I am getting very slack staying in Mission Beach was so so relaxing zzzzzz oops sorry there I go too relaxed again!!We are going south we thought Townsville but it was such a culture shock after sleepy Mission Beach its busy busy busy.So much traffic,so many people,planes and chinook helicopters we decided not to stay as planned and headed on to a tiny little place called Giru to free camp.The Burdekin bridge between Ayr and Home hill is a massive structure with crisscross metal struts along the side and top it was built to stop the two towns being cut off when the river floods.
The Bruce Highway goes through acres and acres of sugar cane with the train track crisscrossing across the road and dissapearing into the fields,I wonder how many acres of cane there are.You know you are coming to a sugar town when you see the chimney belching out smoke,its a busy time of year now the cutting season.It makes you stop and think when you get a spoon of sugar how much work and time it takes to produce it.Next stop was Bowen I was so looking forward to seeing it,I was so dissapointed,there are some lovely scenic bays,but very little boating.Though we did have a very interesting chat with a lady in the info centre,she had been a volunteer on the set of the Australia movie.She had met them all Hugh Jackman,Brian Brown,Nicolle and Keith Urban she had some great stories to tell,we have a great story to tell about Bowen too but thats not for all,far too shocking!!!Well now we are in Flametree just along from Airlie Beach and the beautiful Whitsundays it is so beautiful,boats boats and more boats,heaven!We went out sailing just 5 of us out to a tiny island,snokelling,lunch on a deserted beach,and Jeff took the helm nearly all the way back which made his day,it really was a great trip.We are here for a few weeks,well thats the plan but things do seem to change quite a bit,more sailing we must go to the most famous Whitehaven beach and I want to go in a seaplane to Hayman Island more of that in my next blog.Whats next?well we have just stuffed our faces on the most delicious strawberries,then a swim then some lunch I think,and the good news is we have missed the winter completly yay!
Well when these photos were taken the weather as you can see was beautiful,but as I write this the rain is so hard its bouncing back up,the noise from the thunder and the rain on the caravan roof is deafening!!Oh well time for a coffee a home made scone and sit at the computer and tell you whats been happening.The whitsundays are so beautiful they deserve a page of their own 74 islands and 52 weeks to explore them,we have been here 3 weeks now and have had an amazing time.The trip on the seaplane flying out to Hayman Island landing on the blue clear water then driving up the ramp to pick up 2 passengers ,turning around then down the ramp to the water and taking off was very strange.We had to sit and wait about 10 minutes as the passengers were late, but as the pilot said this is 5 star Hayman,holiday island for the rich and famous.I must admit I did wonder who was behind the baseball cap and sunnies when they got on!We landed at Whitehaven beach rated as one of the best beaches in the world, the beach is not sand but silica. The area is volcanic and spewed out silica which made this lovely white beach it does not get hot underfoot and reflects the sun so much you have to put sunblock under your chin and arms!The beach was deserted only a few people in the distance the water warm and the champagne chilled wow what a place and how lucky are we.I have always wanted to go in a seaplane and it really lived up to my expectations it is so exiting landing and taking of on water,why ?I cant explain it just is!Everyone knows we love boats so these islands are the place to be,so another sailing trip was a must do,this time on a 80 foot 0r 24 m maxi yacht!Everything on these are big big big thats me at the helm in the photo, George our skipper was watching me very closely!We went to Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island there I go name island name dropping again!We have snokelled in loads of places but this must rate as one of the best so many fish surrounding you.We did an introductory scuba dive,Jeff had done one before so was ok,but it takes a bit of getting used to.Was I really 5m under water relying on an air tank to stop me drowning apparently I was for a whole 20 minutes,it was amazing,a busy city of colours the fish oblivious to my awe or excitment.When I came back on board I was grinning so much you would have thought I had won lotto!!Well what next?its still raining and we have had our coffee must be time to plan lunch and plan when we leave here tomorrow where to.We are having a great trip and seen some great places but here has been the best so far. 
