Daydream Island
While we are here in the Whitsundays, we wanted to take a trip to at least one of the islands. There are so many to choose from and the budget and time is limited. We did toy with the idea of a day trip that included a couple of the islands but decided it would be simpler with the kids to stick with the one for the day. Daydream Island is one of the closest and seemed to be well set up for day visitors, especially children. I’ve always wanted to see Daydream Island too and as it worked out, a day trip is a perfect length of time to explore and see most of it.
The day began early with a 7.40am pick-up from our caravan park. Here are the kids waiting excitedly for the bus to arrive:
Being school bus kids, I didn’t expect them to get all that excited about the bus trip. Although, I guess the bus was taking them to a destination much more fun that school!!!
We arrived at the marina in plenty of time and enjoyed watching the boats coming in and out:
The boat above is not the one we went on but is the same company as we used.
It was lovely weather for a boat ride and we enjoyed having a look around. The guide pointed out a couple of the other islands as we went.
What amazed us was how covered in trees all the islands were and how close to the waters edge the trees grew. There were tiny little bays with beach but the rest of the islands were covered in growth. It wasn’t what we expected at all!
After a short stop at another island to pick up some campers, we arrived at our destination:
Not long after we arrived, there was a fish feeding at one of the lagoons which was interesting and informative:
There were sting rays and small sharks and a whole range of tropical fish and coral.
From there, we set off to explore the island while the kids were still happy to walk. We began with a visit to lovers cove:
It wasn’t really anything special though.
We then headed off on the Rainforest walk which was almost the entire length of the island. There were lots of beautiful views along the way and it was quite a pleasant walk (although tricky in places).
Our tickets included vouchers for the Boathouse Cafe for lunch so after a stop at the playground for a play (the kids that is lol) we went and had lunch. Next to where we were sitting was another lagoon and just after lunch they had another fish feeding there.
It took a me a LOT of attempts to get this photograph:
These clown fish are rather timid and hide in the anemone only darting out very quickly for food.
Once lunch had settled down, the kids went for a swim in 1 of the many pools they have on the island:
It wasn’t exactly hot, so Farmboy and I preferred this location while they were swimming:
With this view:
It was very relaxing!!!!
I did decide I should at least dip my toes in the ocean (which was warmer than the water in the swimming pools):
The biggest problems was, there was no sand!!!! The entire beach was made up of tiny pieces of coral:
Apparently you have to go to Whitehaven Beach if you want nice white sand. Goes to show how lucky we are back home where pretty much all our beaches are sand.
It was a lovely day and a reasonably affordable way to take the kids to one of the islands. One day Farmboy and I hope to have a “second honeymoon” at one of the island resorts. It wasn’t something we could really afford when we got married so we promised ourselves that we’d do it “one day”. I think we’d choose another island now that we’ve explored Daydream Island. There seem to be plenty to choose from and I guess there aren’t many people who get to explore them all!
Today (Monday) we’re having a quiet day. The kids spent a couple of hours at the park kids club this morning which gave Farmboy and I some welcome time together.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) we head to Townsville. We’ll spend a couple of days there before heading on to Cairns and Port Douglas. Our biggest decision next will be which tour to go on to see the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a fairly expensive exercise for the 5 of us so we want to be sure to make a good decision about which tour to go on.
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Looks like a lovely day was had by all. I am sure it will be something the kids will remember about their big trip.
wow i really feel like i have been on your holiday too… was that large fish a real one???
Daydream is wonderful, we spent some time there in our pre-kidlet days & had a wonderful holiday.
Can you offer you some advice on the diving trip - don’t go for the cheapest trip you can find. We’ve dived on the reef a few times, and once we decided to save money & use one of the cheaper trips. It ended up costing us way more than we expected - firstly it was an old, slow boat, so we had to leave incredibly early to get to the reef, and spent less time out there as we had to leave early for the long slow trip back. The bigger dive companies use faster (& much nicer) boats & leave at a more civilised time. The fine print on the included dives was that it was just a quick jump in & look around, not a normal length dive. A ‘normal’ dive was available for those who wanted it, but at a huge extra cost which alone put the overall cost of the day up above other trips we’ve done with companies like ProDive. Food was another extra, and drinks.
looks like a great time.
I didn’t know you could do the islands as a “day trip” - what a great idea to try them out
Love the photos..
Glad to see you guys relaxing! We used to go to Brampton Island a lot when we lived up there, but it’s not really kid friendly anymore. Might be a good one for a second honeymoon though!
Oh wow, what a beautiful, beautiful place in the world!! Thank you for sharing some of your family photographs
I hope you and Farmboy enjoy your day together - you deserve it.
Kids are full on, even when you send them to school for the day, let alone 24/7!! You’re doing a fabulous job.
Ahh Holidays and their magical powers. Enjoy your relax in the sunshine.
Nuffnang
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I have been thinking of you and wondering where you were, I just loved reading your Daydream Island experiences. Sound like you are having a wonderful well deserved time.
Please do remember to get in touch when you get to the gold coast, have a book for you plus want to meet.
ps Des has a comp on thinking nhome business you may want to enter.
http://www.thinkinghomebusiness.com/
Hi Jodi,
It looks beautiful.
I hope FB’s back is better and you are feeling rejuvenated.
Emma.
I am enjoying your trip tales.I just don’t to get to comment muchly.
We took a day trip (by tour cruise) to Whitehaven beach ..I still have the sand from there in my OJ bottle.
There was nothing else there at all when we went 15yrs ago.