Australia

Sydney

In Meenu's words, 2023Woken up to the rising sun at the Park Hyatt, gracing the views of beautiful Sydney's Opera House.

We reached Sydney in the early afternoon of 24 August. While our check-in at the Park Hyatt was sorted out, we sat by the harbour with mojitos to unwind the jet lag. A letter in our room welcomed us to our "harbourside retreat" and wished Meenu a very happy birthday.

The Opera House filled our windows. Praddy had found a design for Meenu's cake and had it custom made: a miniature Opera House of white sails on top, with "Happy Birthday Meenu" and "25th August 2023" on the sides. In the late afternoon sun we held it up on the balcony with the real one behind it. There was time for a spa too, and Meenu called it the most blissful.

On her birthday morning we were out on the balcony before sunrise. The sky turned orange behind the Opera House, the cake came out again, and we took our photos as the first sun reached us. After breakfast by the water, we left for the airport.

Hamilton Island

We flew from Sydney to Hamilton Island with Virgin Australia on Meenu's birthday. By mid-afternoon we were on our balcony at the Reef View Hotel, high above a bay of turquoise water, with a beach of palms below and green islands across it. White cockatoos came and sat on the railing.

Late that afternoon we went up to One Tree Hill, which has a bar for sunset cocktails and a view over the islands. Nearby, a little kangaroo stood by the road.

We came back from the reef on the 27th for one more night. On our last morning the sun rose orange through the clouds over the islands, and the cockatoos lined up on the railing again.

After the helicopter trip to Whitehaven, we spent the middle of the day at the island's zoo. Koalas sat in the branches and a kangaroo stood out on the grass. A big estuarine crocodile lay behind the glass, close enough for Meenu to crouch down beside it. We flew out over the islands late that afternoon.

The Great Barrier Reef

In Meenu's words, 2023Flying over the greatest wonders of the world.

On the morning of 26 August we left Hamilton Island's marina on the Cruise Whitsundays boat and headed out past the islands to the open reef. By late morning we were on the pontoon, a floating platform moored on the reef, with canopied loungers on its top deck. Our room for the night was below the waterline, with a bed facing big windows into the blue.

Around midday a Hamilton Island Air helicopter picked us up from a floating helipad beside the pontoon. From the air the reef was ridges of coral around turquoise lagoons, and we flew over the Heart Reef, which Meenu called "super cute and special".

That evening we watched the sun set over the open ocean. After dark, in matching striped T-shirts, we posed by our window as a huge fish swam up to the glass. In the morning we watched the fish from bed. By late morning the tide was low, and the reef around the pontoon stood out of the water. After lunch and a rest in the canopied loungers, we took the boat back to Hamilton Island in the afternoon.

Whitehaven Beach

In Meenu's words, 2023Helicopter to Whitehaven Beach, and gorgeous views over Whitsunday Inlet.

On our last morning we took off from Hamilton Island's airport in a small helicopter with Hamilton Island Air. Below us, white sand swirled through the turquoise water of the inlet, between green hills.

Then we landed on Whitehaven Beach itself, and the helicopter waited on the white sand. We stood a bottle of bubbly in the soft, rippled sand. Meenu sat up front beside the pilot for the flight back over the blue water, and we were back on Hamilton Island before noon.