WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!! School has finished for another year….I am very sad to see my kiddies go, but boy…..holidays…….to stitch and sew……YIPPEEE!!!
WARNING……BIG cup of tea/coffee/egg nog/Christmas toddy needed to sustain you on our trip through the Whitsundays!!!!
We had our staff break up weekend and we headed off to Long Island, one of the 74 islands in the Whitsundays group , a magnificent part of the world making up part of the Great Barrier Reef which we are so lucky to have on our ‘doorstep’.
We drove down on Friday afternoon and the weather didn’t look promising as we headed towards Bowen.
Those clouds were looking a bit scary but we really had nothing to worry about as we soon passed those and arrived in Airlie Beach, un-wet!
We haven’t been to Airlie since before the cyclone earlier this year…..or was it last year???…time goes so fast…..but development hasn’t slowed in this tourist town
We didn’t stop but drove straight through to Shute Harbour which is about another ten minutes down the road…..and just as well as our ferry was due to go in half an hour!
We boarded with time to spare (just!) and headed for Long Island on the ‘sunset cruise’ (aka the 5 o’clock shuttle! LOL)
It was glorious weather and we dreamed of one day owning one of these beauties on millionaire row
but even one of these would be nice….
Perhaps after we win the $31million lotto on New Years Eve???!!! What??? You’re winning it??? Well, we can share!! *wink*
Our trip took us via South Molle Island, Daydream Island,
and Oprah’s choice of stay…..Hamilton Island…
(well, we couldn’t get too close!!!)….If you look closely, squint one eye and try not to blink with the other, you may see it in the distance!!!!
…before we arrived at our weekend resort…..Long Island
A ‘short’ stroll along the boardwalk led us to the resort….
…which you can just make out here….(You can see we got a ‘little’ bit of exercise!!!!…*huff puff*)
Saturday was absolutely gorgeous with sweltering weather which, after a good couple of games of ping pong and mini golf led us here…
and then back to our room in the air conditioning where I caught up with this…
and a few, well-needed naps. And no, I haven’t quite finished my Nice People Nice Things stitcheries yet….although I’m getting closer!
We woke at 4am on Sunday to what the rest of Australia has been experiencing….yes, it finally made it to North Queensland…..thunder, lightning and THE RAIN!!!
Not as pleasant as the day before but if you have to experience it, why not here????
But we did have to leave so I guess the clouds opened up and cried to see us leaving….
We sadly said goodbye to this view…
before boarding one of these again…
….for the journey back to the mainland.
Despite this sort of weather,
the trip was quite pleasant and as we entered Shute Harbour, we were blessed with a little bit of finer weather….
But heading home was a little more on the ‘wet’ side'.
showing some of the localised flooding we have had in a very short time……100mL in a few hours in parts.
This trough has flooded most of the east coast of Australia in the past week and has made its way north to us …..a little like Oprah! And just like Oprah, it will leave an indelible mark on our country for quite a while to come, I do suspect!
And my weekend away????……I wouldn’t have changed it for anything!!!!
Glad you could share it with me, but now, I have some serious stitching business to catch up on!!!!
How did you spend your weekend???
XXX Sugary Hugs
Wendy 
Those clouds were looking a bit scary but we really had nothing to worry about as we soon passed those and arrived in Airlie Beach, un-wet! 
We haven’t been to Airlie since before the cyclone earlier this year…..or was it last year???…time goes so fast…..but development hasn’t slowed in this tourist town 
We didn’t stop but drove straight through to Shute Harbour which is about another ten minutes down the road…..and just as well as our ferry was due to go in half an hour! 
We boarded with time to spare (just!) and headed for Long Island on the ‘sunset cruise’ (aka the 5 o’clock shuttle! LOL) 
It was glorious weather and we dreamed of one day owning one of these beauties on millionaire row 
but even one of these would be nice…. 
Perhaps after we win the $31million lotto on New Years Eve???!!! What??? You’re winning it??? Well, we can share!! *wink* Our trip took us via South Molle Island, Daydream Island, 
and Oprah’s choice of stay…..Hamilton Island… 
(well, we couldn’t get too close!!!)….If you look closely, squint one eye and try not to blink with the other, you may see it in the distance!!!! …before we arrived at our weekend resort…..Long Island 
A ‘short’ stroll along the boardwalk led us to the resort…. 
…which you can just make out here….(You can see we got a ‘little’ bit of exercise!!!!…*huff puff*) 
Saturday was absolutely gorgeous with sweltering weather which, after a good couple of games of ping pong and mini golf led us here… 
and then back to our room in the air conditioning where I caught up with this… 
and a few, well-needed naps. And no, I haven’t quite finished my Nice People Nice Things stitcheries yet….although I’m getting closer! We woke at 4am on Sunday to what the rest of Australia has been experiencing….yes, it finally made it to North Queensland…..thunder, lightning and THE RAIN!!! 
Not as pleasant as the day before but if you have to experience it, why not here???? But we did have to leave so I guess the clouds opened up and cried to see us leaving…. 
We sadly said goodbye to this view… 
before boarding one of these again… 
….for the journey back to the mainland. Despite this sort of weather, 
the trip was quite pleasant and as we entered Shute Harbour, we were blessed with a little bit of finer weather…. 
But heading home was a little more on the ‘wet’ side'. 
showing some of the localised flooding we have had in a very short time……100mL in a few hours in parts. 
This trough has flooded most of the east coast of Australia in the past week and has made its way north to us …..a little like Oprah! And just like Oprah, it will leave an indelible mark on our country for quite a while to come, I do suspect! And my weekend away????……I wouldn’t have changed it for anything!!!! Glad you could share it with me, but now, I have some serious stitching business to catch up on!!!! How did you spend your weekend??? XXX Sugary Hugs Wendy 
