In Focus

Down under and loving it

Famed for the million-dollar views of its magical biodiversity, both below and above the water's surface, the Great Barrier Reef is one of the world's most enchanting destinations

  • By Neesha C Saalian | Staff Writer
  • Published: 00:00 September 28, 2010
  • In Focus

Hayman Island
  • Image Credit: Supplied
  • Hayman Island

A year ago, Tourism Queensland announced to the world it was looking for someone to fill the position of ‘Island Caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef'. The rest, of course, is history.

More than 30,000 applications later and a few gruelling interview rounds — which included swimming, snorkelling and sampling seafood — Ben Southall, from the UK, was hired to take on what was referred to as the ‘best job in the world'.

The position came with free board and lodging at a luxury beach home on Hamilton Island, one of the world's most exotic locales. It also included mundane tasks such as scuba diving in the reef, exploring the islands, basking in the sun and reporting about it to a worldwide audience through blogs, videos and photos.

There was also the occasional cleaning of the pool, and the official dress code comprising shorts and flip flops, but I doubt Southall had cause for complaint. They would have had me at free housing. But having missed the application deadline, I couldn't pass off the opportunity to do some of the above-mentioned activities on a full-expenses paid trip to the Sunshine State, where ‘it's beautiful one day and perfect the next'.

Beauty, the natural kind in particular, is one thing that's not in short supply when you visit the Great Barrier Reef and the islands situated in its vicinity. The only way to describe a first encounter with the world's largest organism (consisting of miles of coral reefs) is surreal and overwhelming. And here's why: it runs for 2000-kilometre along Queensland's coast and covers 347,800 square kilometres, an area larger than that of the United Kingdom, Holland and Switzerland combined (source: Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority).

But let's ignore boring statistics. It's so huge that it's reportedly visible from space. I am hoping that if extra terrestrial life forms are watching Earth, they'd zoom in on the coral mass that forms a heart. It is my favourite formation on the reef, and I've also heard it's the perfect spot for people who want to propose to their partners.

And that's not all. Lovers often opt to take the plunge — quite literally — on the Great Barrier Reef ocean floor. So you can exchange your vows in front of a guest list that's likely to include 1,500 species of fish, 4,000 species of molluscs, 1,500 species of sponge, 500 species of seaweed, 23 species of marine mammals and six species of marine turtles. Wonder how they'd stop gatecrashers like reef sharks?

Did I mention the Great Barrier Reef is one of the most spectacular dive spots on the planet? Or that here you are in the midst of the most majestic display of life in shades so vibrant that it leaves you spellbound for hours. Some call it biodiversity, for me it is plain magic.

If you don't have time to sail around the reef for couple of days, a seaplane is the best way to take in the magnificent views. Charter a flight (airwhitsunday.com.au) that will take you over the Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the Whitsunday Islands. Sailing and diving charters — that range from value to luxury — are also offered by numerous operators in the area. These are great options for visitors interested in snorkelling, scuba diving or just exploring the reef.

The Whitsunday islands — 74 in number — are one of Queensland's highlights. Some of the most popular island destinations include Hamilton Island and Hayman Island. The former is nothing short of a treat for holidaymakers: the weather's perfect, the ambience is laidback, the waters are a tantalising turquoise, the beaches are framed by swaying palms and people here are among the friendliest you will encounter.

The island has hotels to suit every budget and requirement. The Reef View Hotel (hamiltonislandresort.com/reef-view-hotel-hamilton-island), for example, offers all the modern trappings that will appeal to families. Ask for a room that gives you a view of the Catseye Beach, as nothing beats watching the sun set as you lounge in a private balcony with loved ones — and chilled drinks. The Beach Club (www.hamiltonisland.com.au/beach-club-hotel-resort), another gorgeous property, is perfect for honeymooners as is the luxurious Qualia (qualia.com.au) with its 60 private pavilions. This place offers the ultimate indulgence for someone on a break from deadlines, conference calls and meetings: it suspends time and introduces you to all things decadent such as private getaways, world-class cuisine, long-drawn soaks in a massive bathtub and all.

For those more interested in heading outdoors, there's a lot on offer: bushwalks through pristine and untouched natural surroundings ending in vantage points, including Passage Peak, offer magnificent panoramic views from the top. There's also a more negotiable path leading to One Tree Hill — a great spot for photographers who wish to capture perfect sunsets. And the most obvious is, of course, water sports in every conceivable form — game fishing, sailing, sea kayaking, kite surfing, surfing, windsurfing and water skiing. The island has a fabulous new yatch club and an 18-hole golf course designed by Peter Thomsun (on nearby Dent Island). This is what Southall had to live with in his backyard for six months.

While Hamilton Island seems like the perfect spot to holiday in, it's Hayman that leaves a lasting impression. Being there feels like being on the set of ‘Lost' or the ‘Land that Time Forgot' complete with a deserted beach, trees that looked like they had been there for hundreds of years, leaves and flowers that appeared bigger than anything I've seen. All that was missing was a dinosaur or a pterodactyl swooping in to grab its unsuspecting prey.

These images, however, are best attributed to an overactive imagination and sea air inhaled on the ride by a luxury cruiser to the private island resort (hayman.com.au). Visitors, it seems, pay top dirham to enjoy this exclusive isolation. An award-winning spa, fine dining restaurants such as Azure that serves contemporary Australian cuisine or La Fontaine that serves modern European cuisine, high-end boutiques and leisure activities such as windsurfing, diving or watching humpback whales are just fringe benefits. And as for prehistoric birds inhabiting the island, you are more likely to have an audacious cockatoo fly in and steal a sugar sachet from your table. The hotel staff tell me the birds have quite a fondness for refined sugar. But as historical evidence has shown, bad habits do set in when tourists interact with the locals.

As on Hamilton Island, you will be spoilt for choice of activities to enjoy the natural beauty of this destination. In addition to exciting water and adventure sports and cruises, there are scenic walking trails that take you through the forest to the Whitsunday Lookout and Cook's Lookout.

However, the best option is a seaplane ride to the Whithaven Beach. The resort can organise a private picnic with a gourmet lunch for you and your group on this unique beach. Stretching along seven kilometres of the Whitsunday Island, Whithaven is one of the world's most beautiful beaches. The sand, which is fine silica, feels like soft velvet against your skin; your toes just sink in and are enveloped by a coolness that leaves you relaxed. The inviting warm waters appear in different shades of blue — moving from turquoise to aquamarine and then achieving a translucence as it washes over your feet. The breeze the sea brings in is fresh and invigorating, the skies are clear and the sunshine is pure bliss. We all need a dose of this to appreciate our lives.

But this amazing beauty is not just restricted to the places I've mentioned above, it's the one thing that the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands — including Arlie Beach, Lindeman Island and Daydream Island — have in common. And regardless of whether you are 16 or 60, or enjoyed the hospitality the area offers for six months (like Southall) or two days (like me), you are totally captivated. The allure of the sea and the adventure it represents is too hard to resist.

A year ago, Tourism Queensland announced to the world it was looking for someone to fill the position of ‘Island Caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef'. The rest, of course, is history.

More than 30,000 applications later and a few gruelling interview rounds — which included swimming, snorkelling and sampling seafood — Ben Southall, from the UK, was hired to take on what was referred to as the ‘best job in the world'.

The position came with free board and lodging at a luxury beach home on Hamilton Island, one of the world's most exotic locales. It also included mundane tasks such as scuba diving in the reef, exploring the islands, basking in the sun and reporting about it to a worldwide audience through blogs, videos and photos.

There was also the occasional cleaning of the pool, and the official dress code comprising shorts and flip-flops, but I doubt Southall had cause for complaint. They would have had me at free housing. But having missed the application deadline, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some of the above-mentioned activities on a full-expenses paid trip to the Sunshine State, where ‘it's beautiful one day and perfect the next'.

Living large

Beauty, the natural kind in particular, is one thing that's not in short supply when you visit the Great Barrier Reef and the islands situated in its vicinity. The only way to describe a first encounter with the world's largest organism (consisting of miles of coral reefs) is surreal and overwhelming. And here's why: it runs for 2,000 kilometres along Queensland's coast and covers 347,800 square kilometres, an area larger than that of the United Kingdom, Holland and Switzerland combined, according to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority.

But let's ignore boring statistics. It's so huge that it's reportedly visible from space. I am hoping that if extra terrestrial life forms are watching Earth, they'd zoom in on the coral mass that forms a heart. It is my favourite formation on the reef, and I've also heard it's the perfect spot for people who want to propose to their partners.

That's not all. Lovers often opt to take the plunge — quite literally — on the Great Barrier Reef ocean floor. So you can exchange your vows in front of a guest list that's likely to include 1,500 species of fish, 4,000 species of molluscs, 1,500 species of sponge, 500 species of seaweed, 23 species of marine mammals and six species of marine turtles. Wonder how they'd stop gatecrashers like reef sharks?

Did I mention the Great Barrier Reef is one of the most spectacular dive spots on the planet? Or that here you are in the midst of the most majestic display of life in shades so vibrant that it leaves you spellbound for hours. Some call it biodiversity, for me it is plain magic.

If you don't have time to sail around the reef for couple of days, a seaplane is the best way to take in the magnificent views. Charter a flight (airwhitsunday.com.au) that will take you over the Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the Whitsunday Islands. Sailing and diving charters — that range from value to luxury — are also offered by numerous operators in the area. These are great options for visitors interested in snorkelling, scuba diving or just exploring the reef.

The Whitsunday Islands — 74 in number — are one of Queensland's highlights. Some of the most popular island destinations include Hamilton Island and Hayman Island. The former is nothing short of a treat for holidaymakers: the weather's perfect, the ambience is laid-back, the waters are a tantalising turquoise and people are the friendliest.

For every budget

The island has hotels to suit every budget and requirement. If you check into the Reef View Hotel (hamiltonislandresort.com/reef-view-hotel-hamilton-island), ask for a room that gives you a view of the Catseye Beach. Nothing beats watching the sun set as you lounge in a private balcony with loved ones — and chilled drinks. The Beach Club (www.hamiltonisland.com.au/beach-club-hotel-resort), another gorgeous property, is perfect for honeymooners as is the luxurious Qualia (qualia.com.au) with its 60 private pavilions. This place suspends time and introduces you to all things decadent such as private getaways, world-class cuisine, long-drawn soaks in a massive bathtub and all.

For those more interested in heading outdoors, there's a lot on offer: bushwalking through pristine and untouched natural surroundings ending in vantage points, including Passage Peak, offers magnificent panoramic views from the top. There's also a more negotiable path leading to One Tree Hill — a great spot for photographers. And the most obvious is, of course, water sports in every conceivable form — game fishing to water skiing. The island has a fabulous new yatch club and an 18-hole golf course designed by Peter Thomsun (on nearby Dent Island). This is what Southall had to live with in his backyard for six months.

While Hamilton Island seems like the perfect spot to holiday in, it's Hayman that leaves a lasting impression. Being there feels like being on the set of Lost or The Land that Time Forgot complete with a deserted beach, trees that looked like they had been there for hundreds of years, leaves and flowers that appeared bigger than anything I've seen. All that was missing was a dinosaur or a pterodactyl swooping in to grab its unsuspecting prey.

These images, however, are best attributed to an overactive imagination and sea air inhaled on the ride by a luxury cruiser to the private island resort (hayman.com.au). Visitors, it seems, pay top dirham to enjoy this exclusive isolation.

An award-winning spa, fine dining restaurants such as Azure that serves contemporary Australian cuisine or La Fontaine that serves modern European cuisine, high-end boutiques and leisure activities such as wind surfing, diving or watching humpback whales are just fringe benefits. And as for prehistoric birds inhabiting the island, you are more likely to have an audacious cockatoo fly in and steal a sugar sachet from your table. The hotel staff tell me the birds have quite a fondness for refined sugar. But as historical evidence has shown, bad habits do set in when tourists interact with the locals.

Spoilt for choice

As on Hamilton Island, you will be spoilt for choice of activities to enjoy this destination. In addition to water sports and cruises, there are scenic walking trails that take you through the forest to the Whitsunday Lookout and Cook's Lookout.

However, the best option is a seaplane ride to the Whitehaven Beach. The resort can organise a private picnic with a gourmet lunch for you and your group on this unique beach.

Stretching along seven kilometres of the Whitsunday Island, Whitehaven is one of the world's most beautiful beaches. The sand, which is fine silica, feels like soft velvet against your skin; your toes just sink in and are enveloped by a coolness that leaves you relaxed. The breeze the sea brings in is fresh and invigorating, the skies are clear and the sunshine is pure bliss. We all need a dose of this to appreciate our lives.

But this amazing beauty is not just restricted to the places I've mentioned above. It's the one thing that the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands — including Arlie Beach, Lindeman Island and Daydream Island — have in common. Regardless of whether you are 16 or 60, or enjoyed the hospitality the area offers for six months (like Southall) or two days (like me), you are totally captivated. The allure of the sea and the adventure it represents is too hard to resist.

Getting there: Several airlines, including Cathay Pacific, offer flights to Brisbane. Cathay Pacific's flight to Brisbane goes via Hong Kong. You can then fly to the Whitsundays on Jetstar or Virgin Blue. The Islands are serviced by two domestic airports: the Whitsunday Coast Airport on the mainland at Proserpine, and the Great Barrier Reef Airport located on Hamilton Island. Passenger ferry services are easily available from the airport to the different Whitsunday Islands.

The best time to visit: Anytime is a good time to visit the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef. However, if you want to spot some whales while you're there, go between July and September. Beaches are closed between November to May for marine stinger season.

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