Breakfast with Koalas.... Jealous much!!?

Only back in Mackay for a couple of days and already we were off again on a mini adventure. This time we took a mini road trip with the other Pom and a random Aussie we found....only joking! and with a new Aussie mate Sam. Destination Airlie Beach; the hub of backpacker life. Hardly a Aussie accent around! Especially in Paddy's Shenanigans. All in all not a whole load to do when the weather isn't its finest! BUT Cedar Creek Falls, drinking sesh, night out, giant jenga and connect 4, and ofcourse that wet dog car smell helped the time go by! :)

 However once the boys departed the sun came out (sorry boys) and we made the most of the sun by going Ocean Rafting around the Whitsunday Islands and a short visit to Whitehaven Beach!

Ocean rafting trip rather than a sail boat is a hundred times more fun! :D Three trips rolled into one basically! And what a fantastic area to walk, snorkel, relax, and soak up the rays in. First stop was a bush walk up to Hill Inlet Lookout Point! You would not believe the spectacular views of Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island and the shifting sands of Hill Inlet! Absolutely stunning with the added bonus of seeing baby sharks swimming about, alongside lagoon rays from the lookout high above.

Highlight of this part of our trip just has to be Whitehaven Beach - The most photographed beach in Australia, Queensland's most beautiful beach, and the world's most ecofriendly beach. With the sand being 98.9% pure silica, it's not hard to see why we didn't want to leave!! The noise the sand made when we stepped on it is difficult to describe...squeaky, kind of like when you rub a wet finger over a rubber tyre!?? Not that we all do that too often, but you may get the jist of it! Any hoo.. We took the opportunity to clean our silver jewellery in the sand and exfoliate! Haha

After our short stay at Airlie Beach, we took a ferry across the Coral sea to the prestigious Hamilton Island! Oh my days...the views from our balcony, our home for 5 nights was AMAZING!
Staying in an apartment was a tad different to a backpacker hostel...no foreigners sharing our kitchen space or digging to the very bottom of your backpack looking for that one top you must wear!! We certainly won't experience luxury like this again for the rest of our trip!
We won't go through day by day what we did, as it was pretty much the same...chilling out with the gorgeous views, playing cards, reading, snorkelling, kayaking, Haz spotting a turtle...again, and lots of photo taking! We had a blast!

Highlight of our trip on Hamilton Island was most definitely having breakfast with Koalas and of course having a cuddle and photo with one too! Hehe :D soooo cute! They didn't feel how we had expected them too....rather than smooth soft fur, it was very spongy Afro-type fur! I think it's easy to say what we took most photos of during our stay on the island!! Pics to follow very soon! Keep an eye out on Facebook! :)
We are very sad to leave the island and Koalas behind! :( but....we have plenty more to look forward to!
Great trip! :D

Haz & Nick X