The Hunter's new budget airline connection to the Whitsundays has placed a tropical water wonderland on the region's doorstep.
Fledgling carrier Bonza started flying direct to Proserpine on Thursday last week, and I went along for the ride to get a feel for the airline and what the Whitsundays have to offer.
The first thing to say about Bonza is that it enters the market at a very competitive price point. A $79 standard one-way fare for the two-and-a-half-hour journey to the Whitsundays opens up the Great Barrier Reef to people who might have otherwise baulked at the cost of flights.
What you get for the money is travel on a new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, eight kilograms of carry-on luggage and access to two direct regional routes, Newcastle to the Whitsundays and Newcastle to the Sunshine Coast, not served by other airlines.
Checked bags cost from $20 to $36, depending on their weight.
Bonza was still having a few minor teething problems last week with its app, which the company uses for ticket sales, boarding passes and in-flight food and drink orders, but generally the first outbound flight went smoothly.
The return flight was due to return at 1.40pm on Sunday, but Bonza alerted passengers on Saturday evening that it would be delayed by four hours.
The company's down-to-earth interface with its customers includes planes with nicknames like Shazza and Bazza and air crew referred to as "Bonza legends".
The uncomplicated onboard menu is sourced from Australia and includes snacks, booze, soft drinks and small meals such as hot dogs and chicken wraps.
If you're flying north, keep an eye out in the last half-hour for spectacular views of the Queensland coastline around Broad Sound, just above Rockhampton.
Bonza flies to and from the Whitsundays on Thursdays and Sunday, allowing for a three- or four-night turnaround, or longer if you're planning on some serious relaxing.
We arrived at Whitsunday Coast Airport to a steamy 34-degree day then took a half-hour drive by shuttle bus through cane fields and flat cattle country to Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsundays, a grouping of 74 islands which include the resort destinations of Hamilton, Daydream, Lindeman and Hayman islands.
Locals say the best time of year to visit is August and September as the weather starts to warm up but before the humidity hits.
The temperature hovered around the high 20s in Airlie during our stay, until a tropical downpour marked our departure on Sunday afternoon.
Airlie, with its marinas and blue-water surrounds, bears some similarities to Nelson Bay, though it is more tourism-focused year-round.
The town centre consists of a strip of bars, restaurants, shops and travel booking agents which comes alive in the evenings with plenty of live music and open-air dining.
We stayed at the modern Heart Hotel and Gallery Whitsundays in the middle of the action, barely 50 metres from a huge, free public swimming lagoon and across the road from the cane toad racing at Magnums Hotel.
The Heart, named after the distinctive heart-shaped coral formation off the Whitsundays coast, is owned by Newcastle businessman Jeff Aquilina, whose accommodation group operates half a dozen establishments in Airlie.
The hotel offers well-appointed, modern rooms with a luxe feel over two storeys above ground-floor shops and cafes.
We can recommend the food at La Tabella Trattoria on The Esplanade and the live-music vibe at KC's Bar and Grill on Shute Harbour Road, both within 100 metres of the hotel.
But the real action is out off the coast, where the sprawling Whitsunday island chain offers lovely white-sand beaches, ice-blue water, Great Barrier Reef snorkelling and plenty of opportunity for sailing, fishing, airborne sightseeing and adventure sports.
PRICES AT A GLANCE
- Bonza flights to Whitsundays: $79 one-way, 2 1/2 hour flight time. Thursdays and Sundays from Newcastle Airport.
- Heart Hotel: $190-250/night
- Cruise Whitsundays Whitehaven Beach day tour: Adults $229, kids 4-14 $197
- Whitsunday Jetski Tours two-island safari: $310 per jetski ($155 per person twin share)
- La Tabella Trattoria: Mains $28 to $48
- Airlie Beach swimming lagoon: Free
We took the all-day cruise to the famed Whitehaven Beach on Cruise Whitsundays' 85-foot purple catamaran, Camira, which has room for 72 guests on deck.
The almost 10-hour trip included a one-hour snorkelling stop on a small reef off Hook Island, two hours on pristine Whitehaven Beach, lovely views of the hoop pine-encrusted islands and enough food and drink to satisfy any appetite.
The stinger season runs from October to May in the Whitsundays, so full-body rashies were a necessity in the water to guard against box jellyfish and irukandji.
The Camira often moors at the north end of Whitehaven Beach so passengers can take a guided hike to the lookout over the stunning Hill Inlet, but this depends on the tides.
The day we went the boat sailed past Hill Inlet and stopped at the southern end of the seven-kilometre beach instead.
Cruise Whitsundays also operates day and overnight trips to its permanent snorkelling and scuba diving platform moored at Hardy Reef, 39 nautical miles offshore.
The next day we jumped aboard a two-hour Whitsunday Jetski Tours guided adventure along the coast and out to Daydream Island.
This proved to be the standout of the trip, though wrestling a jetski in choppy conditions requires a significant level of physical fitness or, at least, robustness.
If you're not ready for two hours of jumping, slamming and wrenching your way through the water at speeds between 40 and 60 kilometres an hour, I'd strongly recommend waiting for a day when the sea is flat.
When you live in a coastal region like the Hunter with its own lovely beaches and blue-water playground, the question is why go somewhere like the Whitsundays.
I would suggest the Great Barrier Reef, open-water sailing cruises, jetski tours and tropical vibe offer enough points of difference to make a trip to Airlie or the islands worthwhile.
Throw in the lure of a late-winter escape to the tropics and the ease and price of Bonza's new Whitsundays service and you at least have a new option to consider when it comes to holiday destinations.
