Whitsunday Island (Airlie Beach), Australia

It’s fun to wake up in the morning, pull back the curtains and see where we sailed to during the night. Here is this morning's sunrise and our first glimpse of the Whitsunday region along Australia’s eastern coastline. After another night of coughing, I had no plans to even get off the ship today but after lunch I changed my mind and decided to venture out. 

good morning, Whitsunday islands

The Whitsundays use their own tenders which are essentially speedboats used to transport passengers from large vessels like ours to shore. That turned out to be a good thing since the water was white capping and our smaller tenders would have provided a much bumpier ride. Theirs were also very large and air conditioned, so that was a plus as well.

 

Whitsunday tenders

our ride to the island

We didn’t plan to stay long because I’m still lacking stamina and also because Ronnie was hoping to be back in time for Team Trivia. We arrived on the island, then took the complimentary bus for about a 15 minute ride to Arlie Beach. The waters are so beautiful, blue and clear. However, the tide was out so we didn’t spend any time on the beach. In fact, kids were out playing and picking up shells where the water would normally be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

don't we wish!

We walked around a bit and went into a Woolworth – remember those? In Australia, they are not dime stores (do dime stores even exist anymore?) but large grocery stores. Ronnie is on a never ending search for hamburger dill pickles – the equivalent to his favorite kind at home. We did find one halfway decent substitute a while back though I can’t remember where. So the search will continue.

 

 

There are 74 islands that make up Whitsunday. They are known for their pristine white-sand beaches, clear waters and tropical vegetation. They are also known for their incredible marine life, colorful fish, sea turtles and dolphins. Without a doubt, Arlie Beach has everything one could want in a beach town. The streets were very clean and pleasant with lots of tourists and locals shopping or eating, many of them wearing swimsuits. The main street was home to colorful shops and restaurants. 

 

hats anyone?

 

A fitting way to end this post is as it started – the beautiful sky over the Whitsunday islands - this time at sunset. 

goodbye, Whitsunday islands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello and goodbye, Mooloolaba!

After a fitful night of coughing, I was rudely awakened by the ship captain's announcement coming into all staterooms explaining why we would not be visiting Mooloolaba today. Mooloolaba (what a name!) is a city on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. Our ship was already sitting offshore as he made his announcement. As in similar situations, the captain made a decision he knew would make some passengers quite unhappy, but he will always err on the side of caution. 

I crawled out of bed, pulled back the curtains and wow - a gorgeous day outside! All sunshine and blue water. But Mooloolaba is a tender port, which means loading hundreds of people in and out of bouncing tenders from the ship and onto shore while fighting large swells that make it not only dangerous but next to impossible. Good call, Captain!

 

definitely not tender friendly

No doubt many passengers had excursions planned, but as they say “it is what it is”. Their accounts will be automatically refunded, the pilot boat will come to see us out and we’ll be on our way to our next port. A new schedule of shipboard activities will be quickly printed and dispersed, and everyone will go on with their day on board. Still not a bad deal - at all. For me personally, I would have probably tried to get off just to try to take in such a beautiful place but in all honesty, another day of rest, medication and liquids is exactly what I needed.

 

small section of skyline from balcony with my cell phone

partial view of Mooloolaba shore from our balcony

not today, Mooloolaba

pilot boat guiding us out of the harbor

A little history lesson: Mooloolaba derives from the Aboriginal word mulu, meaning snapper fish, or mulla meaning Red-bellied Black Snake. Originally known as Mooloolah Heads, the name was changed to Mooloolaba by Thomas O'Connor in 1919 when he subdivided land for sale there.

https://www.queensland.com/au/en/places-to-see/destinations/sunshine-coast/mooloolaba

While closing out this blog, I stopped to watch history being made as Artemis II astronauts splashed down in the Pacific. Praise be to God for a safe touch down for these brave astronauts and for the United States of America! 

splash down!

 

Sydney in a day

Our day started early when my alarm went off an hour too soon—but it actually turned out to be a good thing as our ship was just arriving in Sydney. I stepped out onto our balcony, saw the view and grabbed my camera just in time to take photos as we sailed under the harbor bridge. Ronnie took off for the opposite side of the ship and got some beautiful photos of Sydney’s iconic Opera House.

sailing under Sydney Harbor Bridge

Good Morning, Sydney!

Sydney Opera House (photo credit: Ronnie)

After an early breakfast in our room, we took a 30 minute cab ride to the Taronga Zoo, home to over 4,000 animals. The weather was perfect, and we spent about 3 hours there, covering maybe 1/4 of the grounds. Between the animals and the amazing harbor views, it was definitely worth the trip.

entrance to Taronga Zoo

cute little guy posed for me

I was very lucky to get this shot of this cute little koala bear. Koalas sleep as much as 20 hours a day, only waking to eat. He was the only one that was awake. A diet of only eucalyptus leaves provides little energy. There are toxins in the leaves that would be poisonous to other animals but they have a special digestive system that contains a bacteria that breaks down the toxins.

relaxing kangaroos

 

partial view of Sydney skyline and Harbor Bridge from Taronga Zoo

I’m still not feeling great, so by mid-afternoon I was really dragging. We caught yet another cab back to the ship. Ronnie rested, then found the energy to go exercise, while I showered, washed and dried my hair, put on my night gown and played with my pictures. The decision to use room service for dinner was a no brainer!  

Sydney's estimated population is approximately 5.64 million. One could spend weeks exploring it, and even then, it wouldn’t be long enough. We did what we could in the short time we had, but we only experienced a tiny bit of it. I would say that this type of cruise is just a “snippet” of many different places – just enough to know if you might ever like to go back for a real visit.

So our day ended as it had started – taking pictures from the balcony of Sydney’s beautiful harbor skyline.