enjoyed having chocolate for breakfast!  Not only did the Easter Bunny visit our caravan, he also visited the caravan park.  The kids met Easter Bunny, which they thought was pretty cool.  Plus they got to have another egg hunt around the caravan park.  There were kids and easter eggs everywhere...and Chloe and Ben were proud of their finds.  Ben even found one solo egg after the crowds dispersed - how this egg was missed I do not know!  Then there was the Easter hat parade.  First the kids made their hats and then they showed off their creations to everyone.

So as you can see, we had a FANTASTIC time at Airlie Beach.  The only not so great thing that we can think of was the sand flies, that just loved Donna.  Horrible things!!

We hope you all had a happy, relaxing and chocolate filled Easter.  We certainly did!

Next stop...Daydream Island....woohoo!!

Main beach (next to Sailing Club)

and by sunset

The Lagoon

Beach next to the Lagoon

Shute Harbour

Main beach (next to Sailing Club)

The view from THAT block!

Biscuit decorating

More lolly decorations that biscuits!

Mr Serious having his $5 haircut

The anticipation...waiting for the Easter hunt to begin

Hunting.......

Look how many eggs we found!

Resident parrot (and the owner of the caravan park)

The hat parade is about to start - Thomas, Ben, Chloe & Sarah

The rabbits....

Daydream Island here we come!

We are all very excited as today we booked three nights at Daydream Island.  We head over there on Easter Monday and come back to Airlie Beach on Thursday the 12th.  Daydream Island is only a half an hour ferry trip from here, so we thought while we are so close we may as well make the most of it.

Mackay (29/3/12 - 1/4/12)

Our drive from Kinka Beach to Mackay was the biggest day of driving we have done for some time. Mackay is 366kms north of Kinka Beach, so we were in the car for over four hours.  A bit hard to take! There is very few towns between Kinka Beach and Mackay and the highway is mostly inland.

We had sunshine the entire way and every day in Mackay was warm and sunny.  Hopefully we have left the rain behind us!

Mackay is a huge place, with a population of close to 120,000.  It is predominantly a coal mining and sugar growing area.   As a result it is a "boom" town and there is a huge lack of housing and because of this alot of workers live in caravan parks.   We experienced this on our first night in Mackay at the park we stayed at.  Thankfully, Simon found a great park (Seawinds Caravan Park) on the northern beaches and we moved there for the next two days.  No comparison at all.   This park was right on the beach (Black Beach), we had a huge site with nothing but grass between us and the beach, it was so well maintained and quiet.  One of our favourite caravan parks of all time!!

Given our piece of paradise, we did very little in Mackay other than hang out at the caravan park and the beach.  Black Beach is a beautiful beach, just a shame you can't swim at northern Queensland beaches due to the jellyfish and other nasties.  We did take the kids to the Mackay Lagoon, a free council run pool.   The kids had a ball despite sharing it with heaps of school kids on their last day of term excursion.  We enjoyed lunch at the local food court.  Not too flash, but it kept everyone happy as there were so many choices.

Other than that, we did a fair bit of relaxing and we gave the car and caravan a good clean.  The kids made some new friends (Sarah, Emily, Tim and Jayden) and spent most of their time with them playing ten pin bowling, riding scooters and the skateboard or playing games.  Simon and the kids built a HUGE sandcastle at the beach.  Simon thinks he shovelled two tonne of sand!  The kids were so proud of themselves.

We reluctantly left Mackay on Sunday and we say reluctantly as we knew it would be very hard to top this caravan park.  Despite this we, especially the kids were looking forward to getting to Airlie Beach as we will be able to stay put for eight days and enjoy all the activities on offer at the park.

Until Airlie Beach, take care and Happy Easter (just in case we don't update the blog until after Easter).  We hope you all have a safe and relaxing Easter, filled with lots of easter eggs and hot cross buns.

View from our site.

Beautiful Black Beach

Ben trying to crack his coconut

Ben with the "hammer" he found

THE sandcastle!

Chloe, Emily, Sarah & Jayden (Ben was camera shy)

The kids with their new friends and their icypoles in front of our site.
Sarah, Chloe, Emily, Tim & Ben

 The Mackay port and marina

 Our site

Beautiful Black Beach

The kids playing ten pin bowling