Tuesday 8^th May, 2012

Now it is the time to realize my Christmas present for Konrad. With a small plane we went to a scenic flight. First we flew over Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach which also look gorgeous from above. Passing some small islands we went out to the Great Barrier Reef. We flew over the Hardy Reef where we stayed overnight. But now we could see how big it really is. The highlight was flying over the heart reef, a small coral formation on Hardy Reef, not much bigger than the plane. Back on the mainland we went to the bus stop, but unfortunately the bus was just gone and we would have to wait another 30 minutes. On the same flight was an elder couple which passed by car and asked us if we would like a lift. We accepted with many thanks and thus had a bit more than an hour left in Airlie Beach. After lunch we went by bus to the airport which is 40km outside. With a stopover in Brisbane we flew back to Sydney.

Monday 7^th May, 2012

Today we slept a bit longer as the tour started not so early in the morning. With a boat we went into the Whitsundays. We sailed to the Hill Inlet and walked up to a lookout. Here we had a wonderful view over the bay and Whitehaven Beach. From far the combination of white beach and turquoise sea looks gorgeous. Now we went there and stayed there for two hours. We used the time to swim, to walk, lay on the beach or to enjoy the lunch prepared by the crew. Attracted by the nice smell came more and more big lizards. Some of the animals were surely about 1.5 meters long. They are not dangerous as long as you do not get too close. Back on the boat we went to a bay where we had some time to snorkel. Unfortunately I had bad goggles and thus often water in the eyes. But I had the opportunity to let Konrad listen to the sound of coral eating fishes. As were back to the hotel just before sunset we could enjoy the last rays from the balcony.