Tropical island escape

Trip Start Feb 15, 2004
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Trip End Dec 18, 2004


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Where I stayed
Contiki resort
(Sydney hotels)

Flag of Australia  ,
Saturday, July 31, 2004

Two weeks ago I had the most relaxing time of my life at the Contiki Resort on Great Keppel Island in Queensland (an hour's flight north of Brisbane on the map). And thanks to Pam, now I have the pictures to prove it! It was great! At that point, I needed a vacation so bad and that's what it was - a vacation, not travel. We did exactly what we'd set out to do - lay on the beach for 5 days. It wasn't quite as warm as I'd hoped, but it was pretty nice in the sun. Other than sunbathing (or "sunbaking" as they say down under), we also played a pretty pathetic game of tennis, went bushwalking (to other beaches that we could relax on), played frisbee, danced, drank, ate, and watched TV (Pam became addicted to Neighbours and Home & Away too!). Probably the best part of the trip was our 2 hours of bliss at the resort's day spa. Now I know why rich people get massages and facials all the time! It cost a bit of money, but it was totally worth it because I've never felt so relaxed in my entire life. Afterwards I felt like I was floating, as Pam so eloquently put it Contiki Sunset
Contiki Sunset
 .

In addition to the spa, the highlights for me were:
1. our beachfront room! We could watch the sunset on the beach from our balcony, plus we each had our own queen-size bed! I especially appreciated the bed since the stupid UNSW housing office had given me a new mattress before we left that's basically just a big piece of foam.

2. Long Beach! The beach right in front of the resort wasn't bad, but after about a 25 minute hike we found ourselves on a nearly-deserted perfectly beautiful beach! There were never more than 2 people other than us there all afternoon. We sunbathed and frolicked in the tiny little waves. I only went in the ocean up to my knees because the water was pretty darn cold. And oh yeah, the ocean freaks me out.

3. the food! Brunch and dinner were included everyday, and the dinner buffets were incredible! Oh my god, I ate so much, especially on Meditteranean night when there was a cheese platter in addition to 4 different kinds of cake!

The positives definitely outweighed the negatives, but there were a few disappointments, including waiting in the Rockhampton Airport for 3 HOURS for the Contiki bus, the undrinkable salty tap water that they conveniently don't tell you about before you leave the mainland, the abundance of dorky Melbourne guys including our very own stalker, how cold it was at night, and the travel agent's mate not hooking us up with free drinks.

All in all, it was an awesome vacation! And props to Pam for the pics. :)
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