When my husband, Frank, and I took our son, Dan, to the Whitsundays last weekend. I'm not sure who had the most fun, but it was a weekend that will be in our memories for a long time. We stayed at the Martinique Apartments, Mediterranean style which certainly took us away from the every day of computers and filled our creative wells. The sun shone in a brilliant cerulean sky, a strong south-easterly blew and the cool water's visibility enabled us to see a smorgasbord of life under the sea while we snorkelled. Giant clams, Blue Fusiliers, Harlequin Fish, Surgeon Fish, Coral Trout and more, plus an added surprise with the Cleaner Wrasse picking the bacteria off the fish. Many soft corals swayed in the flowing water, but not the large variety I used to see when I scuba dived twenty years ago. A lot of the staghorn coral had been damaged by cyclones or boats, so that was disappointing.
The ride out to the reef in Fury was fast and exhilarating. I'm not a good sailor, however I was pleasantly surprised when the fast boat skimmed across the water so that queasy feeling didn't get a chance to invade my space. The fun part was being sprayed by the water as the boat bounced on the choppy sea.
For lunch, we stopped at the world famous Whitehaven Beach: spectacular! See pic below. After a great picnic lunch we took a stroll along the brilliant, silicon sand to burn up a few calories.
Here are a few photos of our weekend away. A special thanks to Dan for giving me permission to use his photos. Can't wait until our next visit.
Martinique Apartments at Airlie Beach.
My two heroes, Dan and Frank.
Sunset at Airlie Beach.
A friendly visitor for lunch.
Whitehaven Beach
