Tags
$$$$, Alex Perry, Awards, Beach, BEST Practice, Bikini, Boating, Darwin, Hamilton Island, Kayaking
I have just returned from Hamilton Island off the Coast of Queensland, Australia and I have to say that the place is so good that it should be dragged over to Western Australia where all the good things in life come from.
In saying this. The place is so good that injecting someone like me onto it’s shores is a potential recipe for disaster.
We arrived to be greeted by a beautiful sunny day and wandered across the tarmac to collect our bags in what can only be described as a 1970’s style baggage carousel. We were lined up at the start line then the gun went off to initiate a ‘free for all’ collection process where you fought tooth and nail to retrieve your belongings straight off the back of the baggage trolleys, stacked 5 high. Some people’s holidays finished right here where they were trampled in the fray or buried under a pile of overweight bags when some impatient idiot decided they could not wait for theirs which was at the bottom. Patience not being the virtue of the Aussie traveller….when you need a beer you need it fast!
Made of sterner stuff I emerged from the melee to hand my trusty travelling companion her bag as she sipped on a cool water by the bus and reminded me that we had a romatic sunset paddle to attend and i’d best hurry up if I didnt want to miss it?
Romantic she said…..well you should have bought your husband I said, fun she said…..well you should have got a motor on the kayak I said, relaxing she said….well you should try to dip your paddle in the water I said! Here is a picture of her having a great time…..here is a picture of me dying after paddling her all the way….and we still have to go back! I’m not a machine!
So I had 5 glasses of Champagne, watched the Sunset and things got decidedly better.
Day 2 started off on the right foot however for me….Ilyse had to stand up in front of her peers and deliver a presentation. She was beside herself. I was having a great time reminding her that these were the members of BEST Practice….the best of the best and she better not make a fool of herself!
I needn’t have worried. I didn’t actually. You can tell that the guy in the second picture of the shot above on the right hand side thought that Ilyse nailed it?
Anyways….that over, Ilyse relaxed….it was time for a bit of a decompress so we set out on a boat trip. More Sunsets.
I am not sure what the hell Michael Dobbin was doing here however he clearly likes his business partners?
Boat Trip over and half a dozen beers later there may have been an incident with the golf cart where someone received a very firm scolding from an over zealous but responsible public citizen for his erratic driving. I succinctly explained that there was nothing to see here and he should move on…..then on with the party….where I met up with Alex Perry – ‘Should have gone to Specsavers’. I think he was impressed by my ensamble for the formal function where I was dressed in shorts, t-shirt, thongs and a leather jacket?
I work on the theory that ‘look like you own it and people think you do’
By this time I was getting tired from all my studying and learning so I went to the Beach to recuperate.
Yep it was tough…..Heaven or Hell…..your call! Suffice to say that Darwin is 2nd best by comparison.