Airlie Beach & Whitsundays

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People come here to sail among the 74 islands and it's obvious why. With dependable sunshine, omnipresent breezes, turquoise water and well-placed islands, Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays define tropical paradise. The Whitsunday Organic B & B would then be the hammock under the palm tree in paradise. Our affable hosts, John, Sharini and Jules are all great storytellers and serious about organic products, so their soaps and breakfasts are something to write home, (or at least blog) about. Skylar ignored the pancakes and banana bread options and devoured her favorite brekkie: two poached eggs, tomatoes and sauteéd mushrooms every morning. Surprisingly, the bananas here taste like honey and cream. We spent time every day on the balcony to take in the ocean view and watch the local white cockatoos (with their yellow mohawks). We even salvaged the partially used oatmeal and lavender soaps from our shower to take with us.

Hearing that I enjoyed school visits, John invited me to join him for reading time at Cannonvale State School. Annie, greeted this unannounced foreign visitor warmly and like any veteran teacher, put me right to work with her delightful third graders. Since we had finished the Newbery Medal winner, Higher Power of Lucky, we donated it to their library. In my brief visit, I got the impression that this is a happy place to work and learn. A few other observations:
• Australia provides preschool free of charge.
• Aussie children sing the kookaburra song with a certain confidence, born from personal experience with the bird.
• Cursive has sharper edges here.
• First graders made unique A-Z mobiles with objects starting with one letter. (Y with a yogurt container and yarn for example.)
• All Aussie teachers have to earn a certificate of basic proficiency with computers.
• The parent organization was raising money to build sunshade for play areas and to install newer computers.
• While the federal government actively discusses pay for performance for teachers, it's not an issue at the local level.
• State testing begins in third grade.
• Students in the U.S. can recite the fire safety mantra: Stop, Drop and Roll. Aussie students will tell you the sun safety mantra: Slip, Slop, Slap (Slip on a shirt. Slop on the sunscreen and slap on a hat.) With a hole in the ozone above them and elevated skin cancer rates, they take the sun seriously here. If a student doesn't bring a hat to school, they don't participate in recess or PE out in the open. Sounds like an idea to export!

Even when it's overcast one can easily burn so we've been really careful to maintain our Victorian pallor, enduring a "Geek on the beach" look now, hoping to
skip the skin cancer later. In fact, you won't find anyone who can read swimming at Airlie Beach; the warning signs provide a laundry list of reasons to stay clear
of the water. So, the community built an amazing public pool in the form of a large lagoon, complete with beach-style sloping access.

Thank goodness for the deadly box jelly fish, so we could wear blue stinger suits during our snorkeling trip. We climbed a hill to take in the stunning vista of
pristine beaches. Then some blokes floated a "barbie" to shore and cooked us lunch. When loads of other tour boats arrived, we moved on to snorkel. In a bit of
a party trick, they fed the local reef life, surrounding snorkelers with a frenzy of damsels, parrot fish and a four-foot long Napoleon Wrasse named Elvis.

Our double kayaks skimmed across Shute Harbour on our final day in Airlie Beach, heading toward White Rock Island. Currents converge at White Rock in such a way that chunky, broken bits of coral and seashells form the "beach" and every time the waves lap the shore it makes the pleasant sound of wind chimes or gently breaking glass. We were awed to see a large sea turtle surface twice, before diving again for as much as twelve hours. Salty Dog did a really good job with our family and the girls felt confident and exhausted after half a day.

As Jeff and Skylar lay under the trees one afternoon gazing up into the branches, they decided that Koconut Katchers (large steel framed cages suspended in the coconut trees) are a really good idea.