Hamilton Island
We were so excited to spend a few 'beach' days and to just chill out for a bit in the sun and warmth, this really was a tropical paradise! Hamilton Island is part of the Whitsunday islands and near the Great Barrier reef where the waters are a clear blue and lovely and warm - so lots of sea turtles, dolphins, whales etc! Being on an island means that the runway at the airport looks a little short on approach with the sea very close to where you land but we made it, met by a woman who takes you on a golf buggy to your room! Again, mentioning that we are honeymooners meant that they showed us to a 'lodge' - amazing room which had just been refurbished with its own veranda and hammock, lovely! 2 min walk to the beautiful Catseye beach and the infinity pool along with bar. We are unable to just chill and sit still for very long so it was great that Catseye beach had kayaks, paddleboards, snorkel equipment etc so we had lots of fun playing about in 21 degree water! Mike had a nice surprise when a massive sea turtle nearly knocked him off his paddleboard!

We went on a couple of boat trips around these tropical islands, our favourite was a full day cruise sailing on a catamaran which stopped off at honeymoon beach for snorkelling in and around the coral and the famous Whitehaven beach. Whitehaven beach is pure silica sand so it is as soft as cornflour and very, very white - just gorgeous, the stuff you see in magazines!! This was a beautiful day and we caught a glimpse of some migrating humpback whales too! We also decided to hire our very own powered dingy one day and took ourselves to an unihabited island where we enjoyed a wee picnic and drank another bottle of free champagne! Hamilton island had a great buzz to it and was very smart, everyone zips around on golf buggys and instead of annoying minging pigeons bothering you while you eat your sandwich at the marina it is either a multi coloured parott or a cockatoo!

We went on a beautiful sunset catamaran sail one evening, you can sit on the trampolines (the bit of netting in between the main structure of the boat) and watch the waves underneath you while enjoying a glass of bubbly, the sunsets here are amazing and beautiful! Every single day we had clear blue skies and lots of sun and at night a blanket of stars - real paradise!