After Mackay we headed to Airlie Beach which was only a couple of hours drive away. Roy was really keen to see what had changed as he remembered Airlie only having 2 backpackers and 1 pub. Well now it was more a case that if you were 18 to 21 with a body to die for then Airlie Beach was the place for you - serious backpacking place full of youngsters that made me feel very very old, although I could show them a thing or two when it comes to drinking ;o)

The camp site was the most expensive site we had stayed on but worth every cent (another thing I haven't got used to yet is altering sayings like that from pennies to cents.....seems very very strange) the kids have loved it as they had a huge swimming pool with a couple of water slides, a huge playground, crazy golf and to top it off what is described as the jumping pillow.....a huge bouncy castle type thing which is shaped like a pillow.....fantastic and of course being such a great mother I had to test it out for safety reasons and had a complete ball nearly wet myself laughing though :o)

Anyway Airlie Beach itself was a bit of a let down but mainly due to the amount of back packers there and the age thing otherwise they had a nice man made lagoon down by the beach which would be fab in the summer except not too sure about strutting my stuff in a sexy bikini when there were some seriously attractive people sun bathing down there!!! There are a few nice little shops with clothes and other tourist bits and bobs down there. There was one shop that sold didgeridoos and opals, these were both cheap on reflection looking at other places. I checked out the Opals and said the man that my taste was rather expensive when I asked him how much one of the opals was….his reply was $35,000.00 !!!!!! He let me have a closer look so I stood there with this tiny ball in the palm of my hand wondering how fast he could run as I eyed up the exit, seriously it was a stunning opal and one I would have been more than happy to possess. The opals side of things is quite interesting with various things to look out for as you get solids, doublets, and triplets. The solids are just that solid opal yet the doublets and triplets are stuck onto something to enhance the colours further. Doublets are pretty good if you get a good one but my money would be on the solid opals. There isn’t a right or wrong opal as it’s all in the pattern and the colours of the opal. In fact black opals aren’t actually black the name comes from the colour of the stone it is found encased in. Australia has the only type of opal formed other than the volcanic method as in the rest of the world so it makes this opal very very special. You can get butterfly pieces which mirror one another which are a nice investment for kids. Or you can get beautiful rocks with the opal colours running through I think are called fire rocks…..anyway they are stunning to look at. It is the one jewel I think is well worth a bit of respect as no two are the same.

Anyway we drove up to Hideaway Bay and Dingo Beach where some friends have just bought a block of land and were very surprised as you can see the land was cheap with fantastic views and even the roads were part gravel to get there was work being done to change that. In my opinion this place will take off big style soon and a tidy investment but it is too far away from work prospects for our liking so didn't bother.

The main thing that Airlie Beach has going for it is the fact it is part of the famous Whitsunday Islands and is basically the start off point for any trip out to the islands. We decided to go for it and blow the budget paying for a helicopter to take us around the islands, landing on the famous Whitehaven Beach for a while then back to the airport. It was AMAZING!!! We had the helicopter to ourselves (3 seats in the back and the pilot in front) with no doors on so we had a totally uninterrupted photo shot of everything. I totally crapped myself though as if I moved my foot to the left a bit it was out of the helicopter…not good if you are afraid of heights and even worse when you get a bit of turbulence as we experienced a few times!! Then landing on the white sands of Whitehaven where it felt as though no one else had ever been as the tide had just gone out leaving no other footprints bar our own. There wasn't another single soul on the island. Our pilot gave us a bottle of champagne to sip surrounded by what can only be described as totally breath taking scenery. This has to be the closest thing to heaven as it was a truly unbelievable experience. Forgot to say you could also see sting rays and turtles swimming around the ocean by the island from the helicopter......awesome! We then flew back over some of the other islands like the famous Hamilton Island with its expensive resort ($600 to $6000 a room for the night!!!)

We did also try to book for whale watching but unfortunately that was cancelled due to the winds picking up so maybe further down the track we will get to see the huge beasts.

Sounds fantastic Sasha. Got some of the photos to share with us too?

I'll try and upload some.....if I can work out how???

Sasha :)

I must admit Sasha, your opinion of Airlie Beach was the same as ours. We went to Hamilton Island, Airlie Beach and the Gold Coast for our honeymoon and Airlie Beach was the one place that we would have changed as we too felt it was becoming a bit of an Ibiza for the teenagers and we are well over that stage! We decided to hire a helicopter at Airlie that took us to a deserted Whitsunday Island and left us there for the day! It was fantastic and we felt like superstars!

:cool shake:

Totally it was amazing, Roy was filming me drinking champagne on a beach to ourselves and then zipped over to our mode of transport...the helicopter....fantastic :D Nice place for a honeymoon.

Sasha :)

Hi guys

Just noticed this thread! We got married on Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays and it was fab. There was just me and hubby, two photographers and the celebrant and our lovely seaplane pilot :loopy:


S

:bouncy:

OOoh that sounds lovely! The Whitsundays is just perfect for weddings/honeymoon.

Did you see Sabrina Down Under at the weekend? It was filmed on location at Hamilton Island and it brought back loads of memories. Although it made out that the Barrier Reef was right on its doorstep instead of a 2 hour boat journey.

Its not that expensive to go to Hamilton Island either and its a lovely place to go for a holiday. I've been twice now.

:cool shake:

What a brilliant place to get married as it is such a fantastic location and one I've yet to beat with it's beauty.

Hamiliton Island is meant to be starting off at 600 bucks a night so are you made of money Michelle or did you get a better deal :D

Sasha :)

i think you may have Hamilton Island mixed up with Hayman Island....that's where it's real expensive.....I found Hamilton I ok....fairly good deals like 4 nights for price of 3 and so on.
Not nit picking..just an observation

:lol: Sasha, no we're not loaded or anything. manchesterlad is right, you can get some very cheap deals for Hamilton Island, 3 nights for the price of 2 etc and flights are going down in price too. What I've heard from someone I know who owns land on HI is that they are getting upset as its getting too affordable to go there and some undesirables are descending upon them! I wonder if he meant me! :lol: Apparently you have to have a $million in the bank to buy land there! :o

I think its Hayman Island thats the expensive one but I'd rather go to HI anyday!

:dance:

Opps see so much has happened I find it hard to recall which exotic island is which :D

Sasha :)