SnRSeattle's OZ TWO trip report, part 2, Airlie Beach to Chillagoe
Nov 8th, 2007, 08:48 PM
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SnRSeattle's OZ TWO trip report, part 2, Airlie Beach to Chillagoe
Day 6—October 8
Flight to Hamilton Island, ferry to Airlie Beach
Portside $160/nt
The motel had a complimentary continental breakfast which included “porridge” (i.e., oatmeal) upon request, which we had. Off to the airport, well signed, but we did have to pay a toll, which we were glad to do since the road was easy to drive and took us right to the airport. We arrived at the airport at about 10:30 which for JetStar is not too early! Long line, but efficient agents got us through in a reasonable time so we could get some lunch. We were worried our luggage would be overweight since they had published how strict they were, but we had no problems, even with a bag full of snorkel gear including wet suits. The plane was quite crammed with people and we got seats in the back of the plane, Randy next to a magazine model from Brazil. We landed on Hamilton Island and I was shocked to learn that the transfer to Airlie Beach was going to take 2 hours on a boat and I hadn’t taken any seasick medicine. This was one thing that I hadn’t researched well. Oh, well, luckily the waves weren’t too bad and and the scenery was stunning. We stopped at two other islands on the way. In Airlie Beach, the bus took the long way around to all the other resorts possible before dropping us off at the Portside. Luckily we didn’t have any other activities planned and enjoyed the drive acquainting us with the town. In hindsight, I might have tried harder to get accommodation on Hamilton Island, it would have saved money and loads of time for the ferry to and from the airport. The management of the Portside (it is a time-share kind of apartment building where people buy the units but only get three weeks for themselves and the units are rented out the rest of the time) had changed hands since I had made the reservations, but John and Colleen were very helpful hosts, even though it was their first week on the job. They made reservations for the next day’s trip to Whitehaven Beach for us with Whitehaven Express since our first choice, Mantaray was already booked. We ate dinner at Mangrove Jack’s—a delicious pizza and excellent huge salads. The unit we had (7B) was a studio with a small kitchenette, a table and a comfortable bed, and a balcony with ocean view. Very nice! We bought some Weet-bix and milk for brekky the next days, since it wasn’t included with the unit and we had some early starts coming up.
Day 7—October 9
Airlie Beach, boat trip to Whitehaven Beach
This boat had a great crew, but was a bit tired with a a few things not working properly—like a toilet light (at least they had toilets!) We and 16 others chugged out to Whitsunday Island in lovely weather, but bumpy seas. I was thrilled that I didn’t get seasick, and the patch I had put on had fallen off! We first went to the viewpoint walk place where they ferried us over to the beach in the inflatable dingy and we set off for an uphill (but easy) 15-20 minute walk to the top of a hill. There were other people there, so there was a line to get onto the platform to see the view. Hint: if you do this, do NOT wear a red shirt. There are insects there (DH says flies, I say bees) that go for red things and were biting/stinging people who wore red. I had my Sun Solutions beige jacket on, so they ignored me. The views were lovely with the river mouth turquoise with the white sand beneath, and the treed hills around. Very worth it. We then reboarded the boat and were off to the famous Whitehaven Beach with “the whitest sand beach in Australia” or maybe the world, I don’t know their claim. It is beautifully white, a long cresent set off by the green vegetation. The good thing about this boat trip is that the lunch is ON the beach instead of the boat. We all took a swim and got acquainted while the crew barbequed steaks, sausages, chicken, and vegetables and set up the fruit and salad dishes. After lunch we had another swim or some people sunbathed. The wind was picking up as the tide rolled in and since it was blowing from the northeast, we couldn’t go to the NE facing coves for snorkeling, they said, which knocked out the famous ones of Blue Pearl or Mantaray. We stopped at a small cove facing NW a bit. Although it looked a bit rough, we dove in and forgot the waves when we saw the beautiful staghorn coral of several colors, huge plate coral, and neon green lettuce coral. Not a lot of fishes except two huge Napoleon wrasses as we got back in the boat. We had a good time on this trip, even with the disappointments, but our snorkeling appetite was whetted and we couldn’t wait for the next day’s trip to Reef World. We had dinner at Shipwrecked, a more upscale place than we usually opt for, and, unlike other Aussie restaurants we had been to, the tasty entrees (read: appetizers) that we ordered weren’t all that large, so we went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream and were quite happy.
Day 8—October 10
Reef World
Accommodation: Reef Sleep by Fantasea www.fantasea.com.au 1 800 650 851
This was a day we had been waiting for! We were going out on a large snorkel boat with a couple hundred of others, BUT when they went home, WE were going to stay on the pontoon!! When we boarded the boat, we were introduced to our host, Bryony, a delightful Kiwi marine biologist from Dunendin area. The pontoon has a resident grouper and Mrs. Grouper that are huge and hang out around an opening. It also has two semi-subs and an underwater viewing room. When we got to the pontoon, we were shown to our room so we could change, but the bathroom wasn’t available to us until the boat left. The room was quite large with a king bed and air conditioning. We got on our wet suits and jumped in the water for a guided snorkel tour with another marine biologist. Since we didn’t qualify for the two free resort dives, they gave us two guided snorkels for free, which I thought was quite nice of them. After a nice buffet lunch on the boat, we went for a 30 minute ride in the semi-sub and then a long snorkel on the reef. As I was swimming over the reef a turtle scooted right under me! I love turtles, so that was a real thrill. After the boat left, we met our other Reef Sleep-mates, a couple from South Africa who were on a 7-month oddessy around the world, and two men, one of whom was the father of one of the workers on the pontoon. We raided the ice cream freezer and plotted our next activity. The others were all divers, so they suited up for a dive while we went with Bryony for a personal guided snorkel. On our way back we saw some people who had come over via helicopter standing on the reef! Not only did we not “have the reef to ourselves” as in the promotion for Reef Sleep, the “intruders” were idiots. Luckily they left soon and we did have the serenity of being out in the middle of the ocean with only a handful of people. Bryony prepared a fantastic dinner (choice of barramundi, steak or lamb—we chose the fish.) We did some star-gazing, some viewing in the underwater viewing chamber of trevallies hunting some bait fish, and ate a delicious crepe dessert.
Day 9—October 11
Reef World
Accommodation: Portside again
We were up early because we had to get out of the room so they could clean it prior to the next guests arriving on the boat at 10:45. Lovely breakfast and then a snorkel with no one else around. This place (Hardy Reef) has excellent giant clams and acres of staghorn coral. When the boat came in, we staked out lounges on the partially shaded sun deck and relaxed while the boat group spread out on the pontoon. After lunch we had a last snorkel. We saw another turtle and I named it “Sally”! Before we left, Bryony gave us a copy of a book about Reef World. On the return journey, the boat served cheese and crackers and we bought some Shiraz for Randy and ginger beer for me. We spent the time poring over reef fish books looking for those that we saw. Back in Airlie Beach, we retrieved our luggage that John and Coleen has stored for us and checked in to our studio (a different one, but basically the same.) Dinner was at Jamaica Joe’s Diner, a 50’s styled place with delicious food reasonably priced. After a bit of internet use, we went to bed.
Day 10—October 12
Airlie Beach to Chillagoe
Accommodation: Chillagoe Cabins www.chillagoe.com 61 7 4094 7206 ($A140/nt)
Budget Rental car a Hyundai Tucson ($504 for 10 days)
Up early to catch a cab to Abel Marina to get the ferry back to Hamilton Island. Those Weet-Bix came in handy again! It was raining, so we sat inside. As the workers got on at the various stops, it was interesting to see them without their tourist-industry “happy faces” on! At the airport, we found that the Qantas flight was a prop plane! It was smallish, with only two seats on each side of the aisle, but they still managed to get beverage service to everyone AND a cupcake! JetStar charged for everything. We spent some time in Cairns trying to get our camera fixed—it had stopped working on the pontoon. No luck, so we bit the bullet and bought another one, since we had an underwater case and needed the same model to fit it. Ouch, a huge expense we hadn’t counted on, but what could we do?? Off to Chillagoe then, via Mareeba with the coffee plantations. Randy started getting sleepy so asked me to drive, and soon the wind came up and it started raining like crazy, the road became unpaved and there were cows all over the sides of the road!! Yikes! But I am proud to say that I drove all the way to Chillagoe myself and didn’t have a problem with the road, the one-lane bridges, or the cows. Our cabin had a queen bed and a kitchette with a small, but servicable bathroom, all decorated tastefully with antiques. After we checked in, Gary, the gracious and multi-talented host, invited us over to their outdoor kitchen for a drink before “tea”. Randy said we’d be happy to come for a drink, but we didn’t drink tea in the evenings. Gary then laughed and said that to him and some Australians, “tea” meant the evening meal! And what a meal it was (and all for $28/pp): a delicous broth based soup, a large portion of stewed lamb shanks with vegetables with a waffle and ice cream for dessert. Gary and his wife Carolyn are animal “carers” which means that they take in orphaned or injured wild animals until they can be reintroduced into the wild. They brought out a joey in a cloth pouch who was adorable. We got to hold her and pet her, and then Carolyn brought out her extremely pregnant miniature horse and its stablemate. Wow, a really neat experience.
Day 11—October 13
Tour of Donna Cave with National Park Ranger
Tour of Chillagoe ($20/hr/per person)
We had hired Gary to be a tour guide of Chillagoe that day, but first he got us tickets to the Donna Cave with a lovely Aboriginal ranger, Andrea. There was one other couple along, from New South Wales. The cave is lighted, but has many ups and downs with ladders and steep steps, and even a bit of duck-walking, so it was fun to go through. Andrea was very informative and we enjoyed the various formations of stalagtites, stalagmites, false floors, shawls, and the “fairy grotto”. Gary picked us up after this tour and tooks all around the area to the site of the old smelter, the marble quarry, Mungara the ghost town of the mining community and its historical cemetery, a cattle round-up place, and to the home of a local guy who had begun collecting vintage Fords and had a museum in his back shed! He is famous in the realm of vintage car collectors, and was quite a character. After lunch in the pub where we added our graffitti to the wall when the waitress gave us a marker and told us to go to it. There were all kinds of entries from drawings, kids’ writing, and a few R-rated ones. After lunch Gary took us to a couple of fossil places where we saw crinoids, soft coral, and bivalves. He also took us to some caves with some mysterious rock art designs, and showed us some of the plants and animals of the area. A really worthwhile expenditure of time and money! Gary also showed us a new miners “village” and expressed hope that the new mine that will become operational next winter will bring welcome population to the area which almost died when the old mine closed and there was nothing for the people to do to earn a living so they moved away. When we returned to the cabins, we were so hot that their pool in the shade of their lovely garden plants was a welcome sight. We got on our suits and jumped right in and had a wonderful time floating around with the floats provided. At pre-dinner drinks time we chatted with the other American couples that had checked in and enjoyed the joey and a red-tailed cockatoo that Carolyn had rescued. Dinner that night was a delicious barramundi, our favorite Australian food.
Flight to Hamilton Island, ferry to Airlie Beach
Portside $160/nt
The motel had a complimentary continental breakfast which included “porridge” (i.e., oatmeal) upon request, which we had. Off to the airport, well signed, but we did have to pay a toll, which we were glad to do since the road was easy to drive and took us right to the airport. We arrived at the airport at about 10:30 which for JetStar is not too early! Long line, but efficient agents got us through in a reasonable time so we could get some lunch. We were worried our luggage would be overweight since they had published how strict they were, but we had no problems, even with a bag full of snorkel gear including wet suits. The plane was quite crammed with people and we got seats in the back of the plane, Randy next to a magazine model from Brazil. We landed on Hamilton Island and I was shocked to learn that the transfer to Airlie Beach was going to take 2 hours on a boat and I hadn’t taken any seasick medicine. This was one thing that I hadn’t researched well. Oh, well, luckily the waves weren’t too bad and and the scenery was stunning. We stopped at two other islands on the way. In Airlie Beach, the bus took the long way around to all the other resorts possible before dropping us off at the Portside. Luckily we didn’t have any other activities planned and enjoyed the drive acquainting us with the town. In hindsight, I might have tried harder to get accommodation on Hamilton Island, it would have saved money and loads of time for the ferry to and from the airport. The management of the Portside (it is a time-share kind of apartment building where people buy the units but only get three weeks for themselves and the units are rented out the rest of the time) had changed hands since I had made the reservations, but John and Colleen were very helpful hosts, even though it was their first week on the job. They made reservations for the next day’s trip to Whitehaven Beach for us with Whitehaven Express since our first choice, Mantaray was already booked. We ate dinner at Mangrove Jack’s—a delicious pizza and excellent huge salads. The unit we had (7B) was a studio with a small kitchenette, a table and a comfortable bed, and a balcony with ocean view. Very nice! We bought some Weet-bix and milk for brekky the next days, since it wasn’t included with the unit and we had some early starts coming up.
Day 7—October 9
Airlie Beach, boat trip to Whitehaven Beach
This boat had a great crew, but was a bit tired with a a few things not working properly—like a toilet light (at least they had toilets!) We and 16 others chugged out to Whitsunday Island in lovely weather, but bumpy seas. I was thrilled that I didn’t get seasick, and the patch I had put on had fallen off! We first went to the viewpoint walk place where they ferried us over to the beach in the inflatable dingy and we set off for an uphill (but easy) 15-20 minute walk to the top of a hill. There were other people there, so there was a line to get onto the platform to see the view. Hint: if you do this, do NOT wear a red shirt. There are insects there (DH says flies, I say bees) that go for red things and were biting/stinging people who wore red. I had my Sun Solutions beige jacket on, so they ignored me. The views were lovely with the river mouth turquoise with the white sand beneath, and the treed hills around. Very worth it. We then reboarded the boat and were off to the famous Whitehaven Beach with “the whitest sand beach in Australia” or maybe the world, I don’t know their claim. It is beautifully white, a long cresent set off by the green vegetation. The good thing about this boat trip is that the lunch is ON the beach instead of the boat. We all took a swim and got acquainted while the crew barbequed steaks, sausages, chicken, and vegetables and set up the fruit and salad dishes. After lunch we had another swim or some people sunbathed. The wind was picking up as the tide rolled in and since it was blowing from the northeast, we couldn’t go to the NE facing coves for snorkeling, they said, which knocked out the famous ones of Blue Pearl or Mantaray. We stopped at a small cove facing NW a bit. Although it looked a bit rough, we dove in and forgot the waves when we saw the beautiful staghorn coral of several colors, huge plate coral, and neon green lettuce coral. Not a lot of fishes except two huge Napoleon wrasses as we got back in the boat. We had a good time on this trip, even with the disappointments, but our snorkeling appetite was whetted and we couldn’t wait for the next day’s trip to Reef World. We had dinner at Shipwrecked, a more upscale place than we usually opt for, and, unlike other Aussie restaurants we had been to, the tasty entrees (read: appetizers) that we ordered weren’t all that large, so we went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream and were quite happy.
Day 8—October 10
Reef World
Accommodation: Reef Sleep by Fantasea www.fantasea.com.au 1 800 650 851
This was a day we had been waiting for! We were going out on a large snorkel boat with a couple hundred of others, BUT when they went home, WE were going to stay on the pontoon!! When we boarded the boat, we were introduced to our host, Bryony, a delightful Kiwi marine biologist from Dunendin area. The pontoon has a resident grouper and Mrs. Grouper that are huge and hang out around an opening. It also has two semi-subs and an underwater viewing room. When we got to the pontoon, we were shown to our room so we could change, but the bathroom wasn’t available to us until the boat left. The room was quite large with a king bed and air conditioning. We got on our wet suits and jumped in the water for a guided snorkel tour with another marine biologist. Since we didn’t qualify for the two free resort dives, they gave us two guided snorkels for free, which I thought was quite nice of them. After a nice buffet lunch on the boat, we went for a 30 minute ride in the semi-sub and then a long snorkel on the reef. As I was swimming over the reef a turtle scooted right under me! I love turtles, so that was a real thrill. After the boat left, we met our other Reef Sleep-mates, a couple from South Africa who were on a 7-month oddessy around the world, and two men, one of whom was the father of one of the workers on the pontoon. We raided the ice cream freezer and plotted our next activity. The others were all divers, so they suited up for a dive while we went with Bryony for a personal guided snorkel. On our way back we saw some people who had come over via helicopter standing on the reef! Not only did we not “have the reef to ourselves” as in the promotion for Reef Sleep, the “intruders” were idiots. Luckily they left soon and we did have the serenity of being out in the middle of the ocean with only a handful of people. Bryony prepared a fantastic dinner (choice of barramundi, steak or lamb—we chose the fish.) We did some star-gazing, some viewing in the underwater viewing chamber of trevallies hunting some bait fish, and ate a delicious crepe dessert.
Day 9—October 11
Reef World
Accommodation: Portside again
We were up early because we had to get out of the room so they could clean it prior to the next guests arriving on the boat at 10:45. Lovely breakfast and then a snorkel with no one else around. This place (Hardy Reef) has excellent giant clams and acres of staghorn coral. When the boat came in, we staked out lounges on the partially shaded sun deck and relaxed while the boat group spread out on the pontoon. After lunch we had a last snorkel. We saw another turtle and I named it “Sally”! Before we left, Bryony gave us a copy of a book about Reef World. On the return journey, the boat served cheese and crackers and we bought some Shiraz for Randy and ginger beer for me. We spent the time poring over reef fish books looking for those that we saw. Back in Airlie Beach, we retrieved our luggage that John and Coleen has stored for us and checked in to our studio (a different one, but basically the same.) Dinner was at Jamaica Joe’s Diner, a 50’s styled place with delicious food reasonably priced. After a bit of internet use, we went to bed.
Day 10—October 12
Airlie Beach to Chillagoe
Accommodation: Chillagoe Cabins www.chillagoe.com 61 7 4094 7206 ($A140/nt)
Budget Rental car a Hyundai Tucson ($504 for 10 days)
Up early to catch a cab to Abel Marina to get the ferry back to Hamilton Island. Those Weet-Bix came in handy again! It was raining, so we sat inside. As the workers got on at the various stops, it was interesting to see them without their tourist-industry “happy faces” on! At the airport, we found that the Qantas flight was a prop plane! It was smallish, with only two seats on each side of the aisle, but they still managed to get beverage service to everyone AND a cupcake! JetStar charged for everything. We spent some time in Cairns trying to get our camera fixed—it had stopped working on the pontoon. No luck, so we bit the bullet and bought another one, since we had an underwater case and needed the same model to fit it. Ouch, a huge expense we hadn’t counted on, but what could we do?? Off to Chillagoe then, via Mareeba with the coffee plantations. Randy started getting sleepy so asked me to drive, and soon the wind came up and it started raining like crazy, the road became unpaved and there were cows all over the sides of the road!! Yikes! But I am proud to say that I drove all the way to Chillagoe myself and didn’t have a problem with the road, the one-lane bridges, or the cows. Our cabin had a queen bed and a kitchette with a small, but servicable bathroom, all decorated tastefully with antiques. After we checked in, Gary, the gracious and multi-talented host, invited us over to their outdoor kitchen for a drink before “tea”. Randy said we’d be happy to come for a drink, but we didn’t drink tea in the evenings. Gary then laughed and said that to him and some Australians, “tea” meant the evening meal! And what a meal it was (and all for $28/pp): a delicous broth based soup, a large portion of stewed lamb shanks with vegetables with a waffle and ice cream for dessert. Gary and his wife Carolyn are animal “carers” which means that they take in orphaned or injured wild animals until they can be reintroduced into the wild. They brought out a joey in a cloth pouch who was adorable. We got to hold her and pet her, and then Carolyn brought out her extremely pregnant miniature horse and its stablemate. Wow, a really neat experience.
Day 11—October 13
Tour of Donna Cave with National Park Ranger
Tour of Chillagoe ($20/hr/per person)
We had hired Gary to be a tour guide of Chillagoe that day, but first he got us tickets to the Donna Cave with a lovely Aboriginal ranger, Andrea. There was one other couple along, from New South Wales. The cave is lighted, but has many ups and downs with ladders and steep steps, and even a bit of duck-walking, so it was fun to go through. Andrea was very informative and we enjoyed the various formations of stalagtites, stalagmites, false floors, shawls, and the “fairy grotto”. Gary picked us up after this tour and tooks all around the area to the site of the old smelter, the marble quarry, Mungara the ghost town of the mining community and its historical cemetery, a cattle round-up place, and to the home of a local guy who had begun collecting vintage Fords and had a museum in his back shed! He is famous in the realm of vintage car collectors, and was quite a character. After lunch in the pub where we added our graffitti to the wall when the waitress gave us a marker and told us to go to it. There were all kinds of entries from drawings, kids’ writing, and a few R-rated ones. After lunch Gary took us to a couple of fossil places where we saw crinoids, soft coral, and bivalves. He also took us to some caves with some mysterious rock art designs, and showed us some of the plants and animals of the area. A really worthwhile expenditure of time and money! Gary also showed us a new miners “village” and expressed hope that the new mine that will become operational next winter will bring welcome population to the area which almost died when the old mine closed and there was nothing for the people to do to earn a living so they moved away. When we returned to the cabins, we were so hot that their pool in the shade of their lovely garden plants was a welcome sight. We got on our suits and jumped right in and had a wonderful time floating around with the floats provided. At pre-dinner drinks time we chatted with the other American couples that had checked in and enjoyed the joey and a red-tailed cockatoo that Carolyn had rescued. Dinner that night was a delicious barramundi, our favorite Australian food.
Nov 9th, 2007, 11:16 AM
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One thing that I have not seen mentioned before Sally is that in Australia an entree' is the same as the European/ French meaning of entree' and means " the entry into i.e. the meal" or in other words it is a small dish which is eaten before the main dish of the meal therefore an entree' will not be large at all.
Nov 9th, 2007, 01:13 PM
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Hi, Lizzie, that is the way it is in the US, too, (well, except they call them appitizers, don't know where we got off track), but we had noticed in some other restaurants in Australia that the entree portion was quite large, definitely large enough for a meal if you add a salad. Some restaurants also offered the entree also as a main, and in a couple restaurants the wait staff recommended the entree size because the main size was huge (and they were right.) In the Shipwrecked case, there was no false advertising involved, we were just surprised that the trend hadn't continued, but the entrees were tasty so we were happy. The mains were quite expensive for us, and we weren't in the mood for a splurge.
Sally
Sally
Nov 9th, 2007, 03:59 PM
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Yes depending on the restaurant and the type of meals they have it is quite usual to be able to have an entree as a main or two entrees instead of a man if you cannot choose. But it could be confusing for people who are expecting an entree to be a full size meal.
Still enjoying your report Sally.
Still enjoying your report Sally.
Nov 9th, 2007, 06:06 PM
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Sally, glad to know that you and Randy enjoyed your trip. Pity about the camera.
You can imagine the confusion that was created when we were last in the States and my good wife, temporarily forgetting the local terminology, asked a waitress if a particular dish could be served as an "entree". As the dish in queston was listed under the heading "Entrees", the poor girl looked seriously flummoxed.
You can imagine the confusion that was created when we were last in the States and my good wife, temporarily forgetting the local terminology, asked a waitress if a particular dish could be served as an "entree". As the dish in queston was listed under the heading "Entrees", the poor girl looked seriously flummoxed.
May 30th, 2011, 11:13 PM
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Peter, I thought Neal was an atheist. What ever his beliefs I really enjoyed his knowledge and insight, even when he pointed out my factual errors or disagreed with my interpretation, as he did so in a fashion which indicated he cared more about the person than being the one who was right but that truth was extremely important.
