By land, sea & SKY

OFF THE COAST OF QUEENSLAND, KELLY BERTRAND TAKES THE WHITSUNDAYS BY STORM

When you arrive at the Whitsunday Islands, you’ll find yourself pondering two things. The first, are your eyes playing up? After all, the sea just can’t be that shade of blue and the sand can’t possibly be that white. Also, forget rose-tinted glasses, surely you’re looking at that glorious sunset through orange-hued lenses.

But after you’ve figured out that, yes, that jaw-dropping view in front of you is real, you’ll need to figure out how best to get off the mainland and start exploring the islands.

Throughout your life, you get to know what kind of traveller you are. There are those who love the DIY approach to exploration, those who don’t want to lift a finger during their precious and hard-earned holiday time (that would be me, though this could also be attributed to laziness) and those who prefer something unique every time.

So in your interests, dear reader, I tried them all.

ON THE WATER

Of course the obvious method of transport is by some form of boat, but depending on what you want to do during your time in the Whitsundays, you’ve got a heap of options. If you’re a fan of a down-to-earth, fully guided cruise around the islands, hop on board the Camira with

Cruise Whitsundays. The wind gods were kind to us on our sailing day, and we were able to power ahead at almost full steam, stretching leisurely on the front deck as the catamaran’s affable and hilarious crew took care of the sailing. After a stop in a secluded bay for a bit of snorkelling and swimming – you’re spoilt when it comes to how many types of sea life you’ll spot – it was soon time for a delicious Aussie BBQ (which was really no different to a Kiwi one – there were no shrimps!) and a couple of beers. It was then onto what is one of the Whitsundays’ most famous attractions: Whitehaven Beach. I’d never seen a beach like it – the sand is almost 100% silica, pure white and powder-fine. An unmissable experience.

If yachts aren’t your thing, try one of Cruise Whitsundays’ Great Barrier Reef adventures on high-speed, luxury vessels. You arrive at the awe-inspiring reef in comfort – in fact, you can choose to have a massage en route – and once you get to Reef World, where pontoons rise from the azure sea, you have a bevy of choices. Want to take a helicopter tour of the reef? You can. Diving and snorkelling are also great options, but if you don’t want to get wet, you can board a semi-submersible to explore the gorgeous reef.

Oh, and you can also get a massage on Reef World, possibly the best location in the world to get a rub-down.

But if you’re a bit more of a DIY-er who prefers to create your own itinerary at your own pace, you can’t go past bareboating. Basically, it’s boat rental where you pick your vessel – catamarans, sailing mono-hull yachts or motor cruisers – and you become the skipper, following a thorough briefing and safety chat. You do need some boating experience to do this, so we opted to hire a skipper too. Captain Ian took us on a fantastic island-hopping cruise and having the flexibility to stop in any bay for a quick dip or simply keep chasing the sun was a delight. Check out the social media hashtag #gobareboating for more.

IN THE AIR

To really see the scale of the Whitsundays’ beauty, the best way is to take to the skies. I opted for GSL Aviation’s reef and island scenic flight and climbing aboard their small, fixed wing aircraft right next to the pilot (carefully so as to not touch a single thing), I felt very special indeed.

Seeing Whitehaven from the air and the gorgeous Hill Inlet, where the startling blue of the sea mingles with ribbons of pure white sand, took my breath away, as did flying over what has to be the most photographed part of the Great Barrier, Heart Reef, which looks like, well, a heart.

From submarines and yachts through to planes, I really did feel as though I’d seen the Whitsundays from every angle – so if you’re not sure how best to take in the sun, sand and surf, my advice would be to try everything. You do, after all, only live once.