All heart

Our final day on Hayman Island dawned sunny and far too soon.

We wandered down to the extravagant buffet for my final breakfast curry of the trip.

The view from the restaurant was stunning and it was hard to believe our mini-break was over, just as we were settling into it.

After packing our bags we headed to the Adventure Desk for the highlight of DD’s trip: a helicopter flight over the Great Barrier Reef.

I was mortified when they weighed us before we boarded and squeezed my eyes tightly shut because I DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW what the scales said.

DD was totally ecstatic about going on the flight.

I was slightly nervous.

I kept reminding myself not to think about how Shirl from Skyhooks met his untimely end.

The staff got us to strap on lifejackets and I thought: “Like we’ll be using those in an emergency … we’ll be cactus if we crash.” But we dutifully wore them for the sake of appearances.

We climbed aboard the chopper and flew first over Whitehaven Beach to admire Hill Inlet from the sky, which wasn’t quite as remarkable as it sometimes appears in photos due to the tide and a bit of cloud cover, but it was still stunning.

Then we flew to Heart Reef and circled it twice, where I took the photo below, which I reckon looks exactly like something out of a travel brochure. I swear not a single bit of photoshopping has taken place – this was the exact view from the window in the helicopter.

I would absolutely love to go snorkelling there sometime.

Then we swooped back to Hayman Island over endlessly beautiful reefs and islands.

Back on dry land, I settled into a sun lounge to admire the view one last time. Then DD appeared with complimentary drinks vouchers and I sipped one last glass of bubbles by the pool before we made our way to the launch for our transfer to the airport.

The weather was perfect as we sat on the top deck of the boat, sipping bubbles and admiring the views as we wended our way through the Whitsundays to Hamilton Island.

I felt happy tears prick my eyes at how lucky I was to have experienced such a magical weekend.

Song of the day: Louis Armstrong “What a wonderful world”