a brush with spontaneity: flying over the great barrier reef

As you maaayyyyy have seen on my Snapchat and Facebook several weeks ago, I took an amazing small plane ride out over the Whitsunday Islands and Great Barrier Reef during my time in Airlie Beach. I’d been working hard on this website, dealing with panic attacks and frustration over the messy way it went live. I was also writing upwards of six hours a day for other people. I needed something to make me feel like I was living it up in Australia again – not sitting at a hostel doing internet research for clients articles. Flying over the Great Barrier Reef sounded spectacular, and if you know me you know I love nothing more than a small plane adventure.

the tour

I wandered into the hostel office in the morning and asked about flightseeing (well, first I asked about sailing but I wasn’t sure I could swing another full day off) and the woman recommended the one-hour tour of the reef and islands by GSL Aviation. I thought about it for twenty minutes and then went and booked a flight for 1:45 that afternoon.

Myself and one other girl got picked up by the shuttle and were whisked away for our tour from the Whitsunday Airport, about ten minutes drive from the centre of town. There were three shuttles of people, so I was a little curious as to how many people were on the plane, but I needn’t have worried.

flying high

I checked in and got a red card (ha!). They called us up third and our pilot, Pat, walked us out to the plane. There, he gave us a quick lifebelt tutorial and assigned us seats. My fellow passengers were a group of four Asian women, one Canadian guy, and one French guy. The two men, being heavier than the rest of us, sat right behind the pilot and copilot seats. I will fully admit here to crossing my fingers and wishing that I got shotgun. And guess what!? I did! The four Asian women sat together in the back and I climbed up next to Pat in the copilot seat. Don’t worry, Mom, I didn’t touch anything.

Having been in small plane before, I felt relaxed and calm (also, I can swim ;)). I put my seatbelt on and settled my headset on my head. Pat jumped in and started her up. As we taxied out, I could hear all the radio calls between the three planes in our group and some chatter across the channel from others. Our lead plane, pilot Kevin (hey Kevin!), radioed for all of us so Pat just had to “sit back and relax,” as he said. As we taxied, he switched over to the intercom and told everyone the plan, and then said he’d get back to them once we got airborne. He left my headset on so I “could hear the radio calls” (but we ended up talking for most of the flight).

Patrick the Pilot. He knew I was taking the photo so he’s got a bit of a smirk. Isn’t he such a cutie?

flying over the whitsundays

Our take off took us straight up the valley and out over the bay, Airlie Beach to the left. We banked to the right and then headed toward Hamilton Island. It’s one of the largest resorts in the island group, and the only one with a high rise building. We banked to the left and flew across to Whitehaven Beach, one of the most popular beaches in the Whitsundays. With good reason too, it’s absolutely stunning.

banter with the pilots

In the distance, I could see a dark cloud and a heavy sheet of rain. We got a few spatters but nothing substantial, and we kept on. Pat let everyone know we were heading out to the reef now and that it would be a ten minute ride. We went back to our conversation about flying in Alaska and what I’ve been up to in Australia while I kept staring down at the turquoise waters below me.

Kevin came over the radio and asked if the other pilots wanted him to lead the reef tour. His exact words might have been “well, fall back and let me show you how its done,” but maybe I’m mis-remembering 😉 Pat told me to radio back and say hey, because Kevin’s also an American. I pushed the button and said “hey Kevin, Patrick said to tell you I’m also from the States.” His reply was, “hey, what’s your name?”

Look at that amazing water… that’s Hamilton Island with its high rises.

Pat and I had a little laugh when Kevin’s “copilot,” (the girl from my hostel) radioed back over and said “hola” to Pat.

flying over the great barrier reef

In the distance, the reef was looming and we were dropping lower. The heavy storm cloud was now almost right in front of us. I was a little worried we’d end up engulfed in a dark fog. Luckily, the guys seemed to know what they were doing and we banked toward the heart reef.

You’ve probably seen the pictures of the heart reef. It’s on most Whitsunday advertising: a beautiful heart-shaped coral atoll in the middle of the reef, surrounded by the turquoise waters and orange-ish coral of the Hardy Reef. Pat flew past twice so both sides of the plane could see it and take photos, and then we skedaddled away from the menacing clouds. I could hear over the radio that other planes were heading toward it, questioning the storm too.

We kept flying over the Great Barrier Reef for ten minutes or so before turning back toward town. We flew over Hayman Island and Hook Island, spot of some infamous Aussie tourism campaign, according to Pat. Airlie Beach was in the distance, and we made for it. The sky ahead was bright and blue but the clouds weren’t far behind us.

When Pat learned I was going to write about my adventures, he let slip that he hoped this landing would be better than the last one. He said it “wasn’t very good.” I asked him to define that… apparently it was windy and rainy. Well, Pat, I gave you 5/5 or 10/10, whichever one you want 😉 (I do have a video but can’t upload it now for some reason. Here’s the video of our super smooth landing back at Whitsunday Island!)

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If you’re ever up in Airlie Beach, I definitely recommend taking the time (and the money $$) to go flying over the Great Barrier Reef. Even if you experience it another way at another time, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

*I got nothing in return for my blog post about this flight… I just really like it and wanted to share it with you! If you’re interested in flying over the Great Barrier Reef, this is the flight I took. Check with GSL Aviation about their current flying times and availability!

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