Dunk Island holiday

We escaped Sydney's rainiest school holiday in 77 years and headed up to Dunk Island for a much much needed family holiday. Dunk is just south of Cairns at the top end of Queensland but close to the coast, a good hours boat trip from the Barrier Reef. Not ideal for those of us who would have liked to do more diving, especially since you can't swim off the beach because of the stingers, but the smallest Burgess was delighted with the resort pools and the constant supply of other children to play with. Ella swam for literally HOURS every day and after wolfing down dinner ran around on the lawn in the dark with the other kids until she literally fell asleep standing up.

We all had the break we needed, lots of rest, lots of sun, lots of playing for Ella, lots of cocktails by the pool and even lots of golf for Brendan. Even I played a game of golf! I have always believed that I am a left handed golfer and we hired some lefty clubs and amazingly I have discovered that I can smack the ball around a bit. Actually I totally enjoyed it much to my surprise and was amazed just how satisfying it is to get that little white ball flying along the fairway. Brendan is more than delighted and we plan to go to the driving range and practice for our next round soon.

We did do one trip out to the Barrier Reef which ended with the most unbelievable snorkeling but started with a hellish boat trip. It was ROUGH and I would say that at least half of the 40 people on board threw up and the remainder stared fixedly at the horizon and felt very queasy - all that is except Sea Dog Burgess aka Ella who talked the ears off the crew, as they ran around with buckets and towels, or played in the front galley and even read a book!!! Actually I think she enjoyed the boat more than the snorkeling. When we finally got in the water she was a little nervous. The boat anchored in about 10m of water and the visibility was alright but that depth can be a little scary the first time. The reef itself was as spectacular as usual with many giant clams, truly gorgeous coral, clown fish in brilliantly coloured anenomes and schools of really enormous fish patroling along the edge. Brendan was (no suprises here) the first one in and the last one out, I was cold hours before, and Ella called it quits when we saw a largish White Tip Reef Shark. I think she prefers sharks from the safety of dry land!!! She doesn't realise how lucky she was to see one on her first ever dive!!

Luckily the return trip was fine and calmer and we sat on the top deck and enjoyed being on the sea. As ever we can't wait to get back for more. All in all a most successful and enjoyed trip away.