Whitehaven Beach

Whitehaven Beach is the reason we came to Airlie Beach. Don’t get me wrong, we had a great day yesterday, but this is really the main attraction. We booked a seat aboard the Southern Cross when we arrived a few days ago and set sail with 26 other tourists and three crew members promptly at 8am.

The first stop on our trip today was a nearby island for more snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. It was beautiful, but not quite as nice as the reef we saw off Cairns. As we learned from our crew, we were now snorkeling at the "inner" Great Barrier Reef; the "outer" Great Barrier Reef would be at least a three-hour journey from Airlie. Because the "outer" Great Barrier Reef is what most people want to see and Cairns is only a one-hour boat ride away, many tourists head there for prime reef-viewing (as we did). Anyway, we were in the water for about an hour before it was time for lunch and another sail to Whitehaven Beach.

On our way to the snorkeling site. The weather definitely cooperated today!

Didn’t get too many good underwater pictures because the water was a little less clear than at Cairns. But I liked this black-fish, white-fish duo.

After our lunch and an hour-long sail, the only thing between us and the famous Whitehaven Beach was a short walk up to the overlook. It was really hot (think mid-day sun in 93 degree weather) but the views were breathtaking!

Whitehaven Beach!

The white sand combined with shallow water creates the amazing “swirling” effect in the water. No wonder Whitehaven was voted one of the Top Five Beaches in the World!

We made it! (And yes, I know I need a haircut.)

Once we’d all snapped a bunch of pictures we headed down to the beach itself. It’s really bright – both the water and white sand reflected the already intense sun – but a spectacular sight to see!

Driftwood at Whitehaven Beach.

Another island just off the beach.

Got another couple from our group to take our picture before heading back to the boat.

The wind had died down a bit so the sailing was slow back to the marina. Fortunately we had an engine to help us out a bit! Plus, the crew let some of us try our hand at steering the boat in the milder conditions. I guess I did a decent job because they kept me at the helm for almost an hour – pretty cool to have been at the wheel of a former Americas Cup racing boat!

"Captain" Foster. Sarah thought it was hilarious that the crew were so excited to have an American steering the Americas Cup boat.

Sarah and I were both ready for dinner by the time we pulled up to the dock so we ate at Barcelona, a tapas place right by the marina. The food was great and the views couldn’t be beat. All in all, an excellent day in Airlie – definitely a must-do if you’re a beach lover like us and make it down to Oz!

Airlie Beach

After Sarah and I took (intentionally) cold showers after our hike up Castle Hill, we had a relatively short drive to Airlie Beach. Sarah volunteered to drive though, so this would be her first experience driving on the “wrong side of the road.” Despite some initial nervousness, she did great and we made it to Airlie beach in just over three hours.

We were both pretty hungry for lunch by the time we arrived so we found a parking spot in town and grabbed a quick lunch at Jane’s Café. Jane herself was there to greet us and make my sandwich and Sarah’s salad – both were delicious, just what we were in the mood for! After lunch we checked into our hotel and, due to the rainy weather, we headed to another café in town to spend a few hours sorting out all our Great Barrier Reef photos and catching up on the blog. Sarah also did a little shopping, naturally.

The weather got worse as the evening progressed so we decided to just head back to our hotel, order a pizza and relax. It’s hard to motivate to do much else when it’s pouring rain outside!

Fortunately when we woke up today the weather was looking more promising. The sky was still overcast but all signs were pointing to sunshine in a few hours. We started the day by strolling around the weekly market in town, which was a little disappointing (heavy on generic trinkets). Then Sarah took me into the shops she had scouted out yesterday – we both needed a few more summertime items so it was a productive way to spend the morning.

We drove to the Fat Frog Café for lunch just as the last of the clouds burned off – it had really turned into a beautiful day! Once we finished our delicious lunches (Sarah swears she had the best coconut water she's ever had) we snapped a few pictures of the view and headed to Cedar Creek Falls for some fresh water swimming.

Cannonvale Beach, just across the street from the Fat Frog. That sailboat looks like it's listing pretty hard to one side...

We were told by many locals that the Falls would be “Awesome, mate!” due to all the rain yesterday. Well, we weren’t that impressed. It was nice to cool off in the water, but there was no waterfall…

Even with all the rain last night, no waterfall for us today. Oh well!

Once we had cooled off in the water, we headed back into town to see some of Airlie’s beaches. We ended up settling at The Lagoon – which was sort of like a public pool (very similar to the lagoon in Cairns). We spent a few hours relaxing by the water and enjoying the views.

Perfect afternoon to spend by the water.

Feeling a little restless, we decided to end the day with a walk along Airlie’s waterfront boardwalk. The boardwalk was only completed a couple years ago and it shows – it was immaculately maintained and offered some awesome sunset views!

Walking along the boardwalk.

Sunset on the marina.

We finished the walk right around dusk and headed back to our hotel to get cleaned up before dinner. We ate at Capers, right on the main drag in Airlie. Great atmosphere and we both really liked our food – worth a stop if you’re passing through Airlie. Tomorrow we have our big tour booked to see Whitehaven Beach so hopefully the weather is as nice as it was today!