Whitsundays – Beautiful one day, perfect the next.
Our Whitsundays adventure was wonderful followed by more Wonderful! We flew into Prosperine on the traditional Lands of Ngaro Nation. Discovery Parks at vibrant Airlie Beach was our base for our tropical week of bliss in paradise. After settling in, we had our first meal at The Pub, Airlie Beach which is next to the sea and has amazing atmosphere. We were greeted with the most spectacular sunset over the islands – it took our breath away.
On our first day we enjoyed the Coral Sea Marina Resort, which is perched on the coastline overlooking the ocean, nestled between the marina and town. We relaxed by the pool, under the towering palms and watched the boats sail by in the calm blue waters. We felt like super stars and got very quickly into holiday mode. Lunch at the Rocks Restaurant was al fresco dining at its finest.
More swimming on our second day as we went to Airlie Beach Lagoon. This fantastic, outdoor pool by the sea provided an accessible pool seat that lowers into the water with ease. These incredible facilities and caring pool attendants gave one our participant’s the opportunity to also relax in the water, a very special and inclusive experience.
Lunch was only steps away, at the trendy Tree House Cafe. Our afternoon was a heap of fun, exploring the shops and some beautiful dresses purchased for our special dinners out.
Our fourth day was another highlight as we cruised our way across the glorious reef waters to Hamilton Island. Along the way, at Daydream Island, we picked up a rock star from the seventies band Sherbet, Daryl Braithwaite, and had a great chat together. Onward to Hamilton Island for another wonderful day of sightseeing and of course, more swimming. We had a picnic lunch at One Tree Hill and were mesmerised by the 360-degree views over the Whitsunday waters and surrounding islands. Spectacular.
Our last day took us to Bowen, famous for being the birthplace of the Kensington pride mango. Great photos taken at the “Big Mango” and of course, we had to devour some tropical mangoes ourselves. Sticking with local produce, we had local prawns for lunch at Flagstaff Hill which overlooks the historic light house on North Head Island. The prawns went down a real treat – felt like Christmas!
Bowen is also known for its award-winning beaches and so we headed to Horseshoe Bay – crystal clear waters and magnificent rocky outcrops. Horseshoe Bay had beach access matting which meant our wheelchair user was able to get on the beach. Our last dinner was at a local Italian restaurant, where we chatted and laughed about all our favourite highlights of the week – oh so many!
We thoroughly enjoyed the sight-seeing, immersing ourselves in the paradise of the Whitsundays and were beyond happy that we had made new friends.






