27th of July, Off to Hamilton Island, the Whitsundays

We went to Hamilton Island for 9 nights. On landing, the views and colours were breathtaking.

On the island the transport is by golf buggy or a free mini bus service.

The beach side of the Island and the hotel.

This is high tide, on the beach. At low tide it's easy walking in the water to the reef on the beach.

View from our house sized appartment. There are many choices of budgets for the island. We did it the cheapest way (which wasn't that cheap), with separate bookings for flights and accommodation. Ours was a large 2 bedroom appartment with 1.5 bathrooms, lounge room, large outdoor dinning area, a full kitchen and dinning area. It was as large as a house and came with a golf buggy. I tried to order food via Coles online, but after selecting my food, I was too late getting a delivery day - on the day we arrived. So I shopped in the only supermarket on the Island. We ate home almost every night, having fish, chips and hamburger two nights. The supermarket prices are out of this world... but cheaper than eating out every night. One day, while shopping I heard " okay if we buy the peanut butter, we won't have to by butter"... fresh fruit and veggies were ridiculous prices. The only bakery had fresh bread, but after it closed at 4pm, bread was limited in the supermarket... One afternoon, I picked up one of the last loafs and then swapped it with a man, I wanted the loaf he had and he wanted mine. We did take some things in our suitcases, like tea, coffee, sugar, honey, vegemite, pasta, rice and toiletries...saving some money.

A local welcoming us...Cockatoos are everywhere and very cheeky. One day one came it and stole some sugar from the kitchen. Near the fish and chip shops, they are like frenzied seagulls.