Dreamy Daydream Island

We had SUCH a lovely holiday on Daydream Island back in January 2013. It was very last-minute, quite unexpected and we spent an entire week lounging in the pool, eating buffet meals and watching the sharks and fish swim by in the reef. Airlie Beach was so close, and there were cheap deals for accommodation at Daydream advertised, so we couldn’t resist having a little ‘holiday’ from our ‘holiday’.

But what a different holiday it was this time! Last time, the children had rarely swum in pools, so they spent the entire time in the pool. Now, they are pool experts – they know which surface texture they like, which depth, which chemistry, which damn colour for their pool toys to show up on! So the pool didn’t entirely satisfy their fussy desires this time. (For those who are curious, they don’t like pebblecrete, prefer fiberglass and really like tiles. They like deep ends to be over their heads and have a step/seat, prefer salt over chlorine and don’t like the colour to be too dark or we lose our dive rings! LOL)

I spent the first hour or two lounging by the pool and was most amused to realize that the children were ‘missing’. They were, in fact, in our hotel room – the 4 walls, telly and a ‘proper bed that wasn’t on wheels’ were more of an attraction than the pool this time!

Last time we were so busy swimming and relaxing that we used the sea kayak once and got a catamaran once over the week. This time we were there for 3 days and did a whole heap of activities! Once more we got a catamaran, I indulged my inner Nanna and went to Bingo twice, we watched an outdoor movie, we all tried archery, we snorkeled and Duncan and Lexie took part in an Amazing Race activity.

 

I took great joy in paddling in the pool and watching them jog past back and forth from one end of the island to the other. There were 5 other teams and everyone in the pool got to see them sweating and puffing their ways past (except one team in matching sports gear with arm gym bands on… they were barely breathing hard). I was most relieved to be able to contribute by counting the seats under the water at the pool bar. They came 3^rd in the end, which was fantastic considering there were no other children in the teams.

 

We had a lovely time, got to collect some coral and shells for some decorating ideas, and loved the snorkeling again. It’s the one activity which is NOT free, and we were prepared with our own gear. If you are intending to go to Daydream Island, I’d recommend taking your own too, as its $50 to hire gear for a family. We didn’t bother with the stinger suits, as we had been swimming without until now. Its still only the start of the season though.

 

All too soon, it was time to bid farewell to Bruce the shark, and board our ferry back to Bertha and ‘real life’. Well this version of real life, anyway!