I'm on an Island (Hamilton Island)

Today's title is a retrospective nod to that great British band the Kinks. Do some research you millennials, they were excellent.

It seems such long time since the Cook Islands my dear reader, although it was only three months ago. This feeling has no doubt been exacerbated by work. The changes have been as difficult to deal with as the right wing of the federal Liberal Party, and as much fun. Although I have landed in a good place with good people. However, following the removal of the king I contemplated moving my life to Syria, as that at least would provide some comparative stability, but no my astute reader, that is not where I am heading. A short break in Hamilton Island should restore my wellness index.

Thank you internet for this image

Despite having travelled to many islands off the coast of Queensland, Hamilton, until now has eluded us. Too many friends have suggested we should put it on our travel itinerary and so we have. All the essentials are packed, our bags have been checked, I was tested for explosives and failed. Now that test is one from which you don't want a positive result. And now I sit people watching in the Qantas Lounge, nursing my carry-on bag which contains not one, not three, but five bottles of 2008 vintage Drappier champagne. Excessive you say. No, I respectfully disagree. I had intended on taking only three bottles but was advised to take one bottle for each day. Sound advice from a seasoned traveller. Who was I to disagree?

There is the usual eclectic crowd wandering the lounge. Suits, jeans, tattooed middle aged women, running shoes, the occasional person clothed as if they dressed after an explosion at Vinnies, (think '70s maths teachers), but NO thongs - this is Qantas. There is also at least one screaming child, who, no doubt, will be seated behind me on the plane. Thankfully our accommodation at the Beach Club is adults only. We have done our time in family friendly places, and anyway, we are no longer friendly.

I have seen many unusual sights in airport lounges and today contributes another. A man has just arrived in shorts and T-shirt with a camera on a very large tripod. He set the camera up and is taking shots of the food station. Interesting.

Alas, the screaming child has departed the lounge and will not be seated near me on the plane. Despair not my sensitive reader, another screaming child has replaced the previous one. And so it goes. The plane was dominated by children, who thankfully, were well behaved and subdued once we gained altitude.

In another example of first world problems, the snack on the plane was a choice of quiche or corn frittata. Really? Way too much egg action for my taste buds. I believe every egg should have the right to become a chicken.

The view from the verandah

First impressions of the island are favourable. The Beach Club looks great, we were welcomed with a glass of champagne - clearly they identified my weakness. We are on the ground floor with direct access to Catseye Beach, although initially the rain kept us in our unit.

The rain soon disappeared and the sun returned so we ventured down to the lounge for a cocktail and food. Jayne had a French Colada and I had the Spritz to go with some delectable squid and rosemary salt chips. Very nice. The sun also lured people to return to the infinity pool. It's heated so it's swimmable no matter what time of year you visit.

Then it was time to explore our end of the island. The walk to the Marina and the hub of activity was less than a kilometre, although there was a rather steep hill to negotiate. We have dinner reservations already for this evening so it was really a case of seeing what else was there. There is choice a plenty from the world-food pizza to Italian, seafood and even Mexican. And there is a variety of price points too.

The island boasts "no cars" in a similar way to Lord Howe Island boasting "very few cars". Hamilton may have less cars than LHI but the proliferation of golf buggies creates traffic chaos. This is made worse by the footpath constantly disappearing and re-appearing on the opposite side of the road. 4pm at the wharf was obviously peak hour. There were buggies and the island shuttle buses everywhere.

The natives appear friendly

Exercise over, it was time to resume the relaxing holiday pose and we repaired to our unit for champagne on the verandah in preparation for dinner.

We were warned not to leave the doors open when we go out. It may well be an obvious and sensible security precaution, but we were told it was to stop the cockatoos coming in and ransacking the room. They looked friendly enough when marauding hordes of them descended upon us, clearly in the hope of getting fed...  We will be closing the doors religiously whenever we are not around to guard the perimeter.

I was just about to upload a couple of photos when I discovered the attachment I need is safely back in Redfern. Nice work Apple, let's keep changing the plug-ins so people have to buy more attachments. No point using the camera for blog pictures, they will all be taken on the iPhone.

Until tomorrow ...