Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Airlie Beach and the Whistsundays, Australia

Airlie Beach is a party town, but more importantly, is known as the "Gateway to the Whistsundays".  The Whistsundays are a group of 74-75 islands on the coast of Queensland, Australia.  The Islands exist amongst the Great Barrier Reef but I am told that they are not as well known for being part of the Great Barrier Reef mostly because the area is not marketed as such. 

We arrived in Airlie Beach mid-day and walked around town.  Airlie Beach was much more manicured that Cairns.  It had a very pretty waterfront, a boardwalk, and nice looking restaurants. 








On our first full day in Arlie Beach, we took an "Ocean Rafting" trip around the Whitsunday Islands.  It was slightly frightening, but great fun!  The boat was speeding and jumping over gigantic waves in the ocean and we got a quick survey of some of the Islands in the area.  We then stopped to walk up "Hills Inlet".  It was a quick 10 minute hike up to a viewpoint of the most photographed beach in Australia.  I was easy to see why.  Check this out:












Whitehaven Beach










Pretty Close Eh???

Clearly I have enough pictures here to ensure that this beach remains the most photographed beach forever more. 

On day 2,  we did a snorkle trip aboard a very old sailing ship!  Again, an awesome trip.  Here are some pics:




The best part of the adventure, was that we got to snorkle with the turtles!!!  Unfortunately I didn't have water camera for this journey, but here are some pics of what it looked like above the water!!!





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