Tuesday, August 6, 2013
A buggy is so much fun to drive. It's like being a kid in Disneyland and wanting to go on that Autopia ride, and then you floor the pedal the entire time and can't go any faster, but it's still so much fun. Except our buggies are even cooler because they can go in reverse! Yeah!
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| Do you like my ride? |
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| Ann Ming's turn to drive! |
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| Yes, flooring it! |
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| Of course the kids always took turn driving too! |
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| Or driving together! |
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| Ro Ro's turn? |
Seriously though, we all took turns driving our little buggy all around Hamilton Island, checking out the main parts of the island besides the Catseye Beach where we were staying. The other main part of the island is the Marina, where the grocery store and restaurants are, and then you can explore all the smaller roads to see all the different rental units, resorts, homes, and several viewpoints, including the highest viewpoint on the island that allows you a 270 degree viewpoint. Our morning was all about exploring in our buggy!
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| It's kind of fun to allow yourself to get lost, and just drive without any maps! |
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| We wanted to check out what all the hype was with Qualia, the #1 Resort in the world... |
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| But we couldn't see anything because of that Jurassic Park gate!!! |
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| A glimpse of Qualia from one of the viewpoints... private bungalows? |
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| The 270 degree view Sunset Gazebo where they serve drinks every night to island guests. |
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| Trying to create a panoramic picture for you from left to right... 1, |
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| 2, |
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| 3, |
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| 4! Didn't work, huh? |
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| Cheese! |
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| Our only group photo, taken at another random viewpoint on the Island. |
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| Our family photo - you might see this on a Christmas card. =) |
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| The Chao family photo! |
We ended our morning of exploration at the Marina to pick up some sandwiches and desserts before heading back to the apartment so that the kids could take their naps. At the bakery, we ordered some yummy custard tart and lamington cake (an
Australian dessert people told us to try).
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| The Marina is where all the stores and restaurants are. |
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| Hi Cockatoo! Looking all sweet and friendly... |
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| But really, they're pretty aggressive, trying to take Ro Ro's sandwich!!! |
As I mentioned in the previous post, one main reason we chose to stay at Hamilton Island is because they have Clownfish Club, which is a kids babysitting service. They take kids for a few hours, a half day, or even a full day, and they have 3 different rooms (all with indoor and outdoor play areas) depending on the age of the kids. Since Ro Ro and Zaydee were still under 2 years old, we made reservations in the infant room for 3 hours in the afternoon. The nice part is that the ratio is 1:4, and it allowed us adults to have another opportunity to do something "not kid-friendly." We decided to do one of the main hikes on Hamilton Island called Passage Peak.
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| Lots of hills and steps - just what James, Kevin, and I like!!! |
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| Not sure Ann Ming enjoys hiking hills quite like the rest of us, but she is a great sport =) |
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| Kevin captured this shot during our hike! |
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| We made it! Passage Peak had several viewpoints. Here's one... |
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| Feels so good to go hiking without a 25 pound weight (aka Zaydee). |
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| Another view from the top! |
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| And even another amazing viewpoint just a short hike longer. |
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| The beautiful Whitsunday Islands in the background! |
We hiked back down and had enough time to pick up some groceries to make dinner at home, before picking up Zaydee and Ro Ro at Clownfish Club. That evening, the boys cooked dinner for us and made awesome lamb chops, steak, chicken drumsticks, and zucchini. Delicious and really appreciating the apartment benefits of having a kitchen and refrigerator, plus a laundry machine! Sleepytime for the kids and movie time for the adults!
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| Zaydee saying Good night to the Cockatoo on the balcony! Really, they are everywhere!!! |
