Hamilton Island holiday, Day 5

This is post 5 out of a series of 8 posts (the full list is at the end of this post).

Breakfast – pancake mix pikelets and tomato on toast
For breakfast, Jac made pikelets! She bought a bottle of Greens Original Pancake Shake a while ago and decided to pack it into our suitcase! It was a great idea, because I love pancakes and can eat them any time, especially on holiday!

A pile of pikelets

I ate my pikelets with a little maple syrup while watching cartoons on TV.

Pikelets with maple syrup

Jac had a craving for fresh tomato on toast, and so that’s what she made for herself. This photo was taken pre-salt and pepper being added.

Tomato on toast

Reef Ryder Two in One, to Whitehaven and Chalkies Beach
Our main activity for the day was a boat ride – we’d booked seats for ourselves, Jac’s mum and brother J on a boat ride to Whitehaven Beach and Chalkies Beach.

Jac and I had a quick lunch at Popeyes beforehand – chicken schnitzel burgers with lettuce, tomato, beetroot and mayonnaise. We ordered them with pineapple as an extra. The burgers were made to order and quite tasty.

Chicken burger with pineapple

Of course, I asked for my burger with no beetroot.

My burger - no beetroot

After lunch, we walked around the marina, and I took more photos.

Marina views

Marina views

In the background is the tavern. We didn’t get the chance to eat there, which is a shame. If we do return to Hamilton Island, it will be on my list of places to eat at.

Golf buggies - the pub in the backgroundhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3379/3473416154_cc46686d0c.jpg

This was the boat we rode. There were 16 of us, plus the captain and one crew member.

The boat we rode

Whitehaven beach
Here’s the boat again, anchored at Whitehaven beach.

Whitehaven beach

As soon as we stepped onto the clean white sand at Whitehaven Beach, we noticed something interesting – the sand squeaks when you walk on it! I shot the short video below to demonstrate:

The toilets were located beyond the trees – they were very basic, otherwise known as “drop toilets”. :)

Whitehaven beach

Jac, J, Pattycakes and I went for a swim in the calm, warm water while some of the other people started playing beach cricket.

Whitehaven beach cricket

I was thrilled to see silvery fish darting by, solo and in schools, as I stood knee-deep in the clear water. Next time we go on holiday, I hope to have a water-resistant camera with me. If anyone has any recommendations to make re: water-resistant cameras, feel free to let me know. There’s a water-proofing kit I can buy for my Panasonic camera, but I reckon for the cost, I’d rather get a completely new toy!

Whitehaven beach

Whitehaven beach

There were a few boats at Whitehaven, all different tour groups. Our captain kept telling us that Whitehaven is one of the top ten beaches of the world, and it certainly was a beautiful beach. But all I keep finding on the web are websites telling me that Whitehaven is one of the top ten beaches in the world, with nothing about where this ranking came from. I’m not doubting it, I’m just curious!

More boats

Jac had packed a couple of small packets of crisps in her backpack, and after our swim, munching on salty crisps was most enjoyable. What is it about swimming and being at the beach that makes you hungry? Is it because the swimming and the walking on the beach burns up extra energy?

Chalkies Beach
Pattycakes and I didn’t go snorkelling, but Jac and J did, and they enjoyed looking at all the reef life – coral, anemones and colourful fish. Pattycakes and I had a relaxing swim in the calm water.

Snorkeling at Chalkies Beach

When you sign in for the boat ride at the Hamilton Island Watersports office, they get you to try on flippers to ensure they’ll have the right size flippers for everyone on the boat. Jac loves swimming with flippers – she says they make her feel like she’s a fish when she’s swimming.

Snorkeling at Chalkies Beach

When Jac surfaced near me with ten minutes to go, I encouraged her to take a last snorkel. We’re so pleased she did, because during her last snorkelling session, she found herself swimming with a turtle!

Chalkies Beach

The afternoon sun was hot, but not scorchingly so – it was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

Chalkies Beach

The Reef Ryder Two in One departs twice daily:
Depart 9.00am, return 12.00pm
Depart 1.30pm, return 4.30pm
Our adult tickets cost us AU$85.00 per person.
All snorkelling gear (snorkel, mask, flippers) was included, an esky full of icy cold soft drinks was supplied, and beach cricket gear was provided for those who fancied a game.

By the time we returned to our holiday apartment, we were all starving! There’s definitely something about swimming and boat rides that makes me hungry! While Jac, Pattycakes and J had drinks on the balcony, I dug around the fridge and pantry and rustled up some grub for us. We had some cold chicken, which I served rolled up like cigars. I grabbed a bunch of seedless red grapes, some avocado and sliced up a tomato and some cucumber. I also grabbed the block of Mersey Valley cheese (one of Jac’s favourites) and popped everything on our chopping board. I figured it would be a better surface for cutting cheese than a dinner plate, since we didn’t have a cheese board to use. My meagre efforts at a assembling a nibbles platter were eagerly received by the others, and just about everything was demolished – there was just a little cheese left at the end.

Nibblies

Takeaway roast chicken dinner from Popeye’s
For dinner that night, we didn’t feel like dining out – we just wanted to relax at the apartment and crash on the couch. We grabbed a takeaway roast chicken from Popeye’s. We hadn’t been impressed with the fish and chips from Popeye’s, but we were so hungry and the convenience of a cooked chook was particularly appealing. I made a quick salad to go with the chicken, with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cauliflower and more of those seedless grapes. Jac blanched the cauliflower so it didn’t taste raw and wasn’t too hard.

Roast chicken, stuffing and salad

I’m pleased to say that Popeye’s chicken was much better than their fish and chips. I love roast or barbecued chickens with stuffing, and this had yummy stuffing, moist and nicely seasoned, peppered with herbs and little squares of ham!

Roast chicken stuffing -it has cubes of ham in it!!

The full list of Hamilton Island holiday posts, in reading order

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