What a day for a Daydream

This past weekend the girls here in the office organized a surprise birthday party for our Managing Director (Susan) who recently turned 40. We whisked her away early on Friday afternoon to Daydream Island for a girly evening get-away.

Daydream Island is the second habitable Whitsunday island I've visited so far and after staying in the posh 5-star resorts of Hamilton Island, Daydream Island was a refreshing change. After a brief ferry ride on the Cruise Whitsundays catamaran we arrived on Daydream and were instantly lei ed with shell necklaces by the staff. For six of us we had three double rooms and there was a bottle of bubbly and some Ferrero Rocher waiting for us when we arrived. Our rooms faced out to the ocean and we had spectacular views of the ferries coming and going as well as all the other islands. (That's my co-worker Naomi with me below)

We started Friday evening with some light drinking in our hotel room. We eventually moved downstairs to Mermaids Restaurant for some seafood, cocktails and wine. We were entertained by an Indonesian mariachi band (does that sound wrong to you too?), and Susan really got into entertaining as she was the birthday girl!

We eventually went to the hotel bar for a drink or two before bed and ended up falling in with a group of boys that were on a stag, the night before the groom's wedding. Now I can understand why they don't do bachelor parties the night before weddings in Canada anymore - these boys were looking pretty rough the next morning.

Saturday dawned bright and hot, so I shook off my hangover and grabbed Naomi and Cathy for some greasy breakfast buffet. We watched the hotel staff feed the fish in the simulated ocean reef on site. We took a stroll over to the retail shops and looked at cheap swim wear. We sunbathed on the beach and when we were feeling more adventurous we had our photos taken with mermaids, took a catamaran out for a sail and did some kayaking. It was exactly what the doctor had ordered. Because the weekend was so fun and affordable, Will and I will now be looking for great local deals so when we feel the need for a breather from Airlie Beach, we can do so without breaking the bank account.