Exciting news everyone, in one week exactly I’ll be boarding a plane back to Australia! And no, I’m not getting deported from New Zealand as I originally feared, rather I am embarking on an awesome new adventure in Tropical North Queensland, one of my favorite regions!
I can’t wait!
But more on that later, while I have been getting ready I found myself reminiscing about the first time I was in the Whitsundays, and I realized I haven’t even told the full story of my favorite activity on my blog. For shame!
While it’s hard for me to pinpoint an exact moment when I fell in love with Queensland, I have a feeling visiting the Great Barrier Reef had something to do with it. Surprise Surprise.
Cairns is generally well-known as the entrance to the Great Barrier Reef, but did you know that you can also go via Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays?
Two for one!
But wait, are you ready for the best part?
Not only can you go out to the Great Barrier Reef via the beautiful Whitsunday Islands, you can also spend the night on the reef with Cruise Whitsundays?
Yeah, that’s a thing. Who knew?
Most people head out as a day trip from Airlie Beach or one of the islands, but it’s a bit of a secret that you can actually stay the night on one of the floating pontoons. Experiences like these are what I live for when traveling and I hold on with both hands whenever I get the chance to see it for myself.
Even though it’s been a year since I was in Queensland, I can still remember being kinda bummed out the morning I caught the big boat out to the Reef. It was totally overcast and the sea was churning something fierce, with waves so big the froth was hitting the second story windows of the ship.
By the time we were halfway, about half the boat had their face in bags. Ick.
Though thankfully I skipped my morning coffee and had a seasickness pill before getting onboard. I learned long ago that dairy and coffee make me seasick, so I was fine, pulling on my headphones and staring out at the waves praying for sunshine.
I don’t know how it happened but by the time we arrived at the Reefworld pontoon on the reef, a floating barge where all of the activities are based from, it was blue skies, sunshine and calm seas. How does that happen?
The afternoon was amazing, I started out with a massage on the top deck, had a fab seafood lunch before catching a little boat over to a floating dock where I got to take a helicopter flight over the reef. Trust me, if you splurge on something, it should be that. Getting to see the reef from the skies is unforgettable.
Especially as there is even a little reef shaped like a heart. Cheesy as hell but who cares?
Of course I spent as much time in the water as I could, how could you not when it’s clear blue and glows turquoise? I did my very first intro scuba dive, which got me totally hooked and inspired me to come back a few months later and get my PADI open water in the Whitsundays.
As the often wore on, all of the day-trippers headed back to land leaving me, the crew and two other women to spend the night out on the reef. We had the place to ourselves, it was amazing!
After a fab dinner with a beautiful sunset, we tucked into our swags early to gaze at the stars. Swags are single-man tents on the roof of the pontoon. Of course as soon as I fell asleep with it wide open, it poured rain, luckily stopping after a little while leaving us to count stars under a clear night sky with the sound of the ocean lapping at the side of the pontoon.
Occasionally you’d hear a splash of something big having dinner near the pontoon during the night and the soft call of sea birds nearby but otherwise I slept soundly and was up with the sun in time for a hot breakfast.
Basically it was like glamping in the ocean; this I can get behind!
Gazing at the top deck in the morning, I realized I was super lucky because apparently the birds decided to have an EPI game of target practice during the night on the now literal poop deck and my swag narrowly avoided demolition. Ick! (I should add there are not normally birds out there but there had been a big cyclone the week before throwing them off their regular migration patterns).
We also had the place to ourselves all morning before a new round of day trippers arrived, in which we totally took advantage and snorkeled for hours and finally getting to visit with a sea turtle!
He was missing a fin so I named him Buster, you know, because he was a bit busted up. End of story.
Do you dream of visiting the Great Barrier Reef one day? Would you sleep out there knowing you had the chance?
Many thanks to TEQ for hosting me in Australia, like always I’m keeping it real, all opinions are my own, like you could expect less from me.
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Lucky girl! What a fantastic adventure, I’m sure the helicopter ride was outstanding. I would love to sleep out there and have that kind of experience. I will definitely have to add that to my to-do list.
the heli ride was perfect!
Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef has always been a dream of mine! You always have the most rad adventures.
Thanks! Rad adventures are my fave!
Holy cow, that water is super gorgeous. I feel like I REALLY have to take a helicopter ride sometime in my life…apparently that’s how you get all the best views! I would definitely sleep out there if I had the chance…camping in the traditional sense isn’t really my thing (learned this the hard way) but I’m pretty sure based on the location, this is something I would love!
it’s the best of both worlds camping!
So pleased to relive our adventure on the pontoon here although it was before the swags… there could only six maximum as we had the double room and a family of four had the other room. The changing rooms were our ensuite which was really great simply because it was different.
We had our own guy who greeted us as we boarded the Cat and he made sure we had great meals, dinner and breakfast, anything he could do he made sure he did it.
What I wasn’t expecting because I hadn’t thought ahead, was the absolute tranquillity after sunset, the beautiful atmosphere just gazing at the stars, or wandering downstairs to watch the marine life swim past.
What about that Maori Wrasse, huge but not intimidating when we were snorkelling during the day! Then to watch him gaze back at us when we were downstairs to look through the huge windows.
I agree totally with the helicopter ride as I felt the same way, maybe it seemed expensive but we were there and had to see that beautiful heart in particular even though everything was beautiful.
The most exciting part of the adventure was later in the evening when our lad came and asked if we’d like to see a horizontal waterfall. Why not indeed. We were so fortunate as it doesn’t happen unless all the elements line up and that was one of those times. Into a zodiac and a brief ride to watch this amazing sight.
Thanks for stirring memories, time we went again.
woah horizontal waterfall? What’s that?!
http://tinyurl.com/pe6u3am
This is the best I can do Liz, not one of my photos at all. I can’t tell you exactly why it does happen, only that it is not too often which is why the zodiacs took off with six of us admiring a horizontal waterfall. Something to do with tidal flow across the reef.