Excesses of The Whitsundays

One of the sea planes.

A helicopter wedding!

This part of the world is famous for attracting the rich and famous. During our month long visit here, we've been witness to some of the excesses of this place. Power boat-loads full of bikini-clad tourists pumped up on grog, speeding from one island to the next, stopping only long enough to pose for pictures. Races involving 150ft super-yachts many times the size and price of normal yachts. We even saw a helicopter wedding on Whitehaven! Two separate choppers chariots arrived: the white one held the bride and the blue held the groom. They landed on the beach, hopped out, had their ceremony, posed for thousands of photos and then buzzed off in the blue one. The whole thing only lasting about 30 minutes – we wonder how long their marriage will last! Sea planes have landed and taken off just near us, light aircraft do tricks, loops and dives for thrill-seekers until they vomit. Planes fly in configuration in the air above us and we've even seen fireworks at night. Party boats pump out music in paradise and just yesterday, a large white catamaran full of semi-naked young, fit, attractive men with an overweight, older, unattractive man showering naked, in full view of everyone on the back deck. As we motored past he continued to shower oblivious while the young men dived in to the water around him.

What a crazy playground this is! Time to move on to quieter waters. It has been a blast and we've loved it here. I hope to return sometime to once again swim in the glowing, aqua waters of Whitehaven.