When Wayne has a work conference hosted on a tropical north Queensland island and partners are invited, you say yes! Even if it is only two weeks after returning from an epic month off in Canada.
Hamilton Island is one of the largest islands in the Whitsunday region. It has its own airport and we flew in on the early morning flight from Brisbane. The landing was quite impressive really, with a short runway the brakes are applied with vigor. Can’t say I have experienced a short sharp landing like that before! Out the window of the plane the clear blue waters of the region beckons.
First thing to do when you land, depending on your accommodation, is to find the applicable resort counter to collect your bag tags. Then, bags tagged and loaded to the waiting bus we are on our way through the narrow golf cart laden streets to our hotel. We stayed at the Reef View and as the name suggests, the view over Catseye Beach are pretty spectacular. We had to wait to experience the view as we arrived well before check in, so bags left to find their way to our room in due course, we met with Wayne’s bosses for a private golf cart tour of the island.
The developed side of the island is a spider web of paved streets that happily fit two golf carts abreast. This is golf cart meca and the little electric buggies are getting about everywhere. Ours loaded with 4 passengers did have some moments of slow crawling on some of the steeper sections of track which reduced us to walking speed, but no stress, the views had you distracted. The island, in true tropical form, is lush and green surrounded by the aqua blue waters that form part of the Great Barrier Reef. We did get told that the island could use some rain despite the recent wet weather events earlier in the year. Guess the tropics can also dry out quickly.
The wharf area is dotted with resort shopping, a cafe, bakery and a tavern. On this visit there seemed to either be a post covid effect on what was open or some did say they are stilling recovering from cyclone Debbie back in 2017. Either way, the island is not in fill swing as far as what once was operating here. The weekend after we leave is raceweek so all the yachty types will be taking over the island soon. You can feel the anticipation of tourism returning to normal seasons and that is a great thing.
Wayne spent his days at the conference and I spent mine soaking up the sun at various locations. Most of the time spent reading a book or wondering the beach. Not our usual type of holiday with all this relaxation but not unwelcome either.
The evenings were spent at various functions. Being a group of real estate agents, there was plenty of networking and of course they all appeared to be thirsty. The first evening was spent on the Bommie Deck. This is quite the architectural marvel drawing inspiration, no doubt, from the sea vessels as seen the marina and sailing by. Drinks and nibbles flowing and a sunset which pictures do not give justice.
The following evening was a sit down dinner and ours was hosted at the Sails restaurant on the resort side of the island. It was tasting type dinner which involved dish after dish being brought and shared at the table. Must say, Wayne enjoyed the Moreton Bay bugs and wasn’t to keen on sharing! This restaurant is positioned with the pool on one side and the beach in front.
The final evening was a Gala Dinner held on the beach at the Beach Pavilion. A three course set menu and delicious. The band was booted at 10.30pm and the agents kicked on at the hotel bar til midnight. There was talk of a party back in a hotel room, but we had long gone to bed by this time.
We did get an afternoon together where we hired a stand up paddle board, snorkel and mask. We paddled out taking turns at exploring under the water. Can’t say we saw much in the way of wildlife but the tides were not really in our favour.
All in all, Hamilton Island didn’t disappoint. It was a little more expensive than what we would normally spend for a holiday, but for a work function you certainly complain on the setting. Enjoying some work travel perks and happy 😊
My Happy Travels 