Okay—my excuse is that I moved this last weekend, after 19 years in the same place. So I lost track of where I was going. Not that everything on this blog always has to be in order, mind you, but it would have made sense to have Hook Island right after Hayman Island. I visited both on the same day, on a cruise from Shute Harbour, near Airlie Beach, Queensland.Hook Island is also part of the group of mountainous islands known as the Whitsunday Islands.
My reason for visiting Hook Island was to see the underwater observatory. The island is in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. And oh boy what a treat it was to go down into the observatory and spend an hour or so peering out the thick glass windows. I had a few broken ribs from a riding accident, so diving was out of the question, but it was definitely something I decided to add to my “someday” list, after seeing how astonishing the coral, clams, and fish were outside the observatory. The Great Barrier Reef, which is 1,250 miles in length, supports more animal life per square mile than any other place on earth.
However, I didn’t spend my entire time in the observatory. I also hiked up and around the island, admiring the views of land and sea from the hillside path I climbed.
Waltzing Australia 