Do you know what the top 3 most photographed places are in Australia?

Our tour guide told us yesterday and we are thrilled that now we’ve been to them all.

1. Uluru – we went to Uluru in July 2022 while on a 6 week camping trip with our daughter, Katie and her three children, Riley, Ben & Maddie.

2. Sydney Opera House – we’ve been to the Sydney Opera House many times over the years for all sorts of events from School Presentation Nights to concerts and dining. This is one from the archives.

3. Hill Inlet, Whitsundays – what can I say. Hill Inlet is stunning!

Our day began very early as our exciting cruise to Whitehaven Beach & Hill Inlet with Cruise Whitsundays required us to be at the Port of Airlie by 6.45am. That meant departing from our Big4 Adventure Whitsunday at 6.30. We were all ready on time and drove out the boom gates right on time. At the Port of Airlie is a large carpark right next door to the Cruise Whitsundays terminal building. We paid for one day of parking $13 and headed inside. We’d already been sent our confirmation which had a QR code so we didn’t need to check-in, just had to wait for our boarding call.

To fill in time we shopped in their little merchandise stall, as you do!

Right on time our boarding was called and before we made it to the gangway our QR code was scanned. Then down the gangway onto the pier and to the big catamaran that would take us out to the islands.

Once onboard we were directed by crew to the top floor front section that is enclosed and air-conditioned with comfy cloth seats. This area was reserved for only those passengers doing the whole day trip. All the rest had to find hard plastic seats outside and down below.

The big cat moved quickly and in no time at all we’d left the harbour and were heading out to sea. First stop was Daydream Island to drop off and collect passengers then it was on to Hamilton Island to do the same.

It was with great excitement that passengers spotted humpback whales on this section of the journey. One even breached with its entire body out of the water and making a huge splash on landing. What is it about whales that makes humans feel good? I swear there were smiles all around the boat after seeing the whales.

We arrived at Whitsunday Island and the famous Whitehaven Beach and we had to get on tenders to reach the beach. About 30 people at a time were tendered across. It took a little while to get everyone onshore. The crew set up a white marquee on the beach and began setting up all the equipment for lunch as well as beach equipment. They had stinger suits for those who wanted them, beach toys for the kids, beach volleyball and folding beach cabanas for those that wanted some shade.

We wandered along the beach and found a spot to set up and promptly hit the water. OMG how to describe the water? It is crystal clear and, because the sand is 99% silica and so very white, the water colour is turquoise. The sun was out and that makes the water appear even bluer.

It was gorgeous to swim there. Rich went for a long walk along the beach, chatting to people as he went. The rest of us just enjoyed swimming in that gorgeous clear water.

Our BBQ lunch was served right on time and we all wandered across to the marquee where a buffet had been set up. BBQ’d Steak, Bacon & Chicken with a variety of salads and a bread roll was our choices and our little group took ours up into the trees where there are tables set up so we could eat in the shade.

At 1pm we were called back to the beach to depart for our tour of Hill Inlet. The small group of 16 passengers had Tom as our guide. Tom was a lovely young bloke who has worked in a variety of places including working in ski resorts in Canada. We were taken across to Hill Inlet in the tender boat and dropped off on the beach. We had to carry all our bags with us as we were guided by Tom across the shallows.

As we waded through the knee high water Tom pointed out a small Lemon Shark and lots of sting rays. They didn’t seem to be too fazed that lots of tourists were walking through their territory and just fluttered away from us.

We walked past the ‘instagram’ tree. So called because it was one of three to be blown onto the beach during a cyclone and has become one of the most photographed trees in the islands. The whole of Whitsunday Island is a National Park and the NP service removed the other two trees but they’ve left this one behind on the beach. What do you think?

Our walk took us up into the sand dunes where we found a spot with benches for a a brief rest. Tom directed us to leave our bags there and we’d pick them up on the way back down from the lookouts.

Tom said there were 300 stairs and I believe him. The track is a well made and well worn one through the dunes and up and up to the three lookouts. Wow wow wow is all I can say. The views are as stunning as the pictures I’d seen. Tom kept telling us that we’d got a really good day as it doesn’t always look like that so we were very lucky. The sun was out and there were a few clouds but they just make the photos better!

These lookouts are one of those places where I really can’t stop taking photos. The wind changes or the sun goes behind a cloud, the tide changes the swirling sands and your photos are different. It truly is a stunning sight.

Tom explained that we were looking at where one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was made. It sounded like it was a bit of a disaster really as they had all sorts of trouble. The movie was supposed to be set in the Caribbean however there’d been a hurricane there and the entire crew was moved to Whitehaven. However there are no coconut palms on Whitsunday Island. Two boatloads of fully mature coconut palms were brought out to the island each day, and because Whitsunday Island is a National Park, the palms had to be taken away at the end of each day. This involved a crew of 50!

One of their boats capsized and a huge amount of filming equipment was ruined.

The actor Johnny Depp was also fined heavily because he brought his little dog with him. No dogs are allowed in the National Park and he was fined appropriately.

No wonder it is so expensive to make a movie!

Tom guided us back down the path and steps to a different beach on the other side where we were picked up by the tender boat and driven back to Whitehaven Beach. We had enough time for one last swim before it was time to re-board our big catamaran for the journey home. The tide had come in so this time we didn’t have to be tendered out to the big boat. Instead it pulled right up onto the beach and lowered a gangway for us to walk up. A thoughtful crew man was at the top with a hose squirting all the sand off our feet before we went on deck.

Afternoon tea was served onboard and we settled in to enjoy the ride back to Port of Airlie with a short stop at Hamilton Island. We arrived at the Port at 6pm. It had been a long day but our little group were all happy that we’d had such a fabulous day.

Back at camp it was 6 tired campers that were happy to go to bed early. What a fantastic day!