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 here 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 famed 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 had another contestant, giving her a run for money - the velveteen swirls of Hill Inlet.

And her contestant - the Hill Inlet

Both the temptresses dragged us like a little iron nails to a large overpowering magnet; we couldn't skedaddle away from the invincible snare they laid. Thus the flight tickets, acco, and activities were instantly planned 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 

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

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. 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. We huddled with our expert guide Lulu who floated an orange ring instructing us to hold on to the ropes attached to it and not to 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. The waves kind of floated me out and I grasped the tiny steps 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 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! 

Ever since my son and I consented to confirm skydiving tickets, consternation was ballooning inside us until the moment where we were dropped from a flight at 15K feet for a free fall, which worked like a pin deflating the anxiety-balloon. We had signed up for 8K feet which would've been pretty much like a safe paragliding. But once our harnesses were tightened and we were hi-fived for the adventure, we realised an unexpected upgrade would take us up to 15K feet for this adrenaline-rushing adventure! 

Dive (in tandem), fall (free), float (in parachute), land (on grass) - all in a few minutes, even before I finished praying our parachutes don't play up. The safe landing finally marked the end of the built-up trepidation and conscienc-conflict of putting my son on the line.

Feelings? Petrified! I was as numb as dead to feel anything until the relief (read parachute) unfurled. Once steadied, I hunted for my son among the bright specs in the sky - my fellow divers. Unable to figure out who's who, I started counting to ensure all of us were safe. But the efforts were of course futile and it wasn't until we all met at landing that I rested! Thanks to the go pro shots of tandem master, I'm reliving the moments!!! 

Out from the clutches of skydiving, we took to sky again 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 gorgeous beneath the sparkling sun. All shades of blues 💙and greens regaled us for 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 dive

Free falling

Tapestry of greens laced with blues beneath 

Relief unfurled: Parachute

Landing soon

Landed safely

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 drudgery of quotidian life, but also triggers to think. While on boatd the jetboat or skydiving flight, I reflected how bemusing it is 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, confidence, and prowess. I trusted my son's life in their hands and that goes a long way to cheer them for their dexterity! While I'm not looking forward to any more thrills, I'm glad to accept I've 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 infused tropical flavour were moved to Airlie Beach After the shoot