Degustation, boats and beaches

The rest of our Sunday passed by in a blur of dodgy fish and chips, ice cream, feeling unhealthy and getting another early night.

Monday morning dawned grey, raining and miserable, and as a result we were both feeling very unmotivated to get out and do stuff. After a lot of sitting around hoping the weather would clear, we finally gave up and headed out for a walk up to the second highest point of the island, which promised a spectacular view. The climb was challenging, and we got absolutely drenched by the time we got to the top, but was generally quite invigorating. Unfortunately, the 'view' was practically non-existent due to the rain and fog.

When we got back to the hotel, we had lunch downstairs, during which time the sun finally showed its face. By the time we'd showered and read on the balcony for a while, the skies had completely cleared to reveal a beautiful day. George went down to the beach for the free windsurfing lesson, which unfortunately was cancelled because the water was too calm. Meanwhile, I went to the day spa and got a pregnancy massage, which was awesome (although I'm not sure what exactly distinguished it from a regular massage, other than the belly-sized indentation in the table).

Once we'd both read in the sun for a while, we decided to go up to One Tree Hill, where island staff set up a temporary bar with cocktails every evening to watch the sun set. We got the shuttle bus up there and George had a cocktail. The sunset was spectacular, as promised, and we braved the walk down the steep hill back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.

I won't go into too much detail about the degustation at the Hamilton Island Yacht Club, but suffice it to say that it was the best deg we've ever had and we left feeling very satisfied with the evening.

Today we went on our snorkelling/beach tour, which began on a giant catamaran. We couldn't have chosen a better day - the sky was clear, the sun was shining and the sea was calm. We were taken first to a reef off one of the islands to do some snorkelling, and after some teething issues (I don't care what anyone says, breathing with your face in the water is simply not natural), we were underway.

After my only previous snorkelling experience many years ago, I was quite disappointed - apparently the majority of the reef has been bleached, so there was none of the vivid colours and wildlife that I remembered. This, combined with my mask continually letting in water and fogging up, made the whole expedition quite unsatisfying for me.

After this we had lunch (salad wraps for me, while everyone else scarfed down cold meats and prawns) and headed to our next destination. Whitehaven Beach is Australia's most beautiful beach, and the third best in the world, and it's easy to see why. At least two, possibly three kilometres of pure white sand and vivid blue/green waters, completely undeveloped. We had two hours to wander up and down, lie in the sun or swim in the water before we re-boarded the boat for the trip back to the island.

After a full but enjoyable day, we're planning a quiet dinner at the Steakhouse and another early night. Tomorrow we're going across to Dent Island for lunch and a free tour of the golf club.