Airlie Beach / Reefsleep / Great Barrier Reef / Shute Harbour - (Queensland - Australia)
27 November - 01 December 2015
How great are things in Australia?
We have things that in our mind are so large, so extensive, that any other word other than 'Great' would just not do the place, location or thing justice.
How about the GREAT Barrier Reef then ...how about it?
Our first port of call was Airlie Beach. A cute resort town on the Whitsunday coast, smack in between the major towns of Mackay & Townsville. Typically Queensland in style, you walk the streets in shorts, thongs & singlet, anything more labels you as a foreigner, or worse, someone from the Southern states.
27 November - 01 December 2015
How great are things in Australia?
We have things that in our mind are so large, so extensive, that any other word other than 'Great' would just not do the place, location or thing justice.
There's substantial mountain range on our Eastern coast that runs over 3500 kilometres from Southern Queensland to Central Victoria. It's so impressive and formidable that imbued them with a name that befits their 'greatness', the GREAT Dividing Range.
On our Southern coastline there's an enormous open bay. It's of epic proportions, the aftermath of Gondwana breaking apart from Antarctica. So extensive, so formidable that we called it the GREAT Australian Bight.
....so, there's a road on the Victorian Coastline. It winds along a gorgeous part of the Australian coastline. In fact it's known as one of the best drives on the planet. The road is known as the GREAT Ocean Road, and well, you can probably figure out for yourself how and why the name came about.
How about the GREAT Barrier Reef then ...how about it?
Landing at Prosperine Airport - Queensland - Australia
Airlie Beach - Queensland - Australia
The largest living thing on earth, visible from space, a 2300km ecosystem comprising thousands of reefs, islands, multitudes of fish and sea life in every conceivable colour. It is one of THE draw cards of Australia. Outside of the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne this would have to rank as the most impressive site that we have, and without question, worthy of utilising 'Great' to adequately describe its inherent beauty and complexity.
I'd never been this far north on the Eastern coastline. In many ways I'd vetoed my rights to explore Australia by placing other less well known, less formidable places in front of what was homegrown. An unnecessary and in some ways ill considered bias. So our visit up here was as much about me discovering what Australia had to offer as opposed to showing Inga the lay of the land.
Airlie Beach - Queensland - Australia
Airlie Beach - Queensland - Australia
In Airlie Beach we stayed at a place called the Withsunday Forest Retreat. Holy cow, it was insane. Aside from the fantastic views out onto Pioneer Bay, the house itself was just unbelievable. Perched high on a hill, surrounded by lush deep green vegetation, the house, for an AirBnB was so far beyond what you could expect to encounter. A swimming pool in the living room, a pool table, cavernous and vast, the walking in wardrobe for our room was bigger that the our living room in Seven Hills. In Sydney a house like that would see you parting with $3-$4 million, but up here, maybe $1.5m or so. It was a sight, let me tell you.
After a couple of nights in Airlie I'd booked us to head out to reef and spend one night on a pontoon, floating right alongside the reef, sleeping in a 'swag' and just admiring the stars. This for me was one of THE highlights of our time in Australia. If you're interested in reading more then I'd suggest you have a look at the link here - ReefSleep.
ReefSleep - The Great Barrier Reef - Queensland - Australia
ReefSleep - The Great Barrier Reef - Queensland - Australia
ReefSleep - The Great Barrier Reef - Queensland - Australia
ReefSleep - The Great Barrier Reef - Queensland - Australia
ReefSleep - Great Barrier Reef - Queensland - Australia
ReefSleep - Great Barrier Reef - Queensland - Australia
The cruise from Airlie Beach our to the reef took perhaps an hour. Thankfully mother nature had conjured up a treat and produced two gorgeous days for us to fully enjoy the experience, and my, wasn't it impressive. 50kms off the coast our boat pulled up a large pontoon that rested in an azure sea of tranquility. The surface looked liked glass, so calm and settled. It was hard to believe that you were so far off the coastline and the only movement being created was from the boat docking onto the pontoon.
During the day there's quite a number of visitors to the pontoon, not that it makes the stay uncomfortable. There's plenty of opportunity to get up close and personal with the reef, which we did. With wet suits and snorkelling apparatus provided it only took a few moments to discover the full wonder of what lay beneath the water....and my, what a discovery. Surreal colours, startlingly vibrant, remarkable in their intensity. Fish of all shapes and sizes and coral so spectacular that other places that I'd visited previously, by comparison, simply don't rate....not even close. This place was and is a marvel of creation and I'd truly done myself a complete injustice by not having made it to this part of the world sooner.
The true reward of the Reefsleep is what you get when the masses depart back to Airlie. Complete ownership of the lagoon. Due to the restriction of numbers the total people on for that afternoon were myself and Inga, a girl from Sweden, Greg Grainger, Russian free diving champion and actress Marina Kazankova, their 2 man film crew and pontoon staff. It made for a thoroughly pleasurable afternoon. The waters that had previously had tens of swimmers were now all ours. The serenity and quiet of the moment allowed us to experience the reef at our own leisure, enjoying what was beneath the water and also just floating in a sea of calm. An unparalleled experience.
As the sun dropped to in the West we had ourselves a truly magnificent sunset, fiery reds, burnt oranges and hints of purple over. We sat there in awe, the pontoon hardly even moving, as we sat back and soaked in our surrounds. With the sun falling away the moon rose from the East casting a bright powerful light across the seascape. It also just so happened, as Marina advised us, that we were in the right location to witness the coral spawning. This was a once in a year event taking place on the full moon in November, it was the reason that the film crew were staying on the pontoon as they were awaiting the chance to film for a documentary.
That night we spent on the top deck in our swags, looking straight up at the night sky. Not a bad day in Queensland I have to say.
The next day on the pontoon was much the same. After breakfast the boats came in at around 10am. We spent most of the day lounging about, not really rushed and just making the most of the gorgeous setting. Around 4pm we made our way back to Airlie and to our new digs in Shute Harbour.
During the day there's quite a number of visitors to the pontoon, not that it makes the stay uncomfortable. There's plenty of opportunity to get up close and personal with the reef, which we did. With wet suits and snorkelling apparatus provided it only took a few moments to discover the full wonder of what lay beneath the water....and my, what a discovery. Surreal colours, startlingly vibrant, remarkable in their intensity. Fish of all shapes and sizes and coral so spectacular that other places that I'd visited previously, by comparison, simply don't rate....not even close. This place was and is a marvel of creation and I'd truly done myself a complete injustice by not having made it to this part of the world sooner.
ReefSleep - Great Barrier Reef - Queensland - Australia
The true reward of the Reefsleep is what you get when the masses depart back to Airlie. Complete ownership of the lagoon. Due to the restriction of numbers the total people on for that afternoon were myself and Inga, a girl from Sweden, Greg Grainger, Russian free diving champion and actress Marina Kazankova, their 2 man film crew and pontoon staff. It made for a thoroughly pleasurable afternoon. The waters that had previously had tens of swimmers were now all ours. The serenity and quiet of the moment allowed us to experience the reef at our own leisure, enjoying what was beneath the water and also just floating in a sea of calm. An unparalleled experience.
As the sun dropped to in the West we had ourselves a truly magnificent sunset, fiery reds, burnt oranges and hints of purple over. We sat there in awe, the pontoon hardly even moving, as we sat back and soaked in our surrounds. With the sun falling away the moon rose from the East casting a bright powerful light across the seascape. It also just so happened, as Marina advised us, that we were in the right location to witness the coral spawning. This was a once in a year event taking place on the full moon in November, it was the reason that the film crew were staying on the pontoon as they were awaiting the chance to film for a documentary.
Shute Harbour - Queensland - Australia
Shute Harbour - Queensland - Australia
That night we spent on the top deck in our swags, looking straight up at the night sky. Not a bad day in Queensland I have to say.
The next day on the pontoon was much the same. After breakfast the boats came in at around 10am. We spent most of the day lounging about, not really rushed and just making the most of the gorgeous setting. Around 4pm we made our way back to Airlie and to our new digs in Shute Harbour.
Shute Harbour was a nice enough area itself. If were had a vehicle with us then it would have been thoroughly enjoyable but due to the lack of regular transport it made the hike to and from Airlie Beach somewhat arduous. Next time I'd do that a little different.
Still, the show stopper here is the Great Barrier Reef and all I can say is that it's a MUST!
Still, the show stopper here is the Great Barrier Reef and all I can say is that it's a MUST!
