As you descend the stairs from the plane on the Hamilton Island runway, you instantly feel like you’ve landed in paradise.  Nothing beats leaving air plane air conditioning and having warm, salty ocean air wash over you.  The small airport is open to the outdoors and baggage claim has views of the ocean.

We spent our last week in Australia on Hamilton Island and it was amazing.  The island which is part of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland is truly a paradise with beautiful scenery at every turn, and although Scott and I weren’t alive at the time we imagine it to be somewhat like Waikiki Beach in the 1950’s.  There’s plenty to do on the island, yet somehow it seems untouched and undeveloped which is a rarity and so very peaceful.  There are no cars on the island aside from those of the maintenance and service crews, so you get around by “buggie” or as we Americans know them – golf carts.