Airlie Beach

Just a few months ago, Erik and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I thought that a milestone such as 5 years of marriage would serve as a good reason for a little vacation, though Erik tried to convince me that 5 years is no different than 6 or 7 years or even today, for that matter. :) He does have a point, but after some discussion we decided that an anniversary trip was in order, so I began planning. Planning is one of my favorite things about going on vacation, whereas Erik mostly prefers to "wing it". I think there are positives and negatives to both types of travel, as sometimes when you plan too much you might miss out on things you would have otherwise stumbled upon. On the flip side, if you do not plan enough, you can miss some of the best sights a region has to offer, which is the stance that I usually tend to take. My first thought was that we should head to Port Douglas, near Cairns, to soak up some sun, see the Daintree Rainforest, and dive the Great Barrier Reef. However, that would be a nice trip to take with visiting family and/or friends, so I kept searching. My next thought was to stay at a nice eco-resort on an island off the coast of Queensland, as it would be a bit of a splurge and we could pamper ourselves for a few days. Then I thought that sounded like a vacation we should take when we are old and tired, so I started searching again. It was actually one of the footy club members (a parent of one of the players) who suggested that we sail around the Whitsunday Islands. Erik had done this before when he traveled around Australia 10 years ago, but it would still be a unique experience to go on a trip like that together. After a little bit of searching, we were both sold and the decision on where to go had been made.

The Whitsunday Coast is not easily accessible from Melbourne, despite being a few hours away via plane. All flights go through Brisbane and there is only one flight each day to/from Brisbane, which means you spend quite a bit of time traveling. The Whitsunday Coast Airport has only two gates and is about the size of a large house in the United States. From the airport, it is about a 35 minute drive to Airlie Beach, which is the "jumping off point" for most of the Whitsunday Island sailing trips. We did not arrive until 4pm, which meant that we would spend a full day in Airlie before heading out on our boat. Due to the fact that it was our anniversary and we received a generous financial gift from my parents, we splurged on our lodging at  Peppers Coral Coast. The room was top notch and the manager even left a bottle of complimentary champagne in our room for our anniversary!

Huuuuuuge spa tub in the bathroom

View from the balcony of our apartment

Once we checked in, we walked into town in search of dinner. We ended up at an outdoor backpacker bar with live music and reasonably priced drinks. There was a place to order food next door, so we enjoyed dinner, drinks, tunes, and warm weather for a few hours before heading back to Peppers.

Live music at Magnums

Nighttime view of the pool and restaurant at Peppers

Breakfast was included in our room rate, and the food was good, though not the best hotel brekkie we've ever eaten. We had a bit of time to kill since our boat was not leaving until 4pm, so we soaked up the Queensland sun for a few hours.

Enjoying a beautiful view from the pool lounger!

After checking in for our sailing trip, we went to hang out by the lagoon in town. It makes for a great place to cool off, and the setting right next to the ocean is quite picturesque.

We then picked up plenty of booze for our trip and walked down to Abel Point Marina, the landmark from which our boat would be departing. Soon after, we met our crew and fellow passengers, and we were off on a 2 day/2 night adventure of sailing around the Whitsunday Islands!!