August 4th
Hello once more from the upside down ones....
Last time I emailed I think we were going in search of wild Koalas - that was three days ago on Magnetic Island. And, yes, we DID find them including (cue: high squeaky over-excited voices) a baby Koala up a tree right by the footpath...it WAS outrageously cute.
Next day, stirred by this David Attenborough moment, Mum and Laura went to a local wildlife centre -we have photos of Laura - hugging a Koala, wearing a live pylon as a scarf and one of her holding a four foot Croc...I was not there, I took the opportunity to throw myself in the sea for a...refreshing...swim.
Since then we've moved down to Airlie Beach - the apartment is mega posh - two bedroom, two bathroom, big balcony, ocean view - very Sunday Supplement!
Yesterday we took a boat trip today to Whitehaven Beach - it really did live up to it's reputation of being one of the worlds top ten beaches, despite showery weather. Whitehaven Is. is quite big, a large granite lump, a few square miles in area covered in jungly rain forest with a pristine white sand beach running 6km across the seaward side.
There are no permanent residents on the island and access by tourists is strictly limited. We went on a guided walk through the forest up to a lookout over the other Whitsunday Islands - the sun came out at that point and it was so beautiful, a small pocket of unsullied nature - quite idyllic.
I was unsure quite if it would be Robinson Crusoe or Johnny Depp and Kiera Knightly who were going to appear out of the undergrowth. Actually, just to keep us all grounded in the here and now a small seaplane swooped in, chugged up to the beach and deposited small wedding party to do the tropical island nuptual bit...Hello magazine has a lot to answer for.
Just one more night here, then a 400 mile drive back to Cairns on Saturday to catch a plane to Brisbane then on to Hong Kong. Much to reflect and muse upon...knowing me, I'll probably not keep it to myself....
love to you both from all of us
Dad, Mum and Laura
xxxxx
PS. - the minor glitch involved booking the dates incorrectly on these apartments - the receptionist was great - that got sorted - then I lost my walllet and had to cancel credit and debit cards using a mobile phone on pay as you go to UK call centres - that was stressful...but got sorted too.
