Tag: Great Barrier Reef

12 days of Christmas: day 8

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This photo  was taken during our plane ride over the Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef while we were staying in Airlie Beach. It was one of those unforgettable experiences and one of the highlights of our vacation. You can clearly see the heart ❣ in the picture and while I’m not sure my photo does the amazing colours justice, it’s not bad!

Heart Reef, in the Great Barrier Reef of the Whitsundays, is a stunning composition of coral that has naturally formed into the shape of a heart. Discovered in 1975 by one of Air Whitsunday’s pilots, it’s now an internationally-recognised attraction which features on many postcards and brochures promoting the Whitsunday region and the Great Barrier Reef.

 

Great Barrier Reef

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When Sir David Attenborough refers to something as an “unforgettable and revelatory” experience you know it’s got to be good. Sir David himself classes the first time he donned scuba gear and dived on a coral reef as “the single most revelatory moment” of his life.

If the world’s most famous biologist isn’t convincing enough for you – he was for us – these fun facts will have you diving into a Great Barrier Reef holiday:

  • The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system made up of five distinct precincts each with their own characteristics and endemic wildlife:-
    • The wild north – A marine wilderness experience that is unspoilt and remote. For intrepid marine adventures from bountiful fishing, exploring untouched coral cays and meeting indigenous locals.
    • Cairns and Port Douglas Precinct – Where world heritage rainforest and reef meet. You can snorkel with Minke Whales, go diving or game fishing.
    • Townsville Precinct – Surround yourself with historic shipwrecks and unspoilt Islands.
    • Whitsundays and Mackay Precinct – Explore stylish Islands with a sailing adventure in the area known as the sailing mecca.
    • Southern Great Barrier Reef Precinct – Experience the beauty of an uncrowded getaway, explore laidback coastal towns and watch turtles nest and hatch from November to February.
  • It stretches 2600km (1625 miles) along the Queensland coast, so large, it can even be seen from space
  • Tourism to the reef generates approximately AU$5-6 billion per annum
  • It’s home to over 1,500 species of fish, abundant marine life and over 200 types of birds, it’s also one of Australia’s greatest conservation successes
  • A World Heritage Area since 1981 (the world’s first reef ecosystem to be recognised by UNESCO), it is highly protected and one of the best-managed marine areas on Earth
  • There’s more than 900 islands made for hammocks and long walks on the beach

Like most natural wonders, timing is everything. Although the reef never sleeps – like us, it’s best visited between June and October when temperatures are still warm enough for swimming but rainfall is minimal.

If you visit the reef between November and May, you can still swim, but you’ll have to wear a stinger suit – aka lycra from top-to-toe, including mittens, booties and balaclava – to protect you from jelly fish stings.

Aside from obvious weather factors like hot vs cold, seasons dictate the movements within the animal kingdom. Time your Great Barrier Reef holiday to see the following:

  • November/December – turtle nesting
  • January-March – turtle hatching
  • July-October – humpback whales
  • June/July – dwarf minke whales
  • Winter – manta rays

We visited just a couple of the precincts and were fortunate to see humpback whales from the air.

Whitsundays

In the Whitsundays there are plenty of day trip options leaving from Airlie Beach. We took a flight over the island and the Great Barrier Reef which was fantastic. A day or so later, we visited both again on a boat trip where we stopped at Whitehaven beach and my beloved snorkeled on some of the reef. I would say, don’t miss seeing the world’s most famous love heart and visiting at least one of the Whitsunday islands.

Townsville

Here you don’t even need to leave the mainland to see the reef. Townsville is home to the world’s largest living reef aquarium, Reef HQ, where you can see the creatures of the deep without donning the swimwear or mask to see them. If you want to go further afield, there are plenty of opportunities to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef.

Tropical North Queensland

This is possibly the epicentre of reef activity with everything from sunset sails, island adventures and week-long live aboard trips. However, we were reefed out at this point, happy to chill and enjoy the many charms of Port Douglas, though I suspect my beloved might have been happy to go snorkeling again!

If you ever get the opportunity to visit, grab it with both hands, it’s a truly magical place and one we’ll never forget.

Trottin’ round Townsville

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There are so many lovely places in Queensland, it’s often hard to decide where to stop and for how long. Usually our destination determines where we stay along the way, othertimes it’s the most logical place to take a break. An overnight means we have relatively little time to explore, two nights gives us a whole day to look around.

Just over three hours from Airlie Beach is Townsville, another major gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and Magnetic Island. The name may ring a bell as earlier this year the town received its entire annual total rainfall in a week! There was over a metre (4 feet) of rain, eclipsing records set in 1998 during a flood known as the “Night of Noah.”

To make matters worse for the terrified Townsville residents fleeing their homes, there were numerous sightings of crocodiles and snakes being swept along with the floodwaters. I’m pleased to report that I had no such sightings while I was there, but I did steer clear of storm drains – just in case!
On arrival we checked into our hotel where I scored another upgrade (and another spa bath!) and having dropped off our bags we headed out for lunch. Fortunately, we didn’t have to travel far as the hotel is situated on a road positively stacked with a great selection of restaurants. We headed to the busiest and were not disappointed!
After lunch we strolled around town looking for inspiration as to how we might spend the following day. My beloved said he’d love to go snorkeling again – sold. That meant I could have a day of peace and quiet further exploring this town.
After an early night, the following day my beloved headed out before sunrise for his day in a wetsuit (pictures here).He was fortunate to find himself on a large boat with a documentary crew, a marine biologist and another lady who kindly took the photos. He had a fabulous day out – result!
I had a much more leisurely start with my usual smashed avocado on toast and coffee while I planned how to spend my day. The weather was so lovely I settled for a walk along The Strand, which  learned had to be redeveloped after being heavily damaged by the afore-mentioned “Night of Noah”.
The Strand has plenty of facilities, plus loads of those colonial buildings I adore which indicate the town has some history. Indeed it’s Australia’s largest garrison town with Australian Defence Force bases and a fascinating military history.

Townsville – named after Robert Towns –  was founded in 1864 as a port for the fledgling pastoral industry in North Queensland. Following the discovery of gold in the immediate hinterland at Ravenswood and then Charters Towers, the town developed into the principal centre and de facto capital of North Queensland.

Given the town’s strategic location and importance it was logical to make it a military base. On commencement of WWI in 1914, the town’s Kennedy Regiment was sent to Thursday Island to protect it from attack by German forces in the Pacific.

Post-war, expansion continued particularly once further minerals were discovered nearby. Its first airport opened in 1939 and the Garbutt airfield became a Royal Australian Air Force base.

Between 1942 and 1945 Townsville played an important part in the War in the Pacific, becoming a major military base, accommodating up to 90,000 Australian, American and other allied service personnel. It was bombed on three occassions by the Japanese, and was used as a major offensive launching base during the battle of the Coral Sea.

Post-WWII, the town continued to serve as a strategic military post with the opening of the Jezzine Barracks (now transformed into an Aboriginal and military commemorative heritage site) at Kissing Point in 1964 and the establishment of the Lavarack Barracks for the transfer of the Australian 3rd Task Force in 1967. This occurred alongside the town’s commercial and educational expansion. 2016 saw the town celebrate its 150th anniversary.

It’s fair to say, Townsville exceeded our expectations but all too soon we were heading for our final stop in Queensland, Port Douglas. After re-fuelling at breakfast, we resumed our place on the Bruce Highway pointing the bonnet of our hire car northwards.

 

And, they’re off……………………….

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Today we’re flying to Dubai en route for Australia, and another big adventure Down Under. On our three previous trips, we’ve not visited Queensland – too hot. But Australia’s wintertime seems to provide ideal temperatures, plus my beloved is attending a dental exhibition in Brisbane. You knew there would be some work involved!

Going via Dubai allows us to take a couple of days’ breather between long-haul flights even though it’ll be roasting there. We’ll be taking refuge in the shade and chillin’ wherever we can, plus my beloved can meet up with his Middle Eastern distributor – more work!

As usual I started planning our itinerary over nine months ago – never knowingly unprepared. Fellow bloggers have provided a veritable font of knowledge in terms of what to see and do, as have friends in Australia. I love, really love planning trips almost as much as I enjoy the trip itself. Luckily my husband adores “just turning up.” It’s not that he’s uninterested, he just knows I’ll do a much better job than he would.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that I shouldn’t be too ambitious and plan to do too much, otherwise there’s no scope for any spontaneity. I book all the airport transfers, car hire, flights and hotels and a number of trips, plus a few restaurants. The rest I play by ear but, having done tons of research beforehand, I have plenty of ammunition to ensure we have a wonderful time.

From Dubai we fly to Sydney, rather than Brisbane, because I want to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Blue Mountains, and my beloved needs to meet up with his Australian distributor ahead of the August exhibition in Brisbane. After a few days in Sydney, staying not too far from where our distributor is based, we head off for three days in those mountains.

Careful planning means my beloved will, on average, drive no more than 5 hours per day when we’re on the move. I hate having to pack up on a daily basis, so there’s only a few spots where we’re spending just an overnight. With the exception of Brisbane itself, we’re generally spending 3-4 nights in most places.

After our spell in the Blue Mountains we’re wending our way up the coast to Byron Bay where we’re going to chill for a few days ahead of the drive to Brisbane (and the exhibition), where we’ll spend two weeks. Given that my beloved will be working for part of that time, I wanted to ensure he had plenty of opportunity to see all Brisbane has to offer.

In Brisbane, we’re staying in a hotel in the CBD which is part of same group as the one we’ve stayed at in Adelaide. They have studio apartments with cooking facilities so that we don’t have to eat out all the time.  The hotel also has a pool, a gym and an on-site restaurant. Fortunately, I won’t have to help out at the exhibition which will leave me plenty of time to investigate Brisbane’s culture and its book shops. We won’t be able to watch any cricket at this time of year but we would like to see an Australian Rules Game, a sport which is hugely popular in Oz. I need to understand what all the hype is about.

After Brisbane, we head north once more along the coast to Mooloolaba and Noosa, finally heading to Port Douglas. During this part of the trip we’ll be flying over the Whitsundays and The Great Barrier Reef and also visiting them in a glass-bottomed boat. This is shark territory, so I won’t be dipping so much as a toe in the water. We won’t be ignoring the rain-forest, we’ll also taking trips inland looking for friendly wildlife. Finally, it’ll be back to Sydney and then home once more via Dubai.

During the trip, I’ll only be posting pictures and snippets about our travels, waiting for the most part until I get back (early September) to tell you all about our travels in detail. However, it won’t be a WordPress blackout. I’ll try to keep up with all your posts and I’ve scheduled a few of my own, including a number of award posts, which will pop up while I’m away. I hope everyone has a great summer!