The Whitsunday Islands

The bus came to collect to us from outside the apartment and after a short drive we arrived at Shute Harbour. There we boarded the the small boat that would take us to the Whitsunday Islands. We sailed for about an hour before we reached the Hill Inlet. The boat anchored a few metres from the shore, we then had to get into a dinghy which dropped us at the shore. The weather was a bit overcast, more clouds than blue skies, but that didnt deter from the breathtaking views that we were about to see. The Hill Inlet is a 20 minute from the beach through the rainforest. On the way up we encountered this........

                                                                   
We think that its part of the Golden Orb variety, but we aren't sure!If anyone reading this does know what variety of spider it is please leave a comment, id really like to know! Jamie was horrified by the size of its fangs, if you look closely theres also a  baby spider in the web....yuck.The spider didn't deter us, we continued our walk to the inlet lookout and it was worth it!What do you think of the view? 

   

I could look out at that view all day long and never tire of it - amazing! 

We spent about half an hour gazing at the beautiful turquoise sea and white sand before we had journey back down through the rainforest, avoiding the spider, to return to the boat. 

                               

                               

Whitsunday Island is the largest in the Whitsunday group of islands and Whitehaven beach, our next stop, is located on the Eastern side of the island, which is an undeveloped National Park.

      

                       
                             

So Whitehaven Beach - WOW. We have never seen sand like it.

The white silicon sand is minute powder-sized grains of quartz and has been analysed at 99.89% pure. Whcih means that it could be used for glass making and even to make the finest glass lenses for binoculars etc. Its estimated that there is around 800 million tonnes of sand!Over the years there had been plans to mine the area, however the area is now protected under the Whitsunday Plan of management and it is located in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. 

We spent a few hours swimming in the warm crystal clear turquoise sea and exploring the beach. Actually we walked so far that by the time we got back to the picnic area we nearly missed the bbq for lunch, however the crew were nice enough to save us some! 

Just as lunch was over a few more boats and tours arrived, so the tranquility was shattered! Luckily that was our time to head back to the boat and on to Mantaray Bay for some snorkeling and a trip on the glass bottom boat.....

Details of which will be in my next post.... which will be up very soon! So keep a look out for it! 

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