Something I've been entertained with recently are these You Tube videos about "First-World Problems"... check it out here. Such a good reminder of how petty our pet peeves can be! I remember this little saying every time I have a hard time cramming food into my tiny pantry, or clothes into my small closet. They really are terribly small, first world problems.
Our most recent first-world problem was deciding where to go for our first big family holiday since moving over to Oz. It really did stress me out! We don't have limitless funds to just jet off as a family of five whenever we want, so I wanted to pick a place that was high on our list, and where the whole family would have a good time. We've been on a dozen weekend trips, but nothing that required more than a few days, and definitely nothing that required a plane ride with kids. So we toiled and troubled over a bunch of ideas and finally landed on The Whitsunday Islands - Hamilton Island - and the day after Easter we headed out for a week-long island getaway.
The kids barely remembered their plane flight over here in 2010 {praise God}, so excitement was in the air as we watched our Virgin Australia plane pull into the bay and get ready for us to load up. They had a great time on the plane, and as usual, snacks were key in our flight survival plan.
That afternoon we arrived in island paradise, hopped on our buggy, Bugsy {there are no cars on the island}, and set off to explore the island...
a little honeycomb ice cream anyone?
a little street dancin'?
And then, that evening we got to experience what would be my favorite part of the holiday...the sunset viewing from our balcony. Only one word describes them...stunning! We actually planned our days around being at the condo for sunset. From the vibrant oranges...
To the gorgeous purples.
Then it was off to dinner at the local pub.
The next morning we all got very excited about a curious visitor.
More on Cocky later...
Caden took a snorkel class at the resort.
Then we put the girls in the kids' club and took Caden on a strenuous, uphill hike to the other side of the island.
Our very own private beach...just in time for a little rain to cool us off.
Caden climbed on the volcanic rocks, we spotted some fish and some rock stacks, then it was time to head back.
view of the Hamilton Island harbour on the way back to the resort.
The next two days we had nothing but stormy weather. What is it about Australia and the Heitzmann's travel plans always resulting in rain!?
So, when we weren't watching the entire Harry Potter series, we spent our time on the balcony with Cocky, and at least seven of his closest friends.
Seriously, by the end of the third day, we completely understood why they say not to feed the wildlife. They get a little, um, aggressive {see pancake massacre below}.
Finally the clouds broke and we were able to get out again on Bugsy.
We headed up to One Tree Hill for cocktails and a little cloudy sunset.
Pardon the fuzzy photo below...it's what you get when you ask your 5 year old to be your photog.
Back on Hamilton, we went, once again to see the sunset from One Tree Hill. Magnificent!
After a long day at sea and in the sun, a few of us were tuckered...
Day 5 was another beautiful day, and was spent almost exclusively lounging by a few of the many pools on the island, doing some SUP off the beach and again watching the sun set on another day in paradise!
even Caden jumped on board to go for a paddle!
proud owner of a new shark tooth necklace.
had to get a matching pair.
And so the sunset on our last day and we had to head home. The kids are still asking when we are going on an airplane again and when we can go back to the island. I guess they had a good time. Until our next adventure...
