One of our more recent trips was to the beautiful Whitsunday islands in North Queensland, Australia. We stayed in the backpacker mecca of Airlie Beach. Unfortunately these days it is more overcrowded with locals than backpackers. This country is getting to goddamned expensive, to live in, to travel through, even backpacking. But if you get the chance the Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef are absolutely stunning.
One of the must-sees of the region is Whitehaven beach. All the hostels and travel desks in Airlie sell tickets and there are many different ways to see this majestic beach. You can fly over it, sail to it, or paddle to it. We went with Whitehaven Express on a day tour which included snorkelling around some amazing coral and marine life.
Whitehaven beach itself is over 7 km’s of pure silica sand (pretty close anyway). It squeal’s under your feet and between your toes when you walk on it, and as white and fine as icing sugar! No Photoshop required. Whichever way you do it, it’s not cheap, but Whitehaven is really worth the trip.
Airlie Beach itself is not a bad base, if you love drinking and partying into the night and lounging by the lagoon the next day, you’ll love it. It has some good quality hostels, so you can stay there pretty cheap. It doesn’t have much to offer itself and there isn’t much to keep you in Airlie but it’s the gateway to the islands and the reef.
