Wonder of the Whitsundays

Airlie Beach, gateway to the Whitsunday Islands has us mesmerised with its spectacular surrounding countryside, yachts and marina.

Right: Airlie Beach facing north.

It is also the place where, horror of horrors, I lost my mobile phone – more about that shortly.

First, I should mention that half-way between Rockhampton and Mackay we had a pit stop at St Lawrence, one the most remote and godforsaken places on the coast, positioned among dry tidal flats, with half a pub, a post office, a service station and little else.

We wanted to see if anything had changed since we last visited as teens on the Sunlander, which pulled up there for a couple of hours en route to Cairns back in the 60s. We found it was pretty much the same except the population had actually fallen to 120.

But small can be beautiful. Carol wanted to express post a letter but was short on the postage by a few cents. The postmistress happily made up the difference herself, with the comment, “there’s too much take and not enough give in the world today.”

How true and gracious -- a portent of another gracious event to unfold.

Spectacular sunrise

A few kilometres further on we stopped at a rest area at Clairview for our first night of ‘free’ camping.

This tiny beach village impressed with its spectacular sunrise (pictured above) but disconcerted with a strong warning about crocodiles. “Yes,” said a local, “I saw one a month ago.” But he didn’t seem too concerned.

Right: warning about crocs at Clairview Rest Area.

We paused at Mackay, but Nebo Road, which I last trod as a reporter covering a royal tour 40 years ago was now so busy we decided to push on to Airlie Beach.

This brought back memories of sailing around South Molle, Whitsunday, Hamilton, Lindeman, Brampton and Hooke Islands 23 years ago, with Rick and Irene King, Tony and Pat Dunn on a 40-foot yacht.

That trip was such a blast we simply had to stay a while here, although this time we’re not sailing, just walking and gawking.

Right: Bushwalk view of islands to the south.

Airlie Beach is a very different place today – transformed by big bucks into a major international resort. But the view of the islands and the pale blue to turquoise sea is as mesmerising as ever.

Right: Distant view of Daydream Island. The white spot (barely visible) is an outdoor movie screen.

The main Airlie precinct is chockablock with teens and twenty-somethings (NB: Emma, Stephanie, Serena), and really comes alive at night – reminds us of Byron Bay.

Right: Shute Harbour

Everyone else seems to be on yachts, in condos or, maybe like us, in caravan parks, spending the day with their feet up and enjoying the sunshine or going on bush walks. We even managed to get in a couple of games of golf in Proserpine.

Right: Every silver lining has a cloud. Warning about deadly irukandji jellyfish and other nasties to look out for in the summer months.

Mobile misadventure

Back to the mobile phone. We were into the third hour of a long walk when I noticed it missing, a major disaster as it contains hundreds of numbers of friends and rellies.

We hurried back to our van and rang the number. ‘Peter’ responded and after checking our creds said, ‘can you come to the F3 berth at the Able Point Marina.’

Above right: Luxury hilltop accommodation.

Buoyed by an enormous sense of relief, we found the berth, and Peter with another Peter, on a Bavaria 44 – a luxury yacht.

Peter and Peter invited us aboard for a beer, which made us feel awkward, as we should have been buying them one. It turned out they were from Melbourne and found my phone when walking the same track as us. They were to sail early next morning to Hamilton Island to meet their wives. Whew!

Above right: Marina where we retrieved our mobile phone from Peter and Peter. Right: A big artificial lagoon at Airlie, safe from stingers.

After expressing our undying gratitude we returned to our van with the said phone, contemplating the good nature and grace that can be common to both rich yachtsmen and humble postmistresses.

Our next stop will be Bowen, more than 2000km north of Sydney, where we hope to play a bit of golf and maybe catch a fish or two.

Right: Downtown Airlie Beach.