Riding in a buggy, stuck in sand but no Golf clubs!

The Fantasea company who took us to reefworld really know how to squeeze a few extra dollars out of you. Our final day was a two island cruise. Now it appears that every blooming ferry goes via Hamilton Island anyway so the prospect of a two hour stop there when we had already seen it done it and bought the rain sodden T shirt two days before did not make it that appealing but was just supposed to be a means to an end ie Whitehaven Beach. Two differences though one this time it was sunny and two this time we were armed with a golf buggy. This apart from courtesy buses is the only way to get around the island. Road Rules apply though so without her driving licence, Tina was gutted and it was left to me to do the driving.
No rearview mirror so we relied on two backward facing children shouting "Daddy there's another lorry coming" (Yes, no cars but loads of construction vehicles)



Another drop dead gorgeous lookout ruined by 4 English people standing in front of it. The nice touch about this one is the temporary bar that opens every night just in time for sunset. Unfortunately we were not around long enough to sample it. It was up here we got our ill fated telephone call from our accommodation(see Polynesia blog)



Golf buggies can only go so fast though so the children were tormented by a great paddling facility that there was no time to paddle in.



We were all tormented by the quintessiantial palm fringed beach that there was no time to enjoy. We had a boat to catch and a different beach to lounge on.


The destination was Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island , lovely white sands the aerial shots of it look fabulous but at the end of the day and from ground level it's a beach and a pleasant day in Boscombe would probably be equally satisfying and much cheaper.

First out of the bag, even before our knotted hankies, deckchair and stick of rock were my two class mascots (Brucy and Lucy) They've been to Uluru and skied in New Zealand so they couldn't miss out on the Reef.



The bucket and spades were complimentary from Fantasea. I supposed when you've handed over $ 400 the least they can do is give you something to play with.



The drinks were not free but with that caribbean feel I felt the need for an alcoholic experiment.
After beer there seems a strange obsession over here for filling shelves with tins of rum and coke or Jim Beam and Coke. Now I've always maintained a preference for fizzy cold australian lager but the time seemed right to see what all the fuss was about and I must admit as I laid back on my "noodle" in the warm water looking up at the sapphire blue sky it really made me feel like I was drinking, cheap, warm coke.



Alex dived between the sea, buckets and spades and the volleyball net. He refused however to play volley ball but instead invented some very complicated game which he said was a combination of rugby, volleyball and basketball. We never quite fathomed the rules except that somehow it always involved him winning... or else! To be fair to him he is a much better sport than his father but that is not saying much.




The sly camera shots in the promotional leaflets obviously blend out the 500 other people who are sharing your tropical island getaway with you. This was our best effort at perpetuating the myth that we had the place to ourselves but two distant specks in the background got in the way. Selfish b*******.