Our first trip to Queensland

We recently took our first trip to Queensland for my birthday week.  We decided to hit up two places: Port Douglas and Hamilton Island.  Both places were absolutely spectacular, stunning and so much fun.  We had a wonderful week and I hope that we will be back very soon!

We started the trip by flying into Cairns.  The Cairns Airport is quite small so easy to grab our bags and head out to catch our shuttle.  The shuttle stopped first in Palm Cove which is a small little beach town about 30 minutes north.  We definitely would check this area out again as it's close to the airport and looked really cute!  We continued on north to our hotel Thala Beach Lodge which is a gorgeous hotel just 15 minutes south of Port Douglas.  It came highly recommended by our friends Esther and Mckay and did not disappoint.  From the moment we arrived, we loved it.  They welcomed us with fresh juice and took our bags to our room while we relaxed.  Then we headed to our room which was an ocean view bungalow.  PERFECT!

DAY 1: Of course we had to crack a bottle of vino to celebrate being on vacation!

The we immediately packed up and hit the beach.  Thala has it's own beach that is pretty private and damn gorgeous.  Ryan's playing it safe in the sun but thoroughly enjoying it.  Like his new board shorts?  Thanks Lorenzo for helping me choose them!

We ordered a picnic basket for lunch and they delivered it to us on the beach.  Amazing right?  This was also the inaugural beach tent day! 

Thala beach.

DAY TWO: The next day we interneted about for a bit, then headed off to town.  Thala has a shuttle service that will take you in and out of town 5 times a day for $8 each way.  

We checked out the local market where we bought adorable dresses for Emma and Adrienne. 

This thing was so cool.  It's a contraption powered by a stationary bike and it squeezes juice from sugar cane  Cool!

We then were picked up by our tour guide, Grant, who took us up to the Daintree National Park.  We went on a river cruise to find alligators.  We unfortunately only spotted a very baby croc.  I didn't have my glasses so could barely see it!  

We then drove down to the Gorges River where we cooled off and went for a swim.  It was FREEZING!

There was this little pathway between two rocks that Grant called the "vortex".  He challenged each of us to swim through it (upstream).  It looked really easy, but when you got in it, it was really hard.  I almost made it, gave up at the last second and got sucked out.  Ryan was the only one, besides Grant, that made it through!

It was a lovely day that ended with my birthday dinner at Nautilus.  It's a restaurant nestled in the treetops and has been there for like 50 years or something.  They seated us in a lovely corner table where we could see the whole restaurant.  The chairs are kinda crazy cause they had these super high backs.  Because it was a special occasion:) we splurged on the 7-course degustation with wine pairings.  The food was AMAZING.  By the time we left, we were super stuffed and tipsy.  It was a perfect birthday!

DAY THREE: The next day we woke up bright and early to go to the reef.  We went on the Calypso which is a pretty large boat (80 people) but it gets you out to the reef in barely an hour.  Here we are preparing for our snorkelling.

We did a lot of lounging in the sun and chatting with other people on the boat.  Everyone was really nice and the day went by so quickly. 

Here's Ryan exploring the top deck. 

The reef was really amazing.  You don't realize how big it is until you're actually out there.  We did two snorkelling stops and then tried DIVING.  I thought that was the coolest thing.  Our instructor Roberto was an awesome guy from Italy and really made us feel comfortable.  I was to get certified!! 

Ryan practicing safe sun habits again:).

When we got back on land, we got a bowl of prawns and couple of drinks to celebrate a successful day. We then cruised around for a while before our dinner at Harrison's, another great recommendation from McEsther.  We ordered the Chateaubriand which was insane because it wasn't only the steak.  It also came with bone marrow (ick), tons of green beans and these amazing mashed potatoes.  I was so stuffed after the dinner!

DAY FOUR: For our last day in PD, we decided to just relax.  We went on a nature walk and encountered this cane toad.  We thought it was alive, but if you look real close, it's dead and there are ants that are eating it!  GROSS!

We then lounged by the pool and had a coconut.

Here's Ryan chilling, with the Ipad of course!

DAY FIVE: We woke up at the buttcrack to get back to Cairns to catch our flight to Hamilton Island.  When we left, it was rainy and cloudy in PD.  

We arrived in Hamilton after a 1.5 hour flight and it was gorgeous. 

Here we are getting picked up in a golf buggy outside of the airport by our helper Ashley.  She was Irish and was pretty much on call in case we needed anything while we were on the island.   

Here's the HI Marina.  Hamilton Island is pretty much owned by one guy, so if you stay in a hotel, you can charge anything to the island on your room.  We stayed in an apartment mainly because we could cook on our own and it came with a buggy.  You have access to any pool on the island except for Qualia (5-star resort) and the Beach Club.  The island itself is pretty small so you get a feel for it really quickly.  There is a main strip where the bakery, grocery store and shops are located.  There are a few restaurants but on the whole, the food on the island isn't that great.  We were expecting everything to be a lot more expensive, but it wasn't too bad.  There's one bar that is the happening spot for late nights called Bohemes.  A fun fact of HI is that they have over 500 weddings a year, crazy!  But, I understand why.  It's gorgeous, there's an adorable little church, and everything is accessible by walking or driving a buggy.  So it's convenient, safe and who wouldn't want to have their wedding on an idyllic island in the middle of the Whitsundays??

Now on to our day...We had to wait for a little while for our room to be ready so we buggied up to One Tree Hill to take in the view. 

Then headed to the beach to soak up some sun. 

We ordered groceries to be delivered from Coles so as soon as we could get into our apartment, we whipped up some vodka lemonades and then went for a cruise.

DAY SIX: Here's Ryan outside of our apartment complex, Frangipani.  Buggy central! 

We drove around and ended up at the Yacht Club.  We stopped to relax and enjoy the view - it was cool because the planes land right on the island and they fly right in front of the Yacht Club.  We wanted to go to dinner at the restaurant, but they were completely booked up.  Next time!

One Tree Hill is the place to be to watch the sunset.  You can take a blanket and a bottle of wine and sit on the grass, or grab a drink from the bar that they set up every night! 

DAY SEVEN: We woke up to find a lovely cockatoo friend on our balcony.  He was pretty used to humans it seemed because he didn't flinch when we came outside to say hello.

In fact, he kept stalking around our balcony, trying to get inside.  Soon, another colourful friend showed up!

We decided to get active and go for a hike to Coral Bay (I think that's what it was called).  It was a good way to get the blood flowing.

DAY EIGHT: We started the day with the longest hike on the Island - to Peaks Point (or something like that) which is the highest point in the Whitsundays.  It was absolutely stunning!  We then went to pick up our dinghy to go for a cruise.

We had lunch in the water and then found a semi-private beach to dock on.  

That night we decided to do a sunset dinner cruise and it did not disappoint.

The captain let me steer the boat.  I was sort of zigzagging us around, maybe from the wine??:)

Here we are looking out for land! 

DAY NINE: The last day on the island.  Sad!  We buggied around and then headed to the airport.  We loved every moment of our trip and will definitely be back before we leave Australia!