The Whitsunday Islands are a group of islands off the Queensland coast in between Townsville and Mackay. Several of the islands are upmarket holiday resorts, and others are uninhabited and 
designated National Park. Access to the islands by sea is mainly from the small town of Airlie Beach, which is where I stayed for my three nights in the area after travelling down from Townsville. Originally I had booked one night on Hook Island, the only island with accommodation remotely within my price range (the islands are very expensive to stay on) but unfortunately due to a mix up with my booking the hotel rang me to cancel, so I stayed in Airlie Beach for three nights instead. Despite its small size, Airlie is a busy and thriving town, mainly because it is known as the gateway to the Whitsundays, although it is a destination in itself, and very popular with backpackers.
After my previous day of coach travel and convalescence I rose feeling a lot better from my bout of food poisoning and decided to try and make the most of the rest of my holiday so I booked to go on a tour of the islands on an inflatable raft-type boat, which, because it sits on top of the water, is meant to lessen the effects of seasickness. It was a great tour to choose. The boat was speedy and relatively small so our group got a nice personal service from the tour guides. Also these boats are the only ones that are allowed to actually go right up onto the island beaches, because they don’t damage the sand or reefs.
After a very pleasant boat trip past some of the smaller islands, and a quick stop to pick up passengers from Daydream Island, our first stop was just off the edge of Hook Island and a gorgeous reef where we had our first snorkel. It was different to the reefs I had seen off the coast of Cairns, and here I got to see a bright red starfish! There was also an underwater cave that you could swim up to, although I couldn’t go inside because I didn’t have diving equipment on, but I did swim right down underwater to have a look, and due to an opening further down where a shaft of light illuminated the coral-lined cave you could see right through it – amazing!
Next up we sailed round the back of the uninhabited Whitsunday Island, the biggest of the group, to Whitehaven beach – and this is really why the Whitsundays are the paradise islands! The beach is several kilometres of pure white sand and the sea here is really shallow and the most perfect shade of turquoise that shimmers because of the sand underneath. It’s really breathtaking and these photos just don’t do 
it justice at all. The sand itself is quite weird: it is made from 99% pure silica, which was produced from an underwater volcano and then washed up on the edges of the island. The sandbars and inlets are constantly shifting with the tides and currents so the sand looks like it’s rippling, and it squeaks when you walk on it! It’s meant to be very good for the skin too. We had several hours here and, after eating a hearty lunch (my appetite finally returning with a vengeance!) I just 
wandered around admiring the view and paddling in the sea looking for rays, which live in the shallow water – there were loads of them swimming around, and you’ve got to watch out because they bury themselves in the sand for camouflage! You can just about make one out in this photo.
Whitehaven beach was intended as the perfect place to bring Pam on her trip to Australia. She was a real beach holiday person and I know she would have been so thrilled to get the chance to visit such a wonderful place. I thought about her a lot that day; it was such a shame that I wasn’t able to share this experience with her.
After a few hours of lazing around I took a walk into the interior of the island along a track, passing thousands of tiny soldier crabs who were busy fossicking away in the sand. I ended up high up on a rocky outcrop with a lookout point where you could see the whole of the beach laid out – 
what a magical stunning sight! I also learnt a bit about the sad story of the original Aboriginal inhabitants of the island who were virtually exterminated by the white settlers, or who died from imported diseases – a familiar story in Australia unfortunately. The aborigines lived in harmon
y with nature and managed to keep this island in its pristine state for thousands of years, you could hardly tell anyone had ever lived there. Thankfully, although the original landowners have gone, the island is a National Park and is protected from any development whatsoever. There is nothing permanent allowed on the island and you have to take everything with you ‘leaving behind nothing but footprints’.
Once we had sailed back to Airlie I was pretty exhausted yet again so I just ordered a pizza and stayed at the hostel bar to do the pub quiz. I joined a team with two girls from Germany and – thanks to my sheer genius – we won! So we shared the prize of a bottle of champagne between us. How marvellous.
designated National Park. Access to the islands by sea is mainly from the small town of Airlie Beach, which is where I stayed for my three nights in the area after travelling down from Townsville. Originally I had booked one night on Hook Island, the only island with accommodation remotely within my price range (the islands are very expensive to stay on) but unfortunately due to a mix up with my booking the hotel rang me to cancel, so I stayed in Airlie Beach for three nights instead. Despite its small size, Airlie is a busy and thriving town, mainly because it is known as the gateway to the Whitsundays, although it is a destination in itself, and very popular with backpackers.After my previous day of coach travel and convalescence I rose feeling a lot better from my bout of food poisoning and decided to try and make the most of the rest of my holiday so I booked to go on a tour of the islands on an inflatable raft-type boat, which, because it sits on top of the water, is meant to lessen the effects of seasickness. It was a great tour to choose. The boat was speedy and relatively small so our group got a nice personal service from the tour guides. Also these boats are the only ones that are allowed to actually go right up onto the island beaches, because they don’t damage the sand or reefs.
After a very pleasant boat trip past some of the smaller islands, and a quick stop to pick up passengers from Daydream Island, our first stop was just off the edge of Hook Island and a gorgeous reef where we had our first snorkel. It was different to the reefs I had seen off the coast of Cairns, and here I got to see a bright red starfish! There was also an underwater cave that you could swim up to, although I couldn’t go inside because I didn’t have diving equipment on, but I did swim right down underwater to have a look, and due to an opening further down where a shaft of light illuminated the coral-lined cave you could see right through it – amazing!
Next up we sailed round the back of the uninhabited Whitsunday Island, the biggest of the group, to Whitehaven beach – and this is really why the Whitsundays are the paradise islands! The beach is several kilometres of pure white sand and the sea here is really shallow and the most perfect shade of turquoise that shimmers because of the sand underneath. It’s really breathtaking and these photos just don’t do 
it justice at all. The sand itself is quite weird: it is made from 99% pure silica, which was produced from an underwater volcano and then washed up on the edges of the island. The sandbars and inlets are constantly shifting with the tides and currents so the sand looks like it’s rippling, and it squeaks when you walk on it! It’s meant to be very good for the skin too. We had several hours here and, after eating a hearty lunch (my appetite finally returning with a vengeance!) I just 
wandered around admiring the view and paddling in the sea looking for rays, which live in the shallow water – there were loads of them swimming around, and you’ve got to watch out because they bury themselves in the sand for camouflage! You can just about make one out in this photo.Whitehaven beach was intended as the perfect place to bring Pam on her trip to Australia. She was a real beach holiday person and I know she would have been so thrilled to get the chance to visit such a wonderful place. I thought about her a lot that day; it was such a shame that I wasn’t able to share this experience with her.
After a few hours of lazing around I took a walk into the interior of the island along a track, passing thousands of tiny soldier crabs who were busy fossicking away in the sand. I ended up high up on a rocky outcrop with a lookout point where you could see the whole of the beach laid out – 
what a magical stunning sight! I also learnt a bit about the sad story of the original Aboriginal inhabitants of the island who were virtually exterminated by the white settlers, or who died from imported diseases – a familiar story in Australia unfortunately. The aborigines lived in harmon
y with nature and managed to keep this island in its pristine state for thousands of years, you could hardly tell anyone had ever lived there. Thankfully, although the original landowners have gone, the island is a National Park and is protected from any development whatsoever. There is nothing permanent allowed on the island and you have to take everything with you ‘leaving behind nothing but footprints’.Once we had sailed back to Airlie I was pretty exhausted yet again so I just ordered a pizza and stayed at the hostel bar to do the pub quiz. I joined a team with two girls from Germany and – thanks to my sheer genius – we won! So we shared the prize of a bottle of champagne between us. How marvellous.
The following day, with my money rapidly running out and another big holiday coming up in a week, I decided upon a fairly relaxed day wandering around Airlie, sitting on the beach and reading my book before taking the coach back to Mackay the following day.
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