A Christmas Gift Comes to Fruition!

For Christmas the kiddos got a certificate stating they would be going on a fabulous vaca to the Great Barrier Reef sometime in the next 6 months.  Parker has always had a fascination with oceans, marine life and oceanology.  He's done heaps of Powerpoint projects on all things ocean.  He is always checking out books on it etc. So this trip has been at the top of his list for a few years now.  It's a snorkeling dream world.  Well, it finally happened!  And boy did it ever happen!  Talk about a dream vacation!!!  This was an amazing trip.

We were told there lots of ways to "see the reef". But I had another trip on my wish list....that was a visit to the Whit Sunday Islands in the North of Australia.  I'd heard they were pretty amazing.  When I learned that one of the greatest ways to see the reef was off an island called Hamilton Island and that it was located in the Whit Sundays.  I was sold!  Talk about 2 birds with one stone!!  We had heard Hamilton was the best reef spot if you were looking for family fun.  Man, we did not regret this decision.  The Whit Sundays...ahhh, they were a dream for sure.  So, we rented a house on the island and set off!  Here we are at the airport, ready for the the short flight (about an hour and a half).  Everyone was sooo excited!

We landed at the tiny little island airport.  It was fun to get off the plane outside on the runway.

And we felt so special when they were waiting for us with a sign!  Haven't you always wanted an airport sign?  The kids thought that was awesome.  I was rolling.  It's not like there were heaps of people stepping off the plane, but ok whatever.  We were kind of a big deal I guess ;)

When we got to our house, it was really cute and had an awesome balcony with shudders that opened all around.  Once they were opened we had all kinds of visitors, but the cockatoos just kept flocking in.  We went ahead and fed them....

And watched them....

Fed them some more....

Admired them....(aren't they beautiful birds?)

Talked to them a while....

And had some serious staring contests with them!
We loved them...and then kinda hated them.  Sweet little Oaks accidentally left our sliding door open while we went to the beach and when we got home--holy cow!  I walked in and my heart started racing.  It literally looked like we had been robbed, the kitchen was completely trashed.  The cockies had come in and feasted!  They had ripped open our bread and eaten it all...every piece, ripped open chip bags, cookie boxes, microwave popcorn bags (unpopped)--those beautiful beaks...crazy strong and dangerous! They made such a mess.  And pooped it all out as they left!  Dear sweet cockatoos talk about biting the hand that feeds you!  Needless to say, they were cut off for the rest of the trip!  Loved em-- hated em!

The island is just beautiful.  All the islands in the Whit Sundays are amazing.  Some of them are "no children allowed" (honeymooners only) very romantic places.  We loved walking around the marina.  Checking out the dream yachts and watching the sail boats come in.  There were all kinds of shops and restaurants on the marina.  It was so much fun.  We were so dang lucky to have gone during the off season.  We got lots of attention at restaurants and on tours because there just weren't many tourists around.  Awesome!!!

The flying foxes never get old.  They had heaps here every night around dusk.  They are pretty awesome to watch.

The island has a gogeous look out point.  From here you can see a few of the other islands in the Whit Sundays.

The kids had a blast in the pools.  There were several to play in and they were right on the beach, so if the salt water got to be too much...the chlorine could clean you right up!

The restaurants were really fun.  They were a little fancy, but they made a good effort to be kid-friendly!  Here's a giant chess board to keep the kiddos busy while the food was being cooked!

Check mate!

A good old fashioned arcade in the lobby of a restaurant...who could ask for anything more?

When we hit the beaches we discovered a new love...paddle boarding.  So much fun!  The boards are very long, like surf boards and the trick is getting up.  Then you paddle all around.  We had a few fails, but overall we caught on and fell in love with the sport.  It was an awesome way to see the beach.  Parker was by far the best paddle boarder.  In many of the pix he has this large headband on; it's his and his dad's birthday present-- a Go-Pro, a tiny adventure proof video camera.  It can go underwater, be dropped down mountains, survive a mudslide...all the things I would never count my boys out of.  It was a blast to have the Go-Pro along on this trip!

We got some really cool video footage on this trip!  Thanks to our camera man!

Park paddling back to America!

Syd joined with Dad at the beginning but by mid-week she was on her own and even paddling Oaks around!

It was fun to get dressed up to go to dinner.  The places were a little higher level than Maccas (that's McDonalds in Aus). Of course, we couldn't get too fancy...but a skirt and sparkly sandals were always accessible!

On Hamilton Island there are no motorized vehicles....just buggies!  So our home rental included the use of this awesome buggy/golf cart for the week.  It was so great seeing all these buggies zooming (if you can call their full-speed zooming...) up and down the streets on the island.  It was awesome having no cars around. Everyone has their own buggy and off you go to the beach, dinner, shops etc.!

The sunset was pretty awesome every night.  There's just something incredible about the sunseting on the ocean.  It's breathtaking.  This was the view off our deck!  The Whit Sundays...ahhh just breathtaking.

This is another cool shot of the marina.  There were so many sail boats.  Who has a sail boat that stays docked on Hamilton Island???  Oh please let it be me!  That would be such an awesome weekend getaway!!!

Lorikeets...I love them.  They are so brilliantly colored.  They are loud but beautifully loud.  I was reading on the marina and this guy joined me.  Aren't they beautiful.  They are all over Brissie too, especially on the Corso where we live.

Two Beauties checking out the boats.

The girls and I having a little icecream break.  Icecream in Australia is very, very good.  Extra creamy!  I believe Australia is still ranked #1 in icecream consumption per country.  Can't blame them, with icecream that good.  Just an interesting bit of trivia for you.

Me and my beauties!  Love these 2!

Hanging at Joe's Beach Shop!

Divas!

Another day on the paddle boards.  Syd and Oaks taking it out on the ocean.  We also did some kayaking over to private beach and played around there for awhile.  It was beautiful.

Oaks just jumped from one paddle board to another.  She'd ride for awhile and then see me or Park and Dad and just jump into the water and swim over to the next cabbie.  She'd climb up and ride around again until another offer came by.  It's actually much trickier paddling with some on board with you, but Syd was just a pro.  They had heaps of fun.  Syd went so far out that a beach rescuer on a jet ski went out to check on her.  She said she was fine and just turning to come in.  But after awhile she realized the current had changed directions and she couldn't paddle against it.  The jet ski went out and towed her in.  It was awesome.  The rescue workers kept saying, "Look at those 2 little girls; they are awesome on those paddle boards.  They are balanced and paddling by themselves."  The rescue guy said it was great to see a kid out there going for it on the paddle board.  I love when I see my kids trying new things!  So much fun!

More awesome sunsets.

Another day at the pool!

Paddle boarding Queens!  Off they go for another adventure!

I have so many pix of this incredible week.  I'm going to be putting up 3 or 4 posts just to cover it.  I couldn't stop snapping the pix.  I wanted to take everything home with us!