EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Coming from Proserpine, Whitsunday's first community is CANNONVALE , a centreless scattering of modern buildings fringing the highway for about a kilometre or so, overlooked by luxury homes set higher up on the wooded slopes of the Conway Range. Just around the headland past Abel Point Marina - where most of the yachts and dive boats depart from - AIRLIE BEACH is nestled between the sea and pine forests, with just about everything crammed into one short stretch of Shute Harbour Road and the hundred-metre-long Esplanade . Despite the name, Airlie Beach has only a couple of gritty stretches of sand, which get covered at high tide - though an artificial beach, with imported sand, is in the making.

The main preoccupation in Whitsunday is organizing a cruise , but you can also rent watersports gear from the kiosk on the beach at Airlie; spend the day exploring the coastline in a kayak with Salty Dog Sea Kayaking Adventures (tel 07/4946 1388, Saltydog@mackay.net.au ; $75); or hop on the courtesy bus to the Wildlife Park (daily 9am-4.30pm; $15), a small zoo 7km towards Proserpine, which has an excellent reptile collection. You can explore the hills behind Cannonvale on horseback with Brandy Creek Trail Rides (tel 07/4946 1121), 2km past the Wildlife Park, who pick you up from your accommodation and for $49 offer a half-day horseback ride following Brandy Creek through meadow and rainforest. If you don't want to ride, Fawlty Tours (tel 07/4948 0999) runs a similar excursion by bus, including a forest walk and barbecue lunch for $42; while Proserpine River Eco Tours (tel 07/4946 5111) spend a half-day ($48) cruising the Proserpine River , where you'll get to see plenty of birds and, if you're very lucky, crocodiles.

Conway National Park comprises a mostly inaccessible stretch of mountains and mangroves facing the islands, but there's a small picnic area on the roadside about 7km from Airlie on Shute Harbour Road, from where an easy walking track climbs Mount Rooper to an observation platform giving views of the islands' white peaks jutting out of the unbelievably blue sea. A final 3km on, SHUTEHAVEN (Shute Harbour) is a cluster of houses overlooking the islands from wooded hills above Coral Point; it's one of Australia's busiest harbours, and most of the island ferries and bareboat charters depart from here. Those with cars will find limited parking space here; undercover facilities are available behind the Shell garage ($11 a day), which also rents tinnies for fishing; there's an open-air grid at the harbour itself ($7.70 a day); and a free (but unguarded) area up the hill from the Shell garage overlooking the harbour.