I hope everyone is laughing as much as we did after putting on these lovely snorkel outfits. As stylish as they are, they were really needed to protect us from the Irukandji Jellyfish while snorkeling. These little jellyfish, which are almost invisible, pack quite a punch and have been known to kill people. As it turns out, this time of year is the season for these guys to invade northern Australian waters, and we were warned not to swim alone or on isolated beaches. Unfortunately, this was not mentioned on the websites when I was doing the research or booking, but was the first thing our valet mentioned as he was driving us to our condo. “Welcome to the Great Barrier Reef, Mate. Please don’t swim!!” Actually it wasn’t that bad, but the warnings were serious.
Having be that said, our time on Hamilton Island was most enjoyable, and we had a great time on the reef. In order to reach the best part of the reef, we boated about 50 miles farther out to sea and tied up with FantaSea’s floating island which is permanently anchored over a shallow section. Check out "Planes, Trains..." for pics. The reef is teeming with different varieties of fish and large Pacific clams. There are also several large resident Groupers and Wrasse. Check out “Dr. Doolittle” for pics. It was a full day on the water, and the weather/ocean conditions were perfect.
Hamilton Island is a fun vacation spot; there are no cars, only golf carts, and most units have one included. It is very focused around its yachting facilities, and there were several restaurants/bars to check out, as well as some nice shops. The highlights of our time, besides the reef, were Mat trying out the firing range and the day we rented our own yacht (actually a 14’ motorized dinghy, but who’s measuring..) and explored around the inner bays and some deserted islands. Check out “Where are the Reeve Boys”. After our four days of relaxing here, we prepared ourselves for the twenty-six hour travel day that would take us to Cape Town, South Africa.
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