Busy times on Long Island…
Interesting Aussisms for the day:
- Woolloomooloo uppercut - A kick in the testicles!
- Esky – That essential of Australian accessories for food, bait or/and drink. Number One on the Australian male’s Christmas List. A portable cooler with insulated walls to keep things cold.
- Bundy - Bundaberg Rum. Bundaberg is the name of the brand and the Queensland city in which it is made. 95% of the rum is drunk in Australia…unsurprisingly!
Let’s also introduce you to some famous Australians:
- Rolf Harris – (entertainer) whose entertainment appeal has spanned a number of decades and whose art programs has been one of the most popular and influential art programs ever produced by the BBC. Responsible for classics such as ‘Jake the Peg‘ and ‘Tie me Kangaroo down sport‘. Rolf is an artistic genius – singer, songwriter, painter, animal saviour, inventor of instruments, tv presenter, comedian, is there no end to his talents! Legend
- Richie Benaud – (Cricketer/presenter) was a world class all-round cricketer during the late 1950’s and early 60’s. Sri Lankan cricket writer Harold de Andrado wrote: “Richie Benaud possibly next to Sir Don Bradman has been one of the greatest cricketing personalities as, player, researcher, writer, critic, author, organiser, adviser and student of the game.” He continues to commentate on the game today and I love his voice!
- Dame Edna Everage – (Comedian/Comedienne) Barry Humphries incredibly funny character dressed in drag. While Humphries freely states that Dame Edna is a character he plays, Dame Edna consistently denies being a fictional character or drag performer, and refers to Humphries as her “entrepreneur” or manager. Indeed, Dame Edna has frequently said that the thought of a man dressing up as a woman for entertainment purposes is repulsive.
Location: Hamilton Island
Weather: The rain appears to have disappeared and the good stuff is here to stay! Sunshine and no wind, 31ºc
Long Island is exactly that. At around 9kms in length it sits on the opposite side of the Whitsunday Passage to Hamilton Island lying from north to south looking rather like the Loch Ness monster as its height above the water rises and drops in a series of humps.
The islands of the Whitsundays bear an uncanny resemblance to the islands around Canada with dark green pine trees extending down to the crystal clear blue waters of the ocean – except everything here is probably about 30ºc warmer at this time of year!
I’ve had a few trips across to this island now previously staying at Peppers Palm Bay and Paradise Bay Eco-Resort and each of them have provided me with a new, different and fresh experience on what the Whitsundays offer.
‘The Best Value in the Whitsundays’ is what the slogan claims for the Long Island Resort; it’s a statement which filled me with a little bit of fear as it could be read as ‘A cheap holiday destination’ but from the moment Jon (my friend from the UK whose visiting for a few days) and I arrived at the jetty and made our way to the resort we knew it was going to be massively better than that!
The big map on the wall in the reception area proudly displays the islands of the Whitsundays with little pics of things to do including the Cruise Whitsundays tour out to the reef onboard Seaflight which we’ll be heading out on very soon.
Over the last day I’ve been shadowed by the film crew from Sanlih E-TV from Taiwan and together we’ve done loads of activities to give them exciting footage for their show which goes to air sometime in January – first stop a quick bushwalk around the island – the best way to explore any new location I get to.
Now I’m not in the best of condition to be heading out on a walk at the moment, with the Hamilton Island Triathlon in a few days time I should be feeling at the top of my game but a freak waterskiing accident which saw me doing the splits and as a result straining the hamstrings in my right leg has meant that preparation has been less than ideal. A walk through the bush was the first test I’d given it…
Climbing the circular track to the east of the resort took us into the humid canopy of the trees and once we’d sweated it out for half an hour arrived at one of the lookouts on the route giving us a clear view across the Whitsunday Passage to Pentecost Island in the distance. This was the only island in the Whitsunday group that Captain Cook named as he passed through here in 1770 as he’d arrived here during the religious festival so named.
How the cameraman and soundman managed to haul all of their kit around the track I have no idea but at various points on the walk they rushed past us to film the next scene for the program!
An hour later we’d completed the course and the views back across Happy Bay to the Long Island Resort were classic and spectacular. We’d had a great time plodding the tracks of the island – my leg felt slightly better and the film crew all got a good work out
The schedule for the afternoon is jam-packed and as soon as we’d got back to the resort it was straight off again for a quick blast around the Whitsundays with a scenic helicopter ride, Jon and I boarded and waved goodbye to the Taiwanese crew temporarily as we soared above the gorgeous blue water snapping away like new tourists to the area.
This has to be the best perspective of the area, seeing the islands far off in the distance makes you realise the sheer size of the Whitsundays…let alone the Great Barrier Reef…let alone the eastern seaboard of Australia!
All too quickly we were swopping back in for the final approach to the helipad but it did allow me to get a great photo of the resort from the air:
Next on the agenda – feeding some of the local wildlife. It’s maybe not the best thing to do morally, artificially providing food for creatures above and below the water but it drags in the tourists and provides an afternoon’s entertainment. We started off at the end of the jetty with the resident Bat fish who were more than happy to slurp away at the bread we’d brought down for them. Once the amusement here was over it was a quick dash back to the resort to collect some apple smoothie (the favourite of the next of our receipients) to feed to the Purple Crowned Lorikeets. These little things make more noise than any other bird on the island with a constant squarking.
As the afternoon drew on it was time to bid farewell to our friends from Taiwan and time for Jon and I to sample the delights of the buffet here, there’s a plethora of choice including meats, fish, pastas and vegetables – another delightful excuse to loosen my belt and squeeze in another huge meal.
Long Island Resort work hand in hand with other companies around the Whitsundays to provide good value, fun filled holidays for people who don’t want to or need to spend a fortune on having a good time. They’ve got a great relationship with other tourism service providers in the area including Cruise Whitsundays who operate a tour and ferry service around the islands. Jon and I headed out on one of their larger vessels, Seaflight, to visit the Great Barrier Reef.
An early race down the jetty in order to get to the waiting boat was the start of our day, we just about made the connecting boat which would take us across to Daydream Island where we’d catch our ride out to the reef. I’ve been on a very similar trip to this before with Fantasea, both companies offering an introductory day’s adventure out on the Great Barrier Reef for young and old alike.
The Seaflight came powering around the headland from Abel Point Marina and we jumped onboard the impressive looking catamaran along with several other excited travellers. The weather conditions were perfect with virtually no breeze, waves or swell – shame, Bre would have loved this trip with no chance of sea sickness here.
As we left the inshore waters of the Whitsundays the staff on board set about their work making the passengers feel at home and briefing us all on what exactly we’d expect to find a couple of hours later when we arrived at the Knuckle Reef Pontoon.
The vessel itself is fully catered specifically for this trip, it’s large and comfy, has staff which provide a constant supply of food and drink, and really moves. Our destination being Knuckle Reef which lies around 90kms from the mainland and slightly further north-east than both Bait and Black reef’s which we’d been diving on with Islandive the week before.
The massively exciting thing about visiting the reef is that every trip seems to throw up something new with different locations on every trip so far giving an ever changing experience and that’s before you take into account the different tides, currents, weather conditions which all effect what you get under the water.
In just over two hours we cover the distance to the reef and arrive at the pontoon where there’s a hive of activity already happening; a helicopter is just landing, the semi-submersible is moving around and the reef-rats (the name given to the people who stay onboard the pontoon once the customers have gone home) are milling about ready for the onslaught of nearly 200 people!
As we’re both certified divers who love the water having the chance to dive here is quickly snapped up. We’re to be in the first group of the day and as soon as the boat touches the pontoon are chomping at the bit to get our equipment ready.
We make our way to the kitting-up area, grab what we need and start putting everything on, there seems to be a sense of urgency here and we’re very quickly ushered down the steps to the platform where we’ll dive from – there’s not even enough time for a buddy check and when I get down to the platform and as I prepare to check Jon’s equipment over one of the instructors tells me “there’s no need for you to do a buddy-check, we’ve already done that!” – I’m sorry but as someone who has lost a best friend to diving I’m not going to suddenly drop my safety procedures for anyone and find two things badly adjusted anyway; a strap not done up and my second regulator is caught up in my belly strap. It’s exactly the reason a buddy-check is needed!
With that little problem out of the way it’s back to the diving and with almost perfect conditions above the water I’m optimistic that it’ll be reflected below but with big tidal movements this week the bottom has been stirred up and the resulting visibility isn’t amazing…well it’s good, just not amazing!
Being in a group of four divers allows us all a chance to swim about and take everything in about this brilliant underwater world – the corals look really good here with lots of colour and variety but as with other pontoons in the area the sheer level of traffic passing through means that unfortunately slight damage has occurred to some of the hard corals and a few broken pieces litter the ocean floor.
Being a shallow water dive with very low stress levels and no camera for once means that I’m able to concentrate on having a good time and I love cruising about the bottom, hovering over fish and corals adjusting my buoyancy by inhaling and exhaling alone.
All too quickly our dive master is hurrying us along, it’s obviously taking too long this dive when there’s other people on the surface who are waiting for their chance to get underwater. It’s a shame as I really was enjoying myself and had 100bar of air in the tank. It just felt as though I was one of many in the production line that is diving at the pontoon and I just hope it’s not at the expense of safety. Sorry to have to say that!
Back on the dry land of the pontoon there’s loads to do. The end of term signals ‘Schoolie week’ meaning there’s 16 year old running about everywhere – snorkelling, swimming, diving and using the huge water slide into the ocean but it never feels crowded on the pontoon with plenty of space to relax and enjoy the day.
You’d think there’s a dedicated chef on board as lunch is superb and I cram down fresh prawns, home cooked ham and salads from the buffet out on the sun deck and then get the nod that I’ll be heading up in a helicopter for a flight over the reef in a few minutes – awesome x 10! It really give you a totally different perspective of the reef and the sheer size and vast array of blue colours only become apparent up there.
An entertaining afternoon draws to an end four hours after we arrived out here at the pontoon, the engines are fired up and the PA system announces that we’ll be off very soon. The families I’ve spoken to all seem to have had a great time as have the Schoolies who seem slightly sunburnt and tired but happy to have spent all day in and out of the water. One more photo is needed of course – the one with all the kids on board!
The trip back to the Whitsundays doesn’t seem to take nearly as long as the journey out probably as the staff are chatting to everyone about their day’s experiences and showing off the slide-show which has been shot throughout the day. It’s always the highlight seeing quite how stupid you look underwater!
The atmosphere back at the resort was building to say the least, more Schoolies have arrived and there’s beach volleyball, boules, and other games going on – the place is alive with people! Long Island resort has this sort of atmosphere the whole time though, people are here for exactly that – some fun and good times.
Happy hour seems to continually run throughout the afternoon from 2-3pm, 4.30-5.30pm and again from 7-8pm…that’s more than a happy hour isn’t it! To finish off our experience and night there the karaoke machine is rolled out but with my distinct lack of vocal ability it’s something I steer well clear off – there’s no point in insulting the locals is there.
Long Island has three places to stay, each offering a very different experience with the Long Island Resort catering for the holiday-maker looking for a great value means of enjoying activities in a sandy bay on a tropical island. The accommodation sits right on the beach, exactly where you want to be, the food is great and comes in a continual buffet-stream with only yourself to regulate it and the experience feels good.
End of day location: Long Island resort, Long Island
Distance covered: 20kms on Fantasea, 200kms on Cruise Whitsundays













































