Travel experiences: Australia

Don’t Judge an Island by its Cover

*The Flight Over*

I was five minutes away from landing on my new home, Hamilton Island. The water was as blue as you see in the photos, and the island looked absolutely perfect from above. I stepped off the plane to be greeted by a blistering heat, but I was too excited about the journey ahead to really care. My mate Ian came around to pick me up in his ute, dressed in Steve Irwin-like attire and smelling of sweat. He had been here for a week already with another friend of mine, which made my introduction to the island life a lot easier. I thought I had a good idea of what I was in for, but I soon found out how far off my perception really was.

*Background*

Hamilton Island is 1 of the 74 islands that comprise the Whitsundays, and only 1 of the 7 that accommodate resort facilities. The island is quite big, roughly 750 hectares of white sand and awe-inspiring fauna and flora. The island is not just known for its relaxing atmosphere, but also for its party scene, with activities such as nightclubs and bars, a karaoke restaurant and party cruises. The island has a diverse range of activities, from water-skiing to reef fishing, scenic walking trails to snorkeling and more. The accommodation is top-notch as well, all the way from 3 star to 5 star (with a 6 star complex in development). The island is perfect, and I came to realise that in many different ways.

*New Places, New Faces – and a whole lot of alcohol*

We initially had to set up camp in a backpackers resort on the mainland just outside of Airlie Beach. As developed as the island was, they had no room to house the influx of holiday workers. This was fine with me, because I had my mates to keep me company. I was not starting work for another five days, so in the meantime I would be hiding in their cabin watching movies or sleeping. On occasions I would head over to the pool and have a swim or walk to the shopping centre to buy some food. I soon made friends with a group of New Zealand backpackers who were also working on the island, and we would spend most nights at the pub getting stuck into each other about our accents.

The night before I started my first day of work was a memorable one to say the least. The nightlife on the mainland went off; the crowd was friendly and the company was plentiful. Wednesday night was known as ladies night’ said my mate Jake when I spoke to him, which meant free drinks at happy hour for our female companions (laughs). It