Aly's Blog: Home on Hamilton Island

We are having troubles sleeping past 5:30am from the last time change even with Melatonin, so we were up well before our alarm to catch our morning flight. All went according to plan and we were greeted on Hamilton Island by our vacation home operator, who seems to know our travel plans better than we do. I guess with the same 5 flights every day in and out of here they must things down to a science. After claiming our luggage, we were given the keys to the cart. Almost all motorized vehicles on this island are golf carts, very few cars/trucks. Jeff's smile went from ear to ear and has not let up since. Between Jeff and Kyle, I am surprised we haven't been pulled over or had all privileges removed! Thomas and I just put our heads down and hope for the best.

The island is about 40% permanent residents and the rest rental properties of all levels. That does not include the billon dollars of assets that are moored at the marina - many of those 'dingys' are for rent as well and owned by those with the castles here. When everyone drives a golf cart, it removes the stigma of the haves and have nots! Although we have seen a few tricked out carts with alloy wheels and Jeff is already wanting to trade up.

The amenities here are incredible and everyone has access regardless of where you are staying. The non-motorized are free down at the beach, or there is bowling, mini-golf, music/video rentals, shooting range, ATVs, golf and lots more for a price. A big price. We are finding Australia in general to be very expensive and appreciating Fiji even more. There is a general store here, bakery, many dive shops and restaurants - surprising for such a small island. A six pack of beer at this resort island is $21 and for some reason, donuts anywhere in Australia are $3 each! Tim Horton's franchise would be a killer in Auz. The pools are open access for anyone and the beach is nice (sorry, Castaway still wins hands down). It is much windier with waves here but not so much you can't swim and the ocean temperature is quite warm.

Our condo is a one bedroom with pull out couch, large bathroom and kitchen. We thought the ocean and pools were great and then while standing on our private patio we heard splashing. After a bit of exploring we found our complex has it's very own pool in our back yard! The top shallow part is really warm and the bottom half is super deep for creative jumping in and water games. Yesterday we explored the ocean and pools after loading up on groceries (not eating out here and glad to have big salads for a few days). Today we were going out on a snorkel trip to the Hardy Reef but the weather was very poor so we switched it to tomorrow. We hung out and explored all the stores today along with catching up on homework. There is free WiFi in one of the hotel lobbies which, along with forgetting a few items, gives Jeff more reasons to drive the cart up and down the hill. The roads rival San Francisco in steepness and I am sure the cart is going to tip at some points as it chugs us up with the gas pedal to the floor. I think we have eaten enough junk food in the last 2 days to make up for a week!