Airlie Beach day two

Meet your co-pilot Miss Elizabeth Greenhalgh she will be ensuring you of absolutely nothing regarding flying the plane or the safety of the plane,  she will be doing her utmost just to resist playing with all the buttons and pedals in front of her,  which may impact upon our flight !!

One scenic flight of the Great Barrier reef,  my first contact coming up,  I will be joining the millions of people before me who have done this,  congratulations, way to make us feel special pilot-guide
Onboard we have 4 Japanese people who when asked where they were from said '4people', must be a very small place, a French couple and an American couple and me.
With hardly a breath of wind well 110 04,  according to my headset, on the runway. We lifted up smoothly and over the Whitsundays (which I find haven't told you apparently should be could Monday as they got the days wrong,  at least that's what someone in my hostel said so must be true!) and out to the Great Barrier Reef.

The Whitsundays are stunning from above and flying over them gives you a real sense of the 74 Islands and their varying sizes and the eyesore (I don't know if that is how that is spelt but given the number of typos I make I don't think anyone will be bothered) that is Hamilton Island with their tower blocks. There's dreamland Island that has just been sold one of the nearest and smallest islands that is an entire resort.  From up high up it looked like it had been done

As you can imagine this is where rich and famous holiday in Hamilton Island and people come to create that magical engagement or honeymoon memory.  At the airport where we took off there are these helicopters that look like flies in the air they are so small. People book them go out to a beach and propose to their other halves.  What's funny is that there is probably only a few places they can land and so on one break probably every 100-200m there is another helicopter a single umbrella and two people chinking champagne.  Oh for my knight in shining amour and my helicopter ride!
It is definitely an amazing way to see the reef and give you a concept of exactly what it is all about. it's shear vastness.
From up in the air it feels like you are looking at the real skin of the earth cracked open, fragile,  exposed, simply beautiful and yearning to grow,  heal and bloom.

Left with an afternoon to fill I catch up with Steve and Lindsey for a coffee at the main which is brimming with people now is Saturday and we trade stories before parting ways and I head off to walk Airlie Creek. Now the tourist office lady didn't have much to say about doing any walking in Airlie apart from the boardwalk which I did on the first morning,  but she said there was this creek walk.  Grade 1-5 the sign said with symbols depicting the angle of steepness.... Well I only had flipflops and it said it would take an hour.  Now I am not sure if it was the end of the track or not but my flipflops could only get me so far up the following

I am fairly sure that this is actually the other side of the creek when in full flow in the wet season,  when the path is closed.
Back I trundled to the lagoon for an evening swim. I can't tell you quite what it tasted of,  not that I regularly drink lahokns,  the sea or swimming pools for that matter.  But fresh salty chlorine a bit of everything, and the atmosphere is lovely all ages all people spending their time outdoors.  I have to say this is something the UK need somehow a shared space where everyone just mingles in a safe and healthy environment.
What a wonderful idea going for a swim just before you are getting on an overnight bus.  Now armed with a wet towel,  shorts and  bikini all of which I need tomorrow but also need to pack in a bag for 10 hours and then want to wear them tomorrow......nice .
Well round two of overnight bus begins,  distaster the USB  charging ports are broken what is everyone on the bus going to do....... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... I am hoping sleep.