Fell for their charm hook, line, and sinker 🧿

I listened, motionless and still;

And, as I mounted up the hill,

The music in my heart I bore,

Long after it was heard no more.

The renowned poet William Wordsworth speaks here of a Highland lass's charming tune, but I quote him to reminisce the music that nature played to us during the 4-day tour at Whitsundays.

From a casual conversation around drudgery of daily routine popped up an idea of celebrating our anniversary with nothing less than the fabled Heart Reef.

'Are you serious?'

I blurted in disbelief knowing the trip would cost us an arm and a leg.

But my spouse had fallen for her enigma hook, line, and sinker; there was no retreating, and I couldn't blame him. Who on earth could resist her (judging by this image)? Displaying a gamut of colours, the Heart Reef hangs like a thorobbing pendant in the Great Barrier Reef necklace.

The Heart Reef that we fell for

And what's more, she's got a close contestant, giving her a run for her money - the velveteen swirls of Hill Inlet.

And her contestant - the Hill Inlet

Both the temptresses dragged us like a little iron pieces to a large overpowering magnet; we couldn't skedaddle away from the invincible snare they laid. Thus the air fares,  acco, and activities were instantly checked and booked for a mid-year break.

However, to our dismay, it transpired we were up for a rough weather leaving only one day sunny to enjoy the land of eternal summer. We adjusted our schedule and instead of spreading the activities out we packed them in last two days, leaving the first two to us for exploring these stunningly picturesque views around Airlie Beach and Bowen. We seized the opportunity to strike The Big Mango off our list of Big Things to be visited! It was amusing to learn from the plaques that it was stolen for promotinal stunt by Nandos, who lovingly gifted the Mini-Mango, now installed in the foreshore area of the mango-producing city, for cooperation the community offered during the stealing-stunt.

The Lagoon 

Acco at the heart of Airlie Beach

Waking up to this view is nothing short of bliss

Off to the Esplanade from acco

Lion's Lookout 

Shute Harbour Marine Lookout 

Dingo Beach 

Hideaway Bay

Yummy Mango sherbet with The Big Mango

Mini-Mango: gift to Bowen from Nandos lending colour and sweetness to the foreshore 

One of the magnificent murals that deck up Bowen

Coral Sea Marina - drone flown from Shingley Beach

Drone shots from Shingley Beach capturing Marina

On the third day, unsure what to expect out of Ocean Rafting, we trusted our day to the hands of two lively, agile, young ladies - Maddy and Lulu, headed by more matured and experienced Marian at the helm of the crew and the jetboat. Needless to mention, they lent vibrance to the gloom of the cloudy day making it memorable and colourful for us with their sheer energy. Even the rains paused as if for our convenience. 

Our first stop was optional snorkeling - three of us were newbies and two of us had no clue how to swim. Yet, we were in our wetsuits to give it a go, facing the chill and rush of the wind on our face for an hour as the jetboat cut through the endless blues winding and entwining 74 islands comprising of what we call Whitsundays - its twin engines, 350 HP each, creating a mesmerising wake all along. At the area marked for snorkeling, one by one the seasoned swimmers and divers dove into the clear green waters with the simple snorkeling masks on to check the spread of beautiful corals 🪸 and the diverse ecosystem they harbour right beneath the surface. Amidst the hullabaloo, we three huddled with our expert guide Lulu who floated an orange ring instructing us to hold on to the white ropes attached to it and not touch her at any time of the swim. Equipped with snorkeling paraphernalia (simple mask and tube 😆) we followed her - each step down the boat more anxious than the one before. As the fourth step ended in the waves I kind of floated aimlessly only to grasp the tiny steps on time to stop drifting away like a straw in a storm. My spouse grabbed me and guided me to the orange ring - what a saviour! He gave my son a hand too and we got a hang of it soon. Dipping our masked eyes we spotted the table corals, brain corals, clams instantly. While my son smashed it, staying back with his dad and the corals for another half an hour, I cried in supplication to be pulled up to the deck. Lulu to the rescue! She safely transported me and 7-year Charlie (child of our co-passenger and quite shaken) to the jetboat where I gladly changed to my dry rashies and started filming dad-son in action.

The next stop was Hill Inlet - a spot we heard of from YouTube vblog Wout of the World. It goes without saying, the secluded sand swirls - *** featured briefly in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales with the idiosyncratic Captain Jack Sparrow sprinting away from Salazar's Ghost Army - were mind blowing to watch and touch. We walked up to the three viewpoints, gazing at the sweeping view, enraptured . The water was clear glass allowing us to spot plenty of stingrays serenely settled in turquoise waters far below. The whirling twining of sand and sea stretched magically further south to as far our eyes met; we knew from our homework, it was the northern tip of Whitehaven Beach that lay limned with diffused daylight in our horizon. Here are the precious captures of the timeless beauty that the crew called their "office". Who's more fortunate, I pondered - us, who earn to come here, or them, who come to earn here? Well, we are all cut out for different stuff and neither would excel if we exchanged "offices".

After we soaked in enough of the purest sand on earth - so white that it reflects heat keeping the temperature stable at 27°C all year round and so white it feels like flour beneath our feet - our bright yellow jetboats steered us out of the gorgeous Inlet to anchor at southern tip of Whitehaven Beach. This part was familiar as we'd been here in 2017 June. But does that mean we'd let go of the chance to photoshoot? After lunch we drenched our rashies once more in the pristine pellucid waters of Whitehaven and played to our hearts' content with the purest white sand - so protected that carrying even a handful home is illegal, posing an exorbitant fine of upto $10 K! It was only half an hour before our jetboat picked us up that we quickly changed to our planned coordinated attires for these invaluable photos. Back at Airlie Beach, we dined on the tastiest hot crispy woodfire pizza at Whitsunday Food Garden, balming our tiredness.

I'm yet to decide which was the grand finale on our fourth and final day! 

We took to sky in a compact scenic flight of 7 passengers and a pilot to hover over the astounding beauty of Hill Inlet that we walked on just 24 hours back. The colours of the swirls were breath-taking beneath the sparkling sun. All shades of blues 💙and greens regaled us at yet another captivating view minutes away - the Heart Reef. 

Without much ado, I'd let you check the captures and decide the pinnacle moment of our day.

The spectacular stretch from Hill Inlet to Whitehaven

Southern tip of Whitehaven - we moored there the day before

Ocean flowing between reefs like a river

It was disconcerting that a cyclone bomb was brewing south of us while we were sunning at Airlie Beach. Allaying our fears, Jetstar declared our flight was delayed by a couple of hours, not cancelled. But that delay caused our flight to hover in the blinding dark stormy night for one additional hour on top of two hours of travel to get landing window. For the first time we heard an audible heave of sigh in the claps of fellow passengers when the tyres touched the tarmac. That, for me, was the most momentous moment of the day - back to steadfast terra firma!

Such trips are not just respite from untenable ennui of quotidian life, but also trigger thoughts. While on board the jetboat or skydiving flight, I reflected how bemusing it could be to believe the boundless bewildering sky and ocean could be somebody's "office" and career path. Once you've got your head around that thought, you can't stop admiring their fitness, finnesse, and prowess. I trusted my son's life in their hands and that goes a long way to cheer them for their confidence and dexterity at extreme sports! While I'm not looking forward to any more thrills, I'm elated to have ticked off the apex adventure I was after in this trip.

Dona, Sydney, July '25

***

Johnny Depp at Hill Inlet, fleeing Salazar's Ghost Army 

Fact: the palm trees 🌴 planted there to infuse tropical flavour were moved to Airlie Beach after the shoot