Whitsundays News. Local News from around and about the Whitsundays

Ferry collides with tender

2012-01-26T18:58:00.004+10:00

A Cruise Whitsundays ferry has collided with a tender just off Daydream Island at 1pm this afternoon.

The CW Launch 'Swordfish' collided with a tender carrying three people who were thrown overboard. All three were rescued and none received serious injuries.

Whitsundays Water Police attended the incident and investigations are continuing.

Cruise Whitsundays is owned by the Chairman of Tourism Whitsundays, Chris Jacobs.

This is the third serious incident involving a business run by a Director of Tourism Whitsundays within a month:

On 15 Jan, a 27 year old man died at the Waters Edge Resort, Airlie Beach - this resort is run by the Treasurer of Tourism Whitsundays, Jeff Aquilina.
On the 29th December, a woman drowned between Hamilton Island and Whitsunday Island when a Hamilton Island Water Sports boat capsized. Hamilton Island's General Manager is Glenn Bourke who is also a Director of Tourism Whitsundays.

Plane crash in Cannon Valley Whitsundays

2012-01-19T19:13:00.021+10:00

Update 11pm Thu 19 Jan 2012
From a source: .Pilot is conscious, Woman is not but stable...the problem is (3 year old) which is critical. Male pilot awaiting transport from Proserpine Hospital to Townsville Hospital. Woman and baby were transported earlier.

Our thoughts go out to Muz, Paz, little Frankie (& their Family & Friends) who were in the Brandy Creek plane crash today.

Original Story
Police are investigating a plane crash that occurred in Cannon Valley, (between Airlie Beach & Proserpine in the Whitsundays) this afternoon. There were no fatalities after the Bingo 4S ultralight aircraft crashed on a property at Brandy Creek, near Shute Harbour Road.

Initial investigations indicate the 65-year-old pilot lost control of the small aircraft just after take off from a private airstrip off Forestry Road, Brandy Creek at around 1.15pm this afternoon, when it clipped trees and crashed in a cleared property nearby.

The man and his two passengers, a 36-year-old woman and 4-year-old boy were initially transported to Proserpine Hospital reportedly in a serious but stable condition. It is believed they will be transferred to Townsville Hospital for further treatment.

Police and Aviation Investigations are continuing.

The plane that crashed was a 'Bingo 4S' by Icp Srl - Registration number 19-4329.
It was first registered with Recreational Aviation Australia on 20 October 2005.
According to the RAA (as of 31 Jan 2011) the planes registration was canceled on 20 October 2008.
'Bingo 4S 19-4329' could not be found on RAA's current registered aircraft.

View Whitsundays Events and Incidents Map in a larger map

Video: A 'Bingo' taking off in a Cross wind

Death at Waters Edge Resort - Update 2

2012-01-17T18:05:00.002+10:00

Update 6pm Tue 17 Jan 2012
Whitsundays & Mackay Police are still unsure how a 27 year old guest of the Waters Edge Resort, Airlie Beach ended up dead at the resort with injuries consistent with a high fall.

It appears that Michael Watson of Brisbane, may have slipped and fell while trying to gain entry to his room.

No witnesses have come forward so it has been difficult for Police to ascertain what's actually happened.

Update 9.30pm Sun 15 Jan 2012
Video: Holidaymaker dies after balcony fall
A 27 year old man has died at the Waters Edge Resort, Airlie Beach this morning.
Police investigating the death believe the man fell from a height but would not confirm if it was a from a balcony, or if he was attempting to climb the walls to gain entry. There has been no suggestion that the deceased had been 'planking'.
Police were advised of the man's death at around 8.20am by QAS officers. Police investigations are continuing. Waters Edge Resort were not commenting on the incident to other media.

Waters Edge Resort is managed by the Treasurer and Director of Tourism Whitsundays, Jeff Aquilina. This is the second death of a guest at a second resort that is run by a Director of Tourism Whitsundays, in just over two weeks - on the 29th December, a woman drowned between Hamilton Island and Whitsunday Island when a Hamilton Island Water Sports boat capsized.

View Whitsundays Events and Incidents Map in a larger map

View Whitsundays Events and Incidents Map in a larger map

Anyone who may have information about this incident are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Backup Twitter Services

2012-01-16T08:19:00.002+10:00

Several of our Twitter accounts were suspended (without notice) at around 10.30am Saturday 14 January 2012.

We have set up temporary services to cover the period between now and the (hopefully) successful review.

Original Twitter	Service	Temporary Twitter	Facebook

@QLDWhitsunday	Real-time info & Alerts only from/about the Whitsundays	@News_Whitsunday	FB

@QLDWhitsundays	News & Info from/about the Whitsundays	@NewsWhitsundays	FB

@QLDOnline	News & Info from/about Queensland	@OnlineQLD	FB

Death at Waters Edge Resort - Update

2012-01-15T16:18:00.026+10:00

Updated 9.30pm Sun 15 Jan 2012

Video: Holidaymaker dies after balcony fall

A 27 year old man has died at the Waters Edge Resort, Airlie Beach this morning.

Police investigating the death believe the man fell from a height but would not confirm if it was a from a balcony, or if he was attempting to climb the walls to gain entry. There has been no suggestion that the deceased had been 'planking'.

Police were advised of the man's death at around 8.20am by QAS officers. Police investigations are continuing.

Waters Edge Resort were not commenting on the incident to other media.

Waters Edge Resort is managed by the Treasurer and Director of Tourism Whitsundays, Jeff Aquilina. This is the second death of a guest at a second resort that is run by a Director of Tourism Whitsundays, in just over two weeks - on the 29th December, a woman drowned between Hamilton Island and Whitsunday Island when a Hamilton Island Water Sports boat capsized.

View Whitsundays Events and Incidents Map in a larger map

View Whitsundays Events and Incidents Map in a larger map

Anyone who may have information about this incident are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Woman dies after crashing quad bike

2012-01-15T13:11:00.003+10:00

A woman has died in a single vehicle quad motorbike crash at Cape Palmerston yesterday.
Initial information suggests shortly after 11am Saturday, a woman was riding a quad bike on the beach when she fell sustaining serious injuries.
The woman was airlifted to Mackay Base Hospital but later died from her injuries.
The forensic crash unit is investigating.

View Whitsundays Events and Incidents Map in a larger map

Missing man, Home Hill - Update

2012-01-10T11:00:00.001+10:00

Update 7.30pm 19 Jan 2012
A 64-yer-old man reported missing from Home Hill on January 6 has been located safe and well.
Queensland Police would like to thank members of the public for their assistance.

Original Story
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate a 64-year-old man missing from Home Hill since Friday.

He was last seen leaving an address on Eleventh Avenue early Friday morning where he told neighbours he was going fishing and would return the same day.

He is described as being Caucasian in appearance, about 165cm tall with a heavy build, grey hair and hazel eyes.
He was driving a silver 1996 Nissan Navara utility with Queensland registration 415DLB and a dingy attached to the roof (as pictured).

Neighbours believe it is out of character and are concerned for his wellbeing.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

Siege in Proserpine

2012-01-09T04:18:00.000+10:00

Police have charged a man following a siege at Proserpine today.

Around 10am police were called to around 1 Dobbins Lane residence following reports of furniture being set alight on the footpath.

Upon their arrival they found a man in a residence allegedly making threats. Police negotiators attended and the man subsequently left the residence around 2.30pm and was arrested without incident.

It will also be alleged that a man set alight his vehicle at the rear of the Proserpine Police Station on Friday night.

A 31-year-old Proserpine man has been charged with willful damage, endangering particular property by fire, light unauthorised fire, leave unattended or fail to take steps to extinguish fire, found on or left police establishment without lawful excuse and obstruct police.

He is expected to appear at the Mackay Magistrates Court on January 9.

International tourism to the Whitsundays plummets

2012-01-06T17:53:00.003+10:00

The numbers for International Tourism in the Whitsundays to 30 September 2011, have been released, and they don't look good, again.

It looks like the 'Oprah hordes' have failed to materialize . . .

Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism
International Visitor Surveys - Comparing Years Ending:
30 September 2011 and
30 September 2010

	Total $M	Share	$ per Visitor	$ per Night	'000 Visitors	,000 Nights	Average Nights

09/10 - 09/11	106	1%	614	113	173	946	5

09/09 - 09/10	147	1%	708	121	208	1215	6

Margin	Down 28%		Down 13%	Down 7%	Down 17%	Down 22%	Down 20%

Source: Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism

Fisherman missing near False Reef

2012-01-01T22:31:00.000+10:00

An air and sea search is continuing East off Mackay for a 28 year old fisherman missing on a small boat.
The man set out in a fibreglass fishing dory at around 10:30a Sunday morning and did not return to the mothership by lunchtime.
A CQ Rescue spokesma said the man is probably drifting somewhere near False Reef, about 150kms east of Mackay.
CQ Rescue & QLD Water Police have requested commercial fishing boats in the area to keep an eye out for a small white boat and report any sightings to police.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority have one fixed-wing aircraft up in the area and they have got a forward looking infrared to pick up any heat sources, so hopefully during the night they will be able to pick up any heat in the area and tomorrow the rescue helicopter can go out and do its work."

Missing 11yo Mackay boy

2012-01-01T22:15:00.000+10:00

Gatty Gee

Police are seeking public assistance to locate an 11-year-old Mackay boy who has been missing since yesterday.

Lachlan Haywood was last seen between 5:30am and 7:30am yesterday at a Symons Street address.

The boy is described as Caucasian in appearance, around 155cm tall with brown eyes and short brown hair.

He was last seen wearing a yellow shirt, blue denim-knee length shorts and either blue thongs or white shoes. He may have been carrying a black shoulder strap Quicksilver bag.

Police are concerned for the boy’s welfare and are asking anybody who may have seen him to contact Policelink on 131 444.

Whitsundays Telstra Internet users offline for 2 days now

2011-12-29T15:20:00.005+10:00

UPDATE 5pm Fri 30 Dec 2011
A 'internet reliant' operator in Jubilee Pocket had their ADSL restored 72 hours after they went offline.

ORIGINAL STORY 5pm Thu 29 Dec 2011
Whitsundays tourism operators connected with Telstra ADSL are fuming as a lot have had no internet service for 48 hours.

A lot of Telstra's landline services around Airlie Beach, Jubilee Pocket, Cannonvale & surrounding villages collapsed after the storm that hit the Whitsundays on Tuesday afternoon, and have yet to be restored.

Several operators that I have spoken to are getting very upset as they rely on the internet for receiving bookings and confirming those bookings, especially at the peak time of year. They have also lost access to their email and VoIP services as well.

Some operators have either organized alternative internet access, or are attempting to run their online business from a mobile phone.

Telstra are unable to advise when the services will be restored.

2 Fishermen saved in Nth Whitsundays

2011-12-28T01:51:00.000+10:00

Two fishermen have had a lucky escape in the seas off Bowen after their boat broke down.

The two men called for help via their radio after their six-metre cruiser was hammered by huge waves blown up by the storm (see article below).
The rescue helicopter from Townsville found the men drifting about 30kms NE of Cape Gloucester - Dingo Beach and they were able to relay their position to water police.
The pair were picked up by VMR (Volunteer Marine Rescue) about 9.30pm and their boat is being towed back to Bowen Harbour.

Whitsundays Storm

2011-12-28T00:03:00.008+10:00

A huge storm hit the Whitsundays at around 4pm this evening, leaving one person missing in its wake.

Police & Rescue services are currently searching for a missing 31 year old female around Turtle Bay, Whitsunday Island, which faces the major accommodation area of Hamilton Island. Initial information indicates that the 10 meter vessel overturned just after 5.00 tonight - we have been asked to not name the boat at this stage.

View Whitsundays Events and Incidents Map in a larger map

11 of the12 occupants have been accounted for, but the 20 year old female, at this point in time, remains missing. Witnesses on Hamilton Island can see the Search operation in progress from their accommodation.

Conditions have eased and Police & Rescue services continue to search of the area, however weather conditions earlier caused the CQ Rescue helicopter to return to Mackay.

At 11pm, a witness reported that the search had progressed to Fitzalan Island (see map). We are currently being kept up to date by the local authorities and we will issue any new news via Twitter, or the 'widget' in our right margin.
According to witness reports from Hamilton Island, the search seemed to either 'move on' or has concluded at around 11.45pm. As at this time, we have received no further 'official' information.

The Storm
At around 5pm, a storm hit the Metropolitan Whitsundays (Airlie Beach, Cannonvale) from the South West. Normally this would have surprised most of the residents as the massive Conway Range borders the South & South Western edge of Airlie Beach, Cannonvale & Cannon Valley,

however, we were able to get enough tweets & posts out to enough people, so 'the word was passed around' via SocialMedia and almost everyone was prepared. The Whitsunday Times (supposedly the local paper but printed in Rockhampton) failed to report any warnings.

Whitsunday Times Twitter - 8 hours after the storm

It should be noted that no local news service except ourselves advised the good folks of the Whitsundays of the impending ferocity of the storm.

In the one hour, Proserpine Airport received 39mm of rain, and Hamilton Island received a huge 69mm. A wind gust was recorded at Hamilton Island Airport at 115km/h.

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Hamilton Island Water Sports Boat overturns

2011-12-27T19:13:00.014+10:00

Update 3pm, 29 Dec 2011
It is believed the boat that capsized in Turtle Bay, Whitsunday Island during a storm on Tuesday was from Hamilton Island Waters Sports, taking 11 folks out on a regular half-day fishing trip.

Doris Wibowo, 31 of Ingleburn, Sydney, was located in the cabin of the boat yesterday evening after a large search of the waters between Whitsunday and Hamilton Islands.

Police are not treating the death as suspicious and a post mortem is due to be conducted today.

Original Story:
Police are currently searching for a missing person off Whitsunday Island.
Initial information indicates that a 10 meter vessel has overturned just after 5.00 this evening at Turtle Bay.
11 of the12 occupants have been accounted for, but one remains missing.
Police have commenced a search of the area, however weather conditions remain adverse.
There is no further information available at this time.

Video and Images of Storm as seen from the mainland.

You Can Make a Difference

2011-12-23T14:24:00.005+10:00

Don't want to support the destruction of Airlie Beach's Foreshore?

'Airlie Action Group' (Tourism Whitsundays, Whitsunday Regional Council, Jan Jarratt MP, Keli Medford) support the redevelopment of the Airlie Beach foreshore with a 4 storey building.

'Save Our Foreshore' believe there should be no development of the Airlie Beach Foreshore.

Money Talks. Who's Supporting Who?
Airlie Action Group	Save Our Foreshore
Cruise Whitsundays	Airlie Bait & Tackle
Waterline on Shingley	Airlie Court
Whitsunday Rent-A-Yacht	Airlie Waterfront Backpackers
Ozone Resort	Al's Laundry
Beachworx - Billabong Airlie Beach	Amazing Place
Whitsunday Dive Adventures	Avis Rent a Car
U-Plan Landscape	Beach Plaza
Boathaven Resort	Ju'lee's Beach Plaza Laundry
Aviation Adventures	The Beach Shack
Air Whitsunday	Cyclone Studios Architects
Whisper Bay Resort	Europcar
Leader Group	Fun Rentals
Airlie Beach Hotel	Harry's Cafe
Tourism Whitsundays	Just Souvenirs
Mayor Mike Brunker	Lea's Book Exchange
Tourism Minister Jan Jarratt	Mama's Boys
Eco Jet Safari	NZ Natural Ice Cream
Boathaven Resort	Off Ya Noodle
	Reflections
	Salt Seafood Bar & Grill
	Shipwrecked Restaurant
	Whitsunday Bookings
	Whitsunday Central Reservations

Jarratt may only get 1 out of 3 votes

2011-12-13T08:59:00.006+10:00

If a State election were called and the folks in Whitsunday voted the same way as they did in the last Federal election, then Jan Jarratt, the ALP MP and Tourism Minister for Queensland will be looking for a new job.

We have done a comparison of the Polling Booth Results that are both in Dawson (2010 Federal) and Whitsunday (2009 State) electorates . . . . between the election of Jan Jarratt as MP in 2009 and George Christensen MHR (Federal, Dawson, 2010), over one third of ALP voters 'jumped ship', with the Greens and LNP being the main beneficiaries.

At the Airlie Beach and Cannonvale polling booths, the ALP lost a staggering half of its support in just 12 months.

The LNP would easily get elected getting over 1/2 the votes - Jan Jarratt would receive less than one third. Here are some statistics comparing the booths that are in both the Whitsunday (State, 2009) and Dawson (Federal, 2010) electorates.

2009 QLD State and 2010 Federal comparisons from Whitsunday polling booths
These must be the scariest figures for the QLD ALP spin doctors - over one third of voters who voted Labor in the 2009 QLD state election, voted Green or LNP in the last Federal election.

Party	2009	2010	Diff

ALP	49.7%	32.1%	17.6% v 34%
LNP	44.4%	53.1%	8.7% ^ 20%
Greens	5.8%	9.2%	3.4% ^ 59%

*The polling booths counted in these results are from Seaforth, Calen, Bloomsbury, Conway Beach, Proserpine, Proserpine Hospital, Airlie Beach, Cannonvale, Hamilton Island, Dingo Beach, Glenella, Eimeo, Bucasia, Habana, Farleigh, Coningsby, Mount Ossa.

2009 QLD State and 2010 Federal comparisons - mutual Dawson - Whitsunday polling booths

Polling Booth	ALP 2010	ALP 2009	GRN 2010	GRN 2009	LNP 2010	LNP 2009
Airlie Beach	22.31	46.94	17.40	9.61	54.44	43.45
Beaconsfield	44.43	53.68	9.11	8.42	37.62	37.89
Bloomsbury	27.51	30.87	6.43	6.07	60.93	63.06
Brisbane	29.69	38.24	15.63	14.71	50.00	47.06
Bucasia	44.81	56.68	4.07	5.53	39.15	37.79
Calen	32.08	39.60	7.08	6.19	55.53	54.20
Cannonvale Beach	26.31	48.66	16.14	7.78	51.29	43.55
Coningsby	31.88	44.97	6.32	3.63	54.35	51.40
Conway Beach	28.10	44.89	7.84	2.27	58.17	52.84
Dingo Beach	29.92	47.83	4.33	5.31	54.72	46.86
Eimeo	40.47	55.17	9.54	5.04	44.39	39.79
Emmanuel	39.20	53.65	7.35	4.05	49.31	42.30
Farleigh	32.26	42.74	4.49	4.63	52.35	52.63
Fitzgerald	40.28	49.63	8.12	4.49	44.75	45.89
Glenella	39.26	55.80	7.78	4.50	48.57	39.70
Habana	31.12	46.01	7.73	5.88	57.73	48.11
Hamilton Island	30.77	55.94	15.03	11.39	51.40	32.67
Hayman Island		58.97		5.13		35.90
Kuttabul	35.93	43.51	6.79	6.49	49.10	50.00
Mount Julian		42.86		6.98		50.17
Mount Ossa	25.00	27.11	4.79	4.22	62.77	68.67
Proserpine	34.34	46.04	7.02	3.90	51.16	50.05
Proserpine Hospital	30.72	44.25	7.47	4.25	54.33	51.50
Seaforth	39.42	45.92	4.73	5.48	50.85	48.60

Airlie Beach Main Street
The upgrade of the Main Street of Airlie Beach received several visitations from ALP candidates and heavyweights accompanied by Tourism Whitsundays management and directors. The following results show that there was a huge protest vote against the ALP in the Airlie Beach and Cannonvale polling booths, with the ALP candidate securing less than 1 in 4 votes:

INGREY, Bill	Citizens Electoral Council	1.66%
CHRISTENSEN, George Robert	Liberal National Party of Queensland	52.87%
HERRINGTON, Damian	Family First	4.40%
DYKYJ, Jonathon	The Greens	16.77%
BRUNKER, Mike	Australian Labor Party	24.31%

*The polling booths counted in these results are from Airlie Beach, Cannonvale.

Sources: Australian Electoral Commission

Armed robbery at Take Away store in Bowen last night

2011-12-05T09:42:00.000+10:00

Police are investigating an armed robbery at a take-away store in Bowen late last night.
Initial investigations indicate a man approached the 60-year-old victim at the rear of the Gregory Street store just before 10pm armed with a firearm.
He demanded money from the man before he entered the store and approached a 57-year-old woman standing behind the counter.
The man threatened the victim and demanded money.
She handed him a sum of cash before he ran from the scene.
He is described as around 180cm tall with a dark complexion and solid build. He was wearing a red shirt and three quarter length pants.
Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.
Crime Stoppers is a charitable community volunteer organisation working in partnership with the Queensland Police Service.

SOF v AAG, WRC, JJ.MP & TW? WTF?

2011-12-04T02:34:00.025+10:00

The Airlie Beach Main Street Upgrade 'Debate' has become pretty intense, especially when it's become a David versus Goliaths battle.

Poor old 'Save Our Foreshore' - they are making a terrific stand for a genuine cause. They've not only had misinformation said about them in the local media, but also had no support from the Local Member / Tourism Minister Jan Jarratt, and especially the Mayor, Mike Brunker.

SOF (No Land Swap) also have to now contend with the newly formed 'Airlie Action Group' - an interesting entity . . . reasons which we will explain a little later.

Save Our Foreshore has in the past had to resort to full page ads to correct a lot of misconceptions, rumours and incorrect news stories . . .

SOF have had to also issue lengthy statements in response to comments made by AAG (Land Swap) . . . (I said it was lengthy - I have reprinted their entire post at the bottom of this post).

It is interesting to note that at the end of that lengthy statement, SOF have listed the members of the 'Airlie Action Group. However, they forgot one; Keli Medford - Boathaven Spa & Resort - Director, Tourism Whitsundays. The other members have a similar theme . . .
Tony Logan – Airlie Apartments - Member, Tourism Whitsundays
Nick Talbot-Price – Eco Jetski Safaris - Member, Tourism Whitsundays
Lynn Gregson – Adelyn Retail - Ex Chairperson, Tourism Whitsundays
Wendy Bradley – Ozone Whitsundays - Member, Tourism Whitsundays
Alex Hawson – Rent a Yacht - Member, Tourism Whitsundays
Mike Daly – Whitsunday Dive Adventures - Transition Committee, Tourism/Enterprise Whitsundays
Paul Burke – Leader Group - Member, Tourism Whitsundays
Sam Zealand – Waterline on Shingley - Member, Tourism Whitsundays
Ray Waters – Air Whitsunday - Member, Tourism Whitsundays
Steve Moss – Uplan - Developer.

I see a pattern . . . does anyone else?

Who else supports 'Airlie Action Group' and their proposal for the 'Land Swap'? Well, the CEO of Tourism Whitsundays, Peter O'Reilly does . . .

And, in no uncertain terms, we can tell how the Chairman of Tourism Whitsundays, Chris Jacobs wants as an outcome . . .

Tourism Whitsundays represents around 10% (or less) of businesses registered in the Whitsundays . . . so you would think out of the 13 folks we've mentioned, that 2, maybe 3 would be members of TW - not all of them. Uplan, appears to be a Developer.

If I was playing 'Join the Dots', then I'd have to say that AAG appears to be a front for Tourism Whitsundays, used to covertly promote its agenda without most of its membership or the wider community's knowledge.

The smell of 'Conflict of Interest' is getting pretty woofy.

It should be noted that the Chairman of Tourism Whitsundays, Chris Jacobs, is also the owner of 'Cruise Whitsundays'.
Peter O'Reilly, through his family, is a part owner of O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat.

Who's Supporting Who
Airlie Action Group	Save Our Foreshore
Cruise Whitsundays	Airlie Tackle
Waterline on Shingley	Airlie Court
Whitsunday Rent-A-Yacht	Airlie Waterfront Backpackers
Ozone Resort	Al's Laundry
Beachworx - Billabong Airlie Beach	Amazing Place
Whitsunday Dive Adventures	Avis Rent a Car
U-Plan Landscape	Beach Plaza
Boathaven Resort	Ju'lee's Beach Plaza Laundry
Aviation Adventures	The Beach Shack
Air Whitsunday	Cyclone Studios Architects
Whisper Bay Resort	Europcar
Leader Group	Fun Rentals
Airlie Beach Hotel	Harry's Cafe
Tourism Whitsundays	Just Souvenirs
Mayor Mike Brunker	Lea's Book Exchange
Tourism Minister Jan Jarratt	Mama's Boys
Eco Jet Safari	NZ Natural Ice Cream
Boathaven Resort	Off Ya Noodle
	Reflections
	Salt Seafood Bar & Grill
	Shipwrecked Restaurant
	Whitsunday Bookings
	Whitsunday Central Reservations

Sources:
Whitsunday Times
Save Our Foreshore

Statement issued by Save Our Foreshore
The Debate on the Main Street Upgrade

A small, newly formed AAG committee appears to have been formed with the express purpose of discrediting SOF and making sure Mr Brunker’s foreshore land grab goes ahead. This is the only possible explanation for the blatant way this small group have misrepresented SOF and misled the community through advertising and other methods. Their recent ad makes no reference to the fact that the land in question is zoned by the Government for open space and recreational use, the designated “Most Appropriate Use” under the Land Act.
In the interest of keeping the true story out there and not allowing the community to be conned, please read, below, the misleading and inaccurate statements by the Airlie Action Group along with the Save Our Foreshore rebuttals.
- AAG’s published official stance (in plain text)
- SAVE OUR FORESHORE’S RESPONSE (IN BOLD CAPS)

Upgrading the Main Street is undoubtedly vitally important for Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays, and to have over $17 million promised by the three tiers of Government towards its construction is a major achievement.
SOF AGREES WITH THIS STATEMENT BUT MAINTAINS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO UPGRADE AND ENHANCE OUR MAIN STREET WITHOUT SACRIFICING PUBLIC FORESHORE LAND TO A PRIVATE DEVELOPER.

Airlie Action Group (AAG) was established earlier this year by a group of business owners to help work on projects that can stimulate the economic recovery of Airlie Beach.
HIGHLY DUBIOUS. IF THE RECENTLY FORMED AAG COMMITTEE THINK THAT GIVING AWAY OUR PUBLIC FORESHORE TO A PRIVATE DEVELOPER WILL STIMULATE ECONOMIC RECOVERY THEN THEIR JUDGEMENT MUST BE SERIOUSLY QUESTIONED. WE ALREADY HAVE PORT OF AIRLIE IN RECEIVERSHIP AND THEIR RESORT BUILDING STALLED, PLUS OTHER ACCOMMODATION AND SHOPS SITTING VACANT AND UNSOLD. HOW SOON DO THESE PEOPLE REALLY THINK MR DAVEY WILL GET FINANCING TO BUILD YET ANOTHER UNUSED BUILDING?

The Main Street Upgrade is one of those projects and we are firmly behind the final design that was carefully crafted over two years through extensive consultation with the stakeholders and community.
MISLEADING. THE COMMUNITY WAS LAST CONSULTED IN LATE 2010. THIS WAS ONE OF THREE BROAD ‘CONCEPTUAL’ CONSULTATIONS NONE OF WHICH INCLUDED THE PLAN NOW CLAIMED BY AAG TO BE “THE ORIGINAL”. ALTHOUGH SOME AIRLIE MAIN STREET TENANTS WERE SHOWN “THE ORIGINAL”PLANS IN EARLY APRIL, THE REST OF US, INCLUDING DIVISION ONE COUNCILOR CLIFFORD, DID NOT SEE THIS PLAN UNTIL AUGUST 30TH, LESS THAN A WEEK BEFORE TENDERS WERE CALLED.

Despite this extensive consultation process, in recent weeks there has been calls from some sections of the community to make last minute changes to the plan.
UNTRUE. THESE PLANS WERE TOTALLY NEW TO ALL BUT THE ‘PRIVILEGED FEW.’ AS RECENTLY AS JULY 14 THE TIMES REPORTED: AIRLIEBEACH.COM CENTRAL RESERVATIONS BUSINESS OWNER TONY LAURENT SAID THE SHOP OWNERS HAD ONLY RECEIVED VERY VAGUE INFORMATION ON THE UPGRADE AND HE HAD LITTLE FAITH IN WHAT THEY HAD BEEN TOLD SO FAR. "IT IS GOING TO BE A DISASTER IF WE DON’T WORK TOGETHER AND GET THE JOB DONE," HE SAID.

Government has asked for reconfirmation that the final design is supported by the majority of the community and in particular the stakeholders.
We have therefore set out below; the final design for the central heart; the benefits it will bring to the community and clarified some important issues.
We have today asked the Whitsunday Regional Council to close its online survey for the main street design. It should be noted that in the process of accommodating the many proponents of the project that additional amendments to the original plans were made with out full consultation and with no acceptance or compromise by the Organisation it set out to appease.
UNTRUE. THE ‘ORGANISATION’ SO COYLY REFERRED TO HERE IS CLEARLY SOF. AT ALL TIMES, INCLUDING A MEETING WITH COUNCIL, MR HUNT AND MR DAVEY, AS RECENTLY AS EARLY SEPTEMBER, SOF HAVE ADVOCATED THE COMPROMISE OF TURNING THE BUILDING THROUGH NINETY DEGREES AND KEEPING IT FRONTING THE ROAD AND ALONGSIDE THE CREEK. THIS WAS UNACCEPTABLE TO MR DAVEY FOR COMMERCIAL REASONS AND TO COUNCIL FOR ‘TECHNICAL’ REASONS.

Additionally it has come to our attention that the survey could be abused and does not prevent people from voting multiple times, which of course is not in the spirit of the survey.
POTENTIALLY ABUSED BY EITHER SIDE OF THE DEBATE! SOF HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS SINCE THE SURVEY WAS FIRST MOOTED BY THE RECENTLY FORMED AAG COMMITTEE - WHO HAVE NOW HAD IT DISCONTINUED, CLAIMING IT WAS DECEPTIVE AND FLAWED.

AAG supports the original Main Street design that was developed over a period of 2 years and involved input from many stakeholders and the community.
MISLEADING. SEE COMMENTS ABOVE – THIS “ORIGINAL DESIGN” WAS ONLY MADE PUBLIC 31 AUGUST, 2011.

We have received numerous submissions from the business community wanting to reconfirm their support for the original design.
HOW MANY SUBMISSIONS? WHERE ARE THEY? IN ONLY TWO FOUR HOUR SESSIONS AT THE AIRLIEBEACH LIONS MARKETS, SOF HAS RECEIVED 1045 SIGNATURES FROM LOCALS AND VISITORS WANTING THE PUBLIC FORESHORE TO REMAIN PUBLIC LAND FOR PUBLIC USE AND RECREATION.

In the next few days we will be providing a means by which they can show their support for the original design, and will be coming back to Council and State Government in due course with their submissions.
The Final Design:
The drawing below shows the position of the relocated building which currently houses the chemist and convenience store. After input from Department of Environment and Resource Management, the position of the relocated building is set back from the creek and is the exact shape of the current building. The white curved line shows the shape that was depicted in the consultation process.
THE ARCHITECT’S CONCEPT CONFLICTS WITH:
WHITSUNDAY REGIONAL COUNCIL’S TOWN PLAN
STATE PLANNING POLICIES
CURRENT EXPERT THINKING ABOUT DEVELOPMENT IN STORM SURGE AREAS, PARTICULARLY LIN LIGHT OF THIS YEAR’S YASI CYCLONE EXPERIENCE.
RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE PRINCIPLES.
IT ALSO PLACES THE COMMUNITY AND RATEPAYERS AT RISK FROM COSTLY LITIGATION.
THE PROPOSAL INCLUDES AN UNDERGROUND CARPARK AND A ‘NEW’, HIGHER GROUND LEVEL. THE STORM SURGE RISK IS OBVIOUS.
APPROVAL AGENCIES, STATE AND LOCAL, ARE ALREADY AT RISK OF COSTLY, DEBILITATING LITIGATION FROM DEVELOPMENT APPROVALS THAT IGNORE RISKS SHOWN IN CURRENT CLIMATE CHANGE PREDICTIONS.
CAN WE AFFORD THIS?

The Benefits:

The reason we (Airlie Action Group) embarked upon this project was to beautify the town for the benefit of residents and visitors and at the same time, solve problems with drainage and traffic.
The final design achieves a number of key benefits. Including:
• Transforming a bleak, concrete tunnel of a road into an attractive, green, pleasant shopping experience, which for this tourism focused community is essential to improve the visitors experience .
UNTRUE. CALLING AIRLIE MAIN STREET ‘A BLEAK CONCRETE TUNNEL’ IS A LAUGHABLE EXAGGERATION. WHILE THERE IS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT WHICH LANDSCAPING CAN ACHIEVE, THIS KIND OF RIDICULOUS HYPERBOLE DOES NOT AID THIS AAG COMMITTEE’S CREDIBILITY. AS FOR ‘AN ATTRACTIVE, GREEN, PLEASANT, SHOPPING EXPERIENCE’ THIS, OF COURSE CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH A STRAIGHT OR CURVED ROAD. IT DOESN’T REQUIRE GIVING AWAY OUR PUBLIC FORESHORE. NOOSA’S HASTING’S STREET OR MACROSSAN IN PORT DOUGLAS ARE TWO EXAMPLES.

• Creating a green heart in the centre where we will bring the wonderful foreshore inwards to link with the road, instead of being hidden by buildings.
UNTRUE. THE GREEN HEART IS ALONG THE FORESHORE. IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN. IT IS NOT EVEN CURRENTLY HIDDEN BY BUILDINGS. IT CAN BE SEEN BETWEEN THE DAVEY BUILDING AND MONTIPORA AND ON THE OTHER SIDE ALONG THE CREEK AND PARK ENTRY. TO MOVE THE ‘GREEN HEART’ TO A SMALL LANDSCAPED ‘ISLAND’ BETWEEN MAGNUMS BAR AND THE MAIN ROAD IS NOT A POSITIVE MOVE. IT WOULD SOON BECOME A ‘BEER GARDEN’ EXTENSION OF MAGNUMS. EVEN THE LOCAL POLICE HAVE EXPRESSED THEIR CONCERNS REGARDING THIS.

• It will open up vistas from the road to the foreshore and water.
UNTRUE. THE VIEW CORRIDOR DIAGRAMS, CREATED IN SUPPORT OF THE DAVEY RELOCATION, HAVE BEEN SHOWN BY LOCAL ARCHITECT JIM RIDDELL TO BE MISLEADING. THE RELOCATED DAVEY BUILDING AND ASSOCIATED LANDSCAPING WOULD HAVE MUCH THE SAME IMPACT ON THE VIEWS.

• It solves the flood issue for the main street by raising a section and turning the creek into an attractive feature.
MISLEADING. THREE PREVIOUS FLOOD STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE STREET DOES NOT NEED TO BE CURVED FOR FLOOD MITIGATION. THE PROBLEMS ARE CAUSED UPSTREAM FROM THE MAIN ROAD. SEVERAL ENGINEERS, INCLUDING COUNCILS, HAVE INDICATED A CURVED ROAD IS NOT REQUIRED.

• And it decreases the amount of traffic making it a much more people friendly place to be.
UNTRUE. WHAT POSSIBLE REASON WOULD A CURVE VERSUS A STRAIGHT ROAD HAVE FOR DECREASING TRAFFIC?

• It is pertinent to remind ourselves that this is a commercial precinct , that treated sensitively will become the showcase for Airlie Beach, Shute Harbour Road has long been seen as a hotch potch of buildings , that do nothing to enhance our reputation as a welcoming , modern village. We must continue to strive for outcomes that help our town compete with other destinations.
A PROBLEM THAT HAS MORE THAN ONE SOLUTION!

• This project will also become the catalyst for other stakeholders to deliver a better quality standard of buildings and commercial precincts.
WHAT IT COULD DO IS CREATE A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT FOR OTHER ADJACENT LANDOWNERS TO MAKE SIMILAR CLAIMS OVER THE ADJOINING PUBLIC RESERVE.

Specific Issues:

Building height: Under the town plan, ALL the building along the seaward side of the main street can seek a development application that would allow the height to 12 meters as long as they meet the Town Planning Act. There has been no deception. All the previous plans and concepts for the main Street Upgrade which showed elevations, and were part of the 2 year consultation process, included a multi story building.
MISLEADING. THE HEIGHT IS NOT THE ISSUE! THERE WERE NO DEFINITIVE PLANS. ONLY CONCEPT DRAWINGS. AT ALL TIMES THE SOF GROUP MADE IT CLEAR TO ARCHITECT HUNT THAT BUILDINGS INDICATED OUT ON THE FORESHORE WERE NOT ACCEPTABLE. THIS HAS BEEN CHALLENGED AS UNTRUE BUT NO EVIDENCE HAS BEEN SHOWN BY MR HUNT. THE TEXT FROM AN SOF LETTER TO MR HUNT, FROM LATE 2010 SAYS “WE WANT TO SEE A CONTINUOUS SWEEP OF COASTLINE FROM THE SAILING CLUB TO THE LAGOON UNMARRED BY THE CURRENT CARPARK AND INAPPROPRIATELY PLACED COMMERCIAL BUILDING," BUT THE INTENT OF THIS STATEMENT WAS CHANGED WHEN THE WORDS “INAPPROPRIATELY PLACED COMMERCIAL BUILDING” WERE CHANGED TO “AND SUPERMARKET” WHEN OUR STATEMENT WAS INCLUDED BY MR HUNT IN HIS PRESENTATION DOCUMENTS.

Building footprint: the area of land currently occupied by the chemist and the convenience store, is EXACTLY the same size of the land that will house the new building. It will be simply turned on its side.
MISLEADING. THE PLANS FROM MR HUNT ACTUALLY SHOW EXTERNAL DECKING AREAS OUTSIDE THE FOOTPRINT THAT WOULD CLEARLY BE USED FOR HOTEL AMENITIES SUCH AS OUTDOOR DRINKING AND DINING. HOTEL LANDSCAPING WOULD TAKE UP FURTHER AREA AND AN ACCESS ROAD WOULD BE REQUIRED TO THE UNDERGROUND PARKING, CONSUMING EVEN MORE PUBLIC PARKLAND.

No loss of green space: The small area of the carpark that will be taken up with the new building will be returned to the community as green parkland on the street side of the building. The heart of our foreshore will remain a public open space, for visitors, family recreation and for promoting community and tourism events.
UNTRUE. HOW CAN THE HEART OF OUR FORESHORE REMAIN A PUBLIC OPEN SPACE WHEN IT HAS A FOUR STOREY HOTEL IN THE MIDDLE. THIS IS ABSURD. INSTEAD, ACCORDING TO THE ABOVE WE WILL GET ‘GREEN PARKLAND ON THE STREET SIDE OF THE BUILDING.’ IF THE RECENTLY FORMED AAG COMMITTEE THINKS THIS IS A REASONABLE EXCHANGE THEN THEIR JUDGEMENT MUST BE CAREFULLY QUESTIONED.

Can we as a community purchase the building?: the answer is no. Council and State Government have said they will not put in any more money and the community does not have the time to raise the money themselves - We only have until the end of October to provide Government with a clear understanding of what the majority of the community wants. After that we risk losing the promised Government funding.
UNTRUE. THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS THREATENED THE LOSS OF PUBLIC FUNDING IS MR BRUNKER, AS PART OF HIS ONGOING ATTEMPT TO FRIGHTEN AND DIVIDE THE COMMUNITY. NO STATEMENT TO THIS EFFECT HAS COME FROM GOVERNMENT. THERE IS NOTHING TO STOP COMMENCEMENT OF STAGE ONE, THE WESTERN ROUNDABOUT TO THE MONTIPORA BUILDING. THE $17MILLION WILL NOT EXTEND BEYOND THIS STAGE ANYWAY.

A straight road will save on cost: in the short term it might be cheaper to build a straight road, although there are significant costs associated with redesign, flood mitigation etc. But the long term loss and potential cost to the community will be an aesthetically pleasing design and a flood proofed village heart.
MISLEADING. IN THE SHORT TERM AND THE LONG TERM THE OVERALL COST OF THE SLIGHTLY CURVED OPTION WITHIN THE CURRENT ROAD ALIGNMENT WILL BE CHEAPER. THIS HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY COUNCIL ENGINEER. AS FOR THE SECOND OBSERVATION RE ’LOSS OF AN AESTHETICALLY PLEASING DESIGN’, THIS IS MERELY AN OPINION.

Does Save Our Foreshore group have a mandate to claim the community supports them?
Historically SOF opposed the FKP hotel which was proposed for the car park. This had four stories, was approximately seven times the size of the building housing the chemist and convenience store and stretched across the full width of the street from Harry’s café to the Airlie Creek.
UNTRUE. HISTORICALLY SOF OPPOSED USING THIS PUBLIC FORESHORE FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT. AS WE HAVE SAID, NEARLY 7,000 PETITIONS SIGNATURES WERE OBTAINED TO “RETAIN AS PUBLIC SPACE AND IN THE SHORT TERM … THEN THIS AREA OF LAND MUST BE DEVELOPED AS OPEN SPACE FOR COMMUNITY USE”. THESE PETITIONS REJECTED THE PRINCIPLE OF ALIENATING OUR PUBLIC FORESHORE. NO MENTION OR REFERENCE OF ANY KIND WAS MADE IN THIS PETITION TO THE SIZE OF THE FKP PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT. AT THE TIME THE LABOR STATE GOVT SAID THERE WOULD NEVER BE PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT ON THIS PUBLIC WITHOUT “OVERWHELMING COMMUNITY SUPPORT.’ TEN SELF-INTERESTED BUSINESS PEOPLE DO NOT CONSTITUTE ‘OVERWHELMING COMMUNITY SUPPORT.’

The upgrade of the main street is all about beautifying the town and enhancing the green space. It is totally different and the opinion of AAG is that the support SOF had last time does not give them a mandate to oppose this project.
MISLEADING AND UNTRUE. THE AREA IN QUESTION IS STILL ZONED PARKLAND FOR USE AS OPEN PUBLIC SPACE. THE CURRENT LEGISLATION AND MOST APPROPRIATE USE POLICY ALL STATE THAT THE MOST APPROPRIATE USE IS AS PUBLIC OPEN SPACE. THIS IS NOT SOF’S MANDATE. THIS IS THE COMMUNITY’S MANDATE. ALL SOF IS ATTEMPTING TO PROTECT IS THIS MANDATE. UNLIKE THE RECENTLY FORMED AAG COMMITTEE WHO ARE QUITE CLEARLY HAPPY TO SEE THE COMMUNITY’S FORESHORE HANDED OVER TO ANOTHER LOCAL BUSINESSMAN.

Airlie Action Group strongly urges all stakeholders to voice their opinion so as to at least determine
For themselves their preferred outcome

Airlie Action Group Representatives:
Tony Logan – Airlie Apartments
Nick Talbot-Price – Eco Jetski Safaris
Lynn Gregson – Adelyn Retail
Wendy Bradley – Ozone Whitsundays
Alex Hawson – Rent a Yacht
Mike Daly – Whitsunday Dive Adventures
Paul Burke – Leader Group
Sam Zealand – Waterline on Shingley
Ray Waters – Air Whitsunday
Steve Moss – Uplan
JUST 10 SELF INTERESTED BUSINESS PEOPLE WITH NO REGARD FOR COMMUNITY WANTS AND NEEDS!

Response to Daily Mercury Whitsunday Place Name Story

2011-11-25T13:20:00.004+10:00

Neil Francey, Mackay, is the man who has proposed the Whitsunday name change. Here is his side of the story.

· Page 1 “A proposal is threatening the future of the name Whitsunday, leaving many to question what the bloody hell it could be called”

- “threatening the future use of the name Whitsunday”.

Whilst the application lodged with the Minister for Natural Resources may (if acted upon) see the name Whitsunday removed as one formally approved under the Place Names Act 1994 (PNA), this does not necessarily constitute a “threat” to the future use of the name itself. In fact, if the application were successful, the name Whitsunday would then be able to be used more widely in the region including in areas where it is more appropriate to be used and where it would then be able to be used without the risk of contravention of the PNA e.g. coffee currently marketed as “Whitsunday Gold” is not grown in the presently approved Whitsunday area and likewise still water marketed with a Whitsunday name is bottled from a source outside the current formal Whitsunday area. In reality, very little of the currently approved Whitsunday name area has anything to do with Captain Cook’s naming of the Whitsunday Passage and even less to do with where Cook actually anchored over Pentecost Eve to Whitsunday 1770 (which was off Slade Point, just north of Mackay Outer Harbour).

- “leaving many to question what the bloody hell it could be called”

Despite attention of readers being drawn to page 5, the main story which appears there only identifies Jan Jarratt MP, Mayor Mike Brunker and the other 6 WRC Councillors expressing a view, all negative and none of the views quoted expressly raise this question repeated in rhetorical form at the top of page 5.

· Page 5 “A Government department is considering abolishing the iconic Whitsunday name in part of the region”/”DERM indicated it was considering discontinuing...”

- “A government department is considering”/”DERM...was considering discontinuing”

Strictly, DERM is processing a place name application in accordance with normal departmental processes which involves, in the first instance, contacting “stakeholders” for “feedback” (although I note the second paragraph refers to “an individual” applying to DERM for discontinuance of the Whitsunday name...)

- “abolishing”

Strictly, the application is for the removal of a currently approved place name. As alluded to above, it does not “abolish” the name: it merely removes it as an approved name leaving it to be used informally as appropriate.

- “in part of the region”

Whilst this is technically accurate, in that the name applied to be removed covers only part of the region being the narrow area from Shute Harbour to Cannonvale, the story as a whole implies that use of the Whitsunday name will be abolished everywhere and for all purposes whereas, for example, it would leave the name of WRC unaffected and likewise reference to the WRC LGA.

· Page 5 “Airlie Beach (etc) are at risk of losing their identities”

- For the reasons set out above, this assertion (by the reporter) is inaccurate and/or misleading. In any case, the name was originally approved in 1987 over opposition from the then Lands Department on the basis that it would supplant then existing towns of Cannonvale, Airlie & Shutehaven and if it was to proceed it should do so as a new local government area. As it happened, those towns were re-designated as districts within the new Whitsunday town name and the latter two areas re-named Airlie Beach & Shute Harbour. In reality the Lands Departments views appear to have prevailed in that Cannonvale, Airlie Beach & Shute Harbour are widely known in their own right whereas the Whitsunday town place name is little used and applies only to a restricted part of the whole region whereas many other areas could legitimately lay claim to the Whitsunday name.

· Page 5 “It was only earlier this year etc”

- This statement (by the reporter) is inaccurate and incomplete in that the application for the removal of the names Whitsunday Coast and Whitsundays were lodged with cognate applications to have the names re-applied to more appropriate areas. This passage of reporting implies that there has been a persistent attempt to abolish Whitsunday names whereas this is in fact not the case. The true position is that there has been an attempt to free up and regularise the various Whitsunday names e.g. by extending the name Whitsunday Coast north to just north of Bowen and to the south of Mackay, and by extending the Whitsundays name south to include Lindeman and Pentecost Islands (currently not included) and north to include the islands and surrounding waters near Bowen.

· Page 5 Statements attributed to Ms Jarratt

- These statements, in the body of the story and as a quote under her photograph, are expressed as an objective fact i.e. that the “discussion” is of a complete waste of time and money. They are also ill-informed and inaccurate. Expressed in the manner presented they are also defamatory.

· Page 5 Statements attributed to Mr Brunker.

- These statements are intemperate and inflammatory and presented with no supporting evidence or reasoning process. As such they compound the other vices identified.

· Page 5 DERM website reference

- This accepts without question the accuracy of DERM’s website entry whereas it is incomplete/inaccurate on a number of bases.

· Page 5 “DERM (officer) Ian Gordon said the applicant had not suggested an alternative name for the township of Whitsunday”

- This again presents an incomplete picture as dealt with in more detail above.

In addition to re-application of the names Whitsunday Coast and Whitsundays I applied for the name Whitsunday Region to apply to the whole MRC/WRC/IRC LGA’s, being something consistent with the current proposal to create a new Local Government Association of Queensland District of Whitsunday (my LTTE DM 21/11/11 refers).

Accordingly - far from leaving the place without a name, which is the main thrust of the story – I, like others, have put forward a comprehensive and cohesive name for the area based on the region’s unique connection with the iconic Whitsunday name. I can understand Mr Brunker not appreciating all this but I am at a loss to figure out Ms Jarratt’s position since it seems inimical to the interests of most of her constituents (e.g. those in and around Bowen, those in the heavily populated areas of Mackay falling within her electorate, and even residents of the former Whitsunday Shire outside the narrow strip of land from Cannonvale to Shute Harbour (indeed some of the more enlightened of those living in the latter area may also even support what is involved providing it is properly explained and understood).

Other stories:
Whitsunday name change plan 'insulting '

Whitsunday name questioned

A Whit-stupid waste of time

3 dead as ute hits tree at Woodwark

2011-11-19T11:40:00.043+10:00

UPDATE: 12.30pm Monday 21 November 2011
Facebook Tribute Page

UPDATE: 9.00am Monday 21 November 2011
MP3: Jake Todd, Jareth Parris, both 17, and Mitchell Black, 18, were killed when their car hit a tree on the way to Airlie Beach for schoolies.

UPDATE: 7.00pm Sunday 20 November 2011
Mitchell Black, 18, Jake Todd, 17 and Jareth Parris, 17, all from Proserpine, will be dearly missed.

*UPDATE: 6.00pm Saturday 19 November 2011
All three boys who passed away were from Proserpine - they had finished school just yesterday.
Our condolences go out to their families and friends - we are thinking of you.
This is a devastating blow for everyone in the small sugar town of Proserpine and Proserpine High School.
Our thoughts also go out to the Emergency services personel who attended, many of whom have had to deal with this and work a double shift tonight (with today's tragedy very clear in their minds) due to Schoolies.

UPDATE: 2.37pm Saturday 19 November 2011
Queensland Police Service
Police and emergency services are currently at the scene of a triple fatal traffic crash on Paluma Road at Woodwark.
The single vehicle crash occurred around 11.15am this morning just west of Airlie Beach.
There were three young men, aged 18, two aged 17, in the utility at the time it crashed into a tree.
The men all died at the scene of the crash.
Police Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.
Police are urging motorists to take extra care on our roads with increased traffic over the holiday period and many young drivers travelling for end of year celebrations.
Motorists are advised to plan their trip to ensure they are not driving fatigued, have adequate rest breaks, and plan their trip home by organising safe transport.
Queensland Police will increase their focus on recognised road safety programs over the coming summer months, including speed detection, failing to wear seat belts and impaired driving, including drink and drug driving and driving while tired, to ensure the safety of all road users.

UPDATE: 2.15pm Saturday 19 November 2011
All 3 persons travelling in the ute have passed away.

UPDATE: 1.00pm Saturday 19 November 2011
Reports coming in that the accident has claimed a second life.

12.30pm Saturday 19 November 2011

First Post: 11.25am Saturday 19 November 2011
A ute has crashed on Paluma Road, Woodwark, 15 minutes ago, killing one of the three occupants. Two other occupants that were in the vehicle appear to be in a very serious condition.
At 11.05am, Police received reports that a car of similar appearance had been seen hooning around Woodwark, doing speeds guessed at in excess of 120km/hr. Police were heading out to Woodwark to follow up the complaint when the first report of the accident came in.
Emergency services teams and crashed vehicle occupants are still on the scene.
More info as it comes to hand.

Lead Up:

Map http://bit.ly/rQrFUP

*Out of respect for the familes and friends, we will not be displaying any images of the crash scene at Woodwark.

Other Reports:
MP3: Proserpine School community mourns young lives lost
Town in shock over teen deaths
Three schoolies die in crash
Video: Three dead in schoolies crash
Three teenagers die as utility hits tree at Woodwark near Airlie Beach
Five die across Queensland during 24 hours of mayhem

Serious assault on police in Airlie Beach this morning

2011-11-17T21:17:00.000+10:00

Police have charged a 33-year-old Jubliee Pocket man with serious assault after an incident in Airlie Beach this morning.
Around 8am, police attempted to intercept a vehicle on Shute Harbour Road, when it allegedly drove away in a dangerous manner.
The driver was located a short time later in his car, and became aggressive towards police.
It is alleged that the two Constables were attempting to arrest the man when one of them was punched in the face and the other received a laceration to his neck from being scratched.
The man was detained and transported to the Whitsunday Watchhouse.
He has been charged with a number of offences including evade police, assault police and serious assault, and is due to appear in the Proserpine Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Does winning an award mean you are the best?

2011-11-14T15:48:00.004+10:00

So, does winning a Tourism Whitsundays award mean that they are the best in that field?

Keli Medford, Manager Boathaven / Evoke, accepts her Tourism Whitsundays award for Marketing.

Third party services like Klout and Peer Index are socialmedia valuation services that independently 'score' a user on his or her ability to attract an audience; interact with them with authority; and 'influence the influential' in the world of social media.

Below we have captured the Social Media scores of the most popular Whitsundays SocialMedia accounts, and also included the winner of this years Tourism Whitsundays Award for Marketing - Keli Medford of Boathaven & Evoke Social Media.

Ms Medford is also a Director of Tourism Whitsundays, the same organization that gave out the awards.

SocialMedia User	Reach	Impact	Klout	Capital	Authority	Total
					In Top %
QLDOnline	392,653	96	48	60	1.0%	535,137
QLDWhitsundays	87,759	89	48	56	0.5%
QLDWhitsunday	53,501	89	48	56	0.5%
Roam Media	1,224	33	18	42	4.9%
Hamilton Island	6,409	73	40	26	26.7%
Tourism Whitsundays	1,124	59	38	1	100%
Alf Welch	333,179	95	36	54	4.4%
Evoke Social Media: Boathaven	0	9	12	4	100%	0
Evoke Social Media	no data	no data	no data	no data	no data	0

Some interesting stats about our sister SocialMedia user, QLDOnline. QLDOnline has:
61 times more reach than Hamilton Island;
350 times more reach than Tourism Whitsundays.
Our own SocialMedia account, QLDWhitsundays, is in the Top 0.5% of authoritative tweeters.

2 safes stolen last night from Cannonvale

2011-11-07T13:52:00.001+10:00

Police are appealing for public assistance after the break and enter of two businesses in the Whitsundays this morning.

Around 1.30am, unknown offenders gained entry to a Galbraith Park Road, Cannonvale shopping complex and removed two safes containing a sum of cash.

Anybody who may have information regarding this incident is being encouraged to contact CrimeStoppers or Policelink on 131 444.

Police are urging other Whitsunday business owners to review their security arrangements and be vigilant about this type of crime.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

Whitsunday Police Station can be phoned on 07 4948 8888.

Crime Stoppers is a charitable community volunteer organisation working in partnership with the Queensland Police Service.

New(?) Police chopper for SEQ

2011-11-06T11:51:00.001+10:00

The average age of a taxi in Egypt is 32 years - so is the average age of the Queensland Police Helicopter fleet. If the $1M Police Chopper in SE QLD is 'New', then we can look forward to the 'new' police car fleet...

Police vehicles from 1979

It's about time South East Queensland got a Police chopper, but did they get a good deal?

The QLD Police have contracted Heliwest (WA) to provide a Bell 206L Longranger. The Longranger's registration is VH-ZHP, Serial number 45308.

Longranger Serial number 45308 was built by Bell Helicopters in the USA in 1979 & gained its worthiness certificate on 28 September 1979. Its first registration number was 'N2774V'.

Within 18 months of gaining air worthiness, on Wednesday 29 April 1981, 'N2774V' crashed in Pearland, Texas (on its way to Freeport Tx) and sustained 'substantial damage'.

'N2774V' was repaired and returned to the skies. This is an image of it taken in 1998...

Around August 2007, the owners of 'N2774V' put her up for sale - the chopper was looking a bit tired by then after already 28 years of use...

on 22 July 2010, N2774V, Longranger Serial number 45308 was de-registered in the USA...

About a month later, around 30 August 2010, Longranger Serial number 45308, was registered by Helibits P/L in WA. Here it is in WA on 21 April 2011.

Troubled Xmas for SANTAS

2011-11-05T17:03:00.022+10:00

Update: Monday 21 November 2011:
November 21 - SANTAS & ToyWorkers Union unable to come to agreement by deadline - ToyWorkers Tribunal to step in

Original Story: 5 November 2011
The Toy Workers Union, Elf Unions & SANTAS will have an uneasy truce for the next 21 days after several hearings this week of the Fair Toyworkers Tribunal. Here is a timeline of how the Toy Workers dispute came to a head last week with the grounding of SANTAS Sleighs and Reindeer.

November 4 2010 - SANTAS Sleigh Ride from Singapore to Sydney returns after one of the reindeer spontaneously com-busts - safely lands with 3 reindeer but sleigh is a mess and grounded for several months. Investigations seem to point the finger at 'ReinRoyce' - possibility their cloned reindeer have an imperfection.
March 22 - Toy Workers' Union (TWU) says 9000 Elves are ready to strike for a four per cent pay increase. SANTAS says it will not negotiate new agreement until July.
March 30 - SANTAS announces indeterminate job cuts as a result of rising hay costs, natural resources, and reindeer rigging.
April 5 - Elf Unions slam SANTAS for training staff to feed & care for the reindeer and sleigh drivers in strike-breaking contingency plans.
May 26 - Fair Toyworkers Tribunal approves ballot allowing long-haul sleigh drivers to vote on taking industrial action for the first time in 45 years.
June 2 - SANTAS offers voluntary redundancies to all 7000 of its toymakers.
June 22 - SANTAS's CEO Santa Claus foreshadows "tough decisions" and a greater focus on Asia to turn around the toymaker's loss-making international business.
July 2 - SANTAS engineers call off industrial action planned in Melbourne and Perth because of the grounding of Tigger Airways.
July 11 - SANTAS' long-haul sleigh drivers vote to take protected industrial action against SANTAS as it had rejected union claims it is sending their jobs offshore
July 15 - SANTAS' engineers stop work for 60 seconds and two right-handed engineers were reportedly about to start working for a week using only their left hands
July 20 - SANTAS says jobs will be destroyed if IceStar & SANTAS' sleigh drivers are put on the same pay and conditions
July 22 - Sleigh drivers begin industrial action with unauthorised pre-Christmas deliveries and informing recipients about their union campaign
July 25 - Reindeer riggers vote for a protected-action ballot after SANTAS' management knocked back key claims in negotiations over their workplace agreement
July 29 - SANTAS' warehouse workers walk off the job over the company's push towards the casualisation of the workforce. SANTAS stands down a sleigh driver and an engineer after they threaten to go on strike.
August 4 - Cleaners at Melbourne SANTAS threaten to go on strike unless they get a pay rise - claim reindeer fed and maintained overseas make more mess.
August 16 - SANTAS says it will make dramatic changes to its international business in a process that will affect 1,000 jobs. Elf Unions consider industrial action
August 19 - SANTAS engineers say they will stop work for one hour every weekday from August 25 until the week before Christmas
August 24 - SANTAS more than doubles its full year net profit to $250 million
August 25 - SANTAS engineers start work at Sydney SANTAS an hour late.
August 31 - SANTAS long-haul Sleigh Drivers meet to talk over their pay and conditions dispute - protest by carrying red whips.
September 5 - Forty engineers in Brisbane strike
September 7 - SANTAS annual report released, showing Santa Claus got $2.2 million in shares in 2010/11, lifting his total remuneration to $5.1 million
September 20 - More than 4000 Reindeer Riggers and Carers strike over pay and conditions
September 23 - Sleigh maintenance engineers hold a one-hour strike in Melbourne, and 1300 sleigh rides affected.
September 30 - Reindeer carers and riggers walk off the job, with 39 sleighs delayed by up to an hour and two sleighs cancelled. TWU flags another nationwide stoppage
October 5 - Reports emerge that Santa Claus and other senior elves have received death threats. Santa Claus calls for calm in negotiations.
October 7 - Reindeer carers and riggers call off a nationwide strike but deliveries still face delays because sleigh rides were cancelled
October 10 - Engineers cancel industrial action after management threatens to dock them a day's pay, but flag more strikes leading up to Christmas
October 13 - SANTAS says it will ground five sleighs and cut up 100 reindeer this week. Meat will be served at the SANTAS AGM. Queen Wenceles threatens to intervene
October 14 - Queen Wenceles says SANTAS and unions should negotiate or the government will step in. IceStar freight staff refuse to charge for excess weight for 24 hours. Engineers cancel all industrial action for two weeks
October 15 - SANTAS says it will cancel 400 domestic sleigh rides over the next month
October 16 - SANTAS denies a union claim that it is walking away from negotiations with sleigh drivers
October 17 - Queen Wenceles says she can't yet intervene, as SANTAS grounds 16 sleighs and 400 reindeer
October 18 - SANTAS says it will ground another two sleighs and a further 80 reindeer.
October 20 - The engineers say they are now hopeful of reaching a deal and call off all protected industrial action for three weeks, in a challenge to SANTAS to resume its full delivery schedule
October 28 - Santa Claus apologises to the kiddies as their Christmas presents may be delayed by strikes. He gets a $5 million salary package at the annual general meeting, where he says the strikes have cost SANTAS $68 million.
October 29 - SANTAS grounds its international and domestic sleighs and reindeer and says it will lock out workers at SANTAS from Monday.
Fair Toyworkers Tribunal holds a late night hearing in Melbourne
October 30 - Fair work hearing resumes
October 31 - Fair Toyworkers Tribunal grants a full termination of the protected industrial action against SANTAS. SANTAS is ordered to return the sleighs and reindeer back to the skies. Elf Unions are ordered to feed and care for the reindeer for the next 21 days. Reindeer and Sleighs begin flying again.
November 2 Santa Claus, while sorting out his deliveries, finds a PlayStation with a cut cord and fears sabotage - calls in the Ice Police.
November 4 - Santa Claus fronts the North Pole Senate Inquiry. Santa told North Pole lawmakers that he had to ground the carrier’s sleighs and reindeer because labor disputes were causing a slump in corporate sales. Santa Claus testified for about three hours, almost double the scheduled time.
November 4 - Original 'Dirty Dozen' reindeer 'Prancer' develops gastro on SANTAS' Singapore to London Sleigh Ride. Other 3 reindeer are OK, however Sleigh Drivers divert to Dubai due to the mess and smell. Hitching a ride was well known personality 'FishFry' who updated the world via twitter about the latest SANTAS saga. This incident comes exactly one year after a Sleigh Ride from Singapore to Sydney had to turn back after one of the reindeer spontaneously combusted just after take off over an Indonesian island.
November 21 - SANTAS & ToyWorkers Union unable to come to agreement by deadline - ToyWorkers Tribunal to step in

Almost all of this article was ~~stolen plaigarised~~ copied from The Australian Financial Review, October 31, 2011.

Webcams in Whitsundays capture odd images

2011-10-31T16:14:00.001+10:00

Many reports of odd things flying around in the air are coming in - we thought at first that maybe the folks had seen a Qantas plane.

However, we set the Webcams to 'motion detect' to see if we would be lucky enough to get a glimpse.

3.47pm Monday 31 October 2011 - Cannonvale, Whitsundays


3.35pm Monday 31 October 2011 - Airlie Beach, Whitsundays

1.29pm Monday 31 October 2011 - Hardy's Reef, Whitsundays

Seems some folks couldn't wait for Qantas to take off again.
Happy Halloween.

High speed Police chase thru Whitsundays concludes

2011-10-19T11:41:00.007+10:00

UPDATE 5.15pm Wed 19 Oct 2011

Police are appealing for public assistance to locate the driver and two occupants of a stolen vehicle spotted driving dangerously on the Bruce Highway this morning.

Around 9.15am, police sighted the vehicle travelling south on the Bruce Highway toward Proserpine.

Police attempted to intercept the vehicle at before it allegedly sped away from officers.

Around 9.40am, officers stopped following the vehicle.

It was later spotted by police at a service station north of Calen.

The offenders rammed a police car and continued south on the Bruce Highway.

A short time later, the three men abandoned the vehicle at Kuttabul and fled into nearby caneland.

All three offenders are described as having a dark complexion.

Police investigations are continuing.

Original Story 10.30am Wed 19 Oct 2011

A police car chase starting in Proserpine this morning & reaching speeds over 150km/h has concluded in the Mackay region.

At around 9am this morning, a motorist rang Proserpine Police station and advised them of a white Nissan Maxima driving dangerously on the Bruce Highway, heading south at around Gregory River, about 15kms north of Proserpine.

Police then found out the vehicle had been stolen from Cardwell 2 days earlier and tried to pull the vehicle over 3km N of Proserpine, where it failed to stop. The chase continued south with Police unable to keep up even when doing 140km/h.

At Bloomsbury, Police came upon the 2 men with the stolen car at the Mobil service station getting fuel. When they spotted the Police, they then proceeded to head south on the Bruce Highway - it again sped out of sight of the chasing Police vehicle. Police then asked the truckies in the area via UHF CB radio to advise them of the stolen vehicles location.

Truckies advised the Police the stolen car had pulled into the Caltex service station 1km north of Calen - several truckies intervened and attempted to halt the two men in the stolen car. A police vehicle then rammed the drivers door of the stolen car as it exited the service station and it then continued south towards Calen.

Police had set up a roadblock at Calen and attempted to deploy road spikes, but the stolen vehicle swerved towards the Police officer and attempted to run him over.

The stolen vehicle continued south towards Mackay with Police in full pursuit. We lost contact at this point.

Queensland Police have advised us that the pursuit has concluded in the last hour - more details to come.

Keith Williams - dead at 82

2011-10-19T10:24:00.002+10:00

This is probably the best way to sum-up Keith and his time in the Whitsundays - 1985 TV ad for Swan Lager. RIP.

Fatal traffic crash on Bruce Hwy, Whitsundays

2011-10-16T11:34:00.001+10:00

UPDATE 4pm Sunday 16 October 2011

Two men from Mackay, aged 38 and 30, died a traffic crash when their vehicle (travelling north) collided head on with another car today.
The crash occurred about 6.45am around 20km south of Bloomsbury (just north of Pindi Pini) on the Bruce Highway.
A 21-year-old Mackay man driving the northbound vehicle was taken to Mackay Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.
The southbound vehicle was driven by a 57-year-old Mackay man, he was taken to Mackay Hospital in a stable condition. His passenger, a 43-year-old Rockhampton man, was seriously injured and is currently in a critical condition in Mackay Hospital.
The highway was closed for several hours but has now re-opened.
Forensic Crash Unit are Investigating.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

Crime Stoppers is a charitable community volunteer organisation working in partnership with the Queensland Police Service.

QLD Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Large Hail, Flash Flooding, Damaging Winds

2011-10-13T18:40:00.001+10:00

QLD Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Large Hail, Flash Flooding, Damaging Winds

Source: Bureau of Meteorology

For people in the Central Coast and Whitsundays, Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, Southeast Coast and parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields and Darling Downs and Granite Belt Forecast Districts.

Issued at 6:34 pm Thursday, 13 October 2011.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds, very heavy rainfall, flash flooding and large hailstones in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Dalby, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay and Kingaroy.

Severe thunderstorms are no longer occurring in the Central West and Maranoa and Warrego districts and the warning for these districts is CANCELLED.

A 98km/hr wind gust was recorded at Emerald airport at 5:25pm.
110mm of rainfall has been reported at Mt Alford within 2 hours at 5:00pm.
63mm of rainfall has been recorded at Mt Cotton within 30minutes at 4:45pm.
2cm hail was reported at Forest Lake and 3cm hail was reported at Springfield earlier in the afternoon.
Widespread small hail has been reported near Logan earlier in the afternoon.

Emergency Management Queensland advises that people should:
* Move your car under cover or away from trees.
* Secure loose outdoor items.
* Avoid driving, walking or riding through flood waters.
* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.
* Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.
* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.

BoM Radar | Early Warning Network | Unsubscribe

Jetstar A320 aborts landing on Hamilton Island

2011-09-29T23:02:00.008+10:00

UPDATE: 4pm Fri 30 Sep 2011

I went back and had a look at the official wind records for the day (see below):
There were no extraordinary gusts of wind during the landings.

ORIGINAL STORY 11pm Thur 29 Sept 2011
A Jetstar / Qantas flight from Sydney to Hamilton Island flight JQ848 had to abort its landing on Hamilton Island at 2.20pm yesterday. So we asked Jetstar via Twitter about the aborted landing:

@QLDOnline: @JetstarNews Hi, may I ask reason for aborted landing by Jetstar on Hamilton Island yesterday?


Tweet from @JetstarNews - 1645 29 Sept 2011 in reply to our question/tweet above.

I was at Hamilton Island Airport at that time and witnessed the Airbus A320 bounce big time on its first attempted landing, then take off again - the conditions on Hamilton Island at that time were (described by a very experienced pilot) as 'perfect flying weather'.

Below are the official readings from the Bureau of Meteorology's Weather station, about 100 metres from the Hamilton Island runway, and image from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, taken at the time of the landing of the Jetstar Airbus A320.

Does this image (taken 4 minutes earlier of Jetstar aborted landing) represent 'bad weather' '?

Above, the first chart is Visibility - you will note there was unlimited visibility.
The second chart shows the conditions at the time the Jetstar Airbus A320 first bounced onto Hamilton Island.
The third article is an image of the conditions taken from the AIMS Research centre, 50km NE of Hamilton Island, taken just 4 minutes before the 'Jetstar Bounce' on Hamilton Island.

So, why is Jetstar telling us the aborted landing was a weather issue when the weather has been confirmed by another pilot as 'perfect flying weather'?

I personally watched the Jetstar flight land on Hamilton Island, bounce, then take off again after the second bounce. I personally have also been on many, many flights in the past 11 years to Hamilton Island, and about four of those had to 'go around', but that was due to very low cloud and/or rain. As you can see from the image (and stats) above, that there was no cloud on that day at Hamilton Island.

This afternoon, I challenged Jetstar that the weather on Hamilton Island was perfect and the reason for the 'go around' could not have been weather related - I have yet to receive a reply.

Jetstar, next time a passenger asks you a question (especially when its a couple of the most influential in SocialMedia in Tourism & Travel - http://www.queenslandonline.net/news/socialmedia_tourism.php), can you please be honest with them, otherwise your integrity & profits will go the same way as that of Tiger.

Safety may not have been compromised, but what about integrity, loyalty and honesty? Very big values when it comes to choosing which airline to fly with.

Missing UK tourist found

2011-09-22T18:28:00.002+10:00

UPDATE 4am Fri 23 September 2011
The 27-year-old woman reported missing at Airlie Beach has been found safe and well.

Police would like to thank members of the public and media for their assistance.

6pm Thu 22 Sep 2011
Police are currently searching for a missing 27-year-old woman who went missing near Broadwater Avenue, Airlie Beach overnight.

Kirsty Rogers, a British National, was last seen at the intersection of Broadwater Avenue and Shute Harbour Road, Airlie Beach around 11:00pm.

She has not been seen since, and police hold concerns for her safety.

She was last seen wearing a brown singlet top, green shorts and white thongs and was carrying a handbag.

Anyone with any information is urged to call Crime Stoppers.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1 800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

Crime Stoppers is a charitable community volunteer organisation working in partnership with the Queensland Police Service.

Another quake shakes the Whitsundays

2011-09-18T09:21:00.015+10:00

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake hit the north west Whitsundays this morning at 2.28am.

The quakes epicentre was 5km deep, near Tondara Road, Bogie,
45km NNW of Collinsville;
70km WWS of Bowen
100km NW of Proserpine.

No damage has been reported.

Could have been felt by people up to 69km away
Could have caused damage up to 5km away

There have been reports that folks in Collinsville, Gumlu, the Burdekin and Bowen were woken by the event. The quake was heard here in the Whitsundays, but not felt, which is why most here in the Whitsundays slept through it. It sounded like a very high flying passenger jet flying over, or a distant road train going by; started quietly, then increased in volume, then faded out, lasting for 15 seconds.

The quake struck near where a M5.3 quake (and subsequent tremors) struck on April 16 earlier this year.

Story on quakes earlier this year

SW of Bowen, QLD.
Magnitude: 4.1 (ML)
Depth: 5 km
Tsunamigenic: Not available

Date and Time
UTC: 17 September 2011 @ 16:28:29
AEST: 18 September 2011 @ 02:28:29

Location
Coordinates: -20.214, 147.614

Solution status
Last updated: 18 September 2011 @ 06:48:05 (AEST)
Solution finalised: No
Source: AUST

Quakes this year around the Whitsundays:

4.1	17 September 2011 @ 16:28:29	18 September 2011 @ 02:28:29	-20.214	147.614	5	AUST	SW of Bowen, QLD.
3.1	05 May 2011 @ 05:35:05	05 May 2011 @ 15:35:05	-20.242	147.651	0	AUST	SW of Bowen, Qld.
3.2	19 April 2011 @ 07:38:05	19 April 2011 @ 17:38:05	-20.067	147.810	6	AUST	Near Bowen, QLD.
3.2	17 April 2011 @ 01:35:55	17 April 2011 @ 11:35:55	-20.174	147.668	0	AUST	Near Bowen, QLD.
3.4	16 April 2011 @ 15:33:19	17 April 2011 @ 01:33:19	-20.128	147.759	4	AUST	Near Bowen, QLD.
3.2	16 April 2011 @ 13:06:44	16 April 2011 @ 23:06:44	-20.191	147.692	0	AUST	Near Bowen, QLD.
4.1	16 April 2011 @ 07:06:52	16 April 2011 @ 17:06:52	-20.170	147.679	0	AUST	Near Bowen, QLD.
5.3	16 April 2011 @ 05:31:18	16 April 2011 @ 15:31:18	-20.085	147.764	7	AUST	Near Bowen, QLD.

Sources:
Geoscience Australia
Whitsundays News

Whitsundays ferry allegedly hits whale

2011-09-11T01:18:00.009+10:00

It has been reported that a ferry operating between Airlie Beach and one of the islands hit a whale on Wednesday 7 September AM, which was badly injured. It is possible this incident is related to the discovery of a whale washed up on a Mackay beach this week.

We encourage the ferry company involved to think again about responsibly divulging this important incident, so as to assist the authorities with formulating better marine transport practices due to the ever increasing whale population.

It's hard to Smile when $50 Million goes missing

2011-09-08T09:18:00.001+10:00

Almost $50 Million dollars less was spent by international tourists in the Whitsundays for the year ending 30 June 2011 compared to the year before according to the latest tourism figures.

Figures for the year ending June 2011 show that international visitors to the Whitsundays:
Spent $111M - Down 31% from $160M
Spent per visit: $597 - Down 20% from $749
Spent per night: $103 - Down 25% from $138
Average stay: 6 nights - up from 5

International Tourism numbers from 30 June 2006 to 30 June 2011

	30 June 2006	30 June 2007	30 June 2008	30 June 2009	30 June 2010	30 June 2011

Total Spent $M	121	119	131	129	160	111
Spent per Visit $	553	571	573	595	749	597
Spent per Night $	99	92	107	96	138	103
Average Stay / nights	6	6	5	6	5	6

SocialMedia influence after 'Choppergate'

2011-09-04T08:40:00.004+10:00

UPDATE: 21 October 2011

Video: 'Choppergate' journalist drops legal action

UPDATE: 24 September 2011

SocialMedia influence for 7 & 9 News Brisbane
from 23 July to 24 September 2011
Red zone marks 22 August 2011

ORIGINAL STORY: 4 September 2011

A measure of 'Klout' may be interpreted by some as a measure of credibility.

I was prompted to put up these graphs after reading the Courier Mail's article "Nine's choppergate scandal impacts worst on network that broke story, ratings leader Seven" - 3 September 2011 - Nathanael Cooper

'Choppergate' started to unravel Monday 22 August 2011.

Daily Klout score for 9 News Brisbane V @QLDOnline
5 August 2011 to 3 September 2011

Daily Klout score for 7 News Brisbane V @QLDOnline
5 August 2011 to 3 September 2011

Below is a graph that shows the four major Brisbane TV News' 'Klout' or 'Influence' in SocialMedia from 23 July 2011 to 3 September 2011.

SocialMedia influence for Brisbane TV News
23 July 2011 to 3 September 2011

The graph below shows the four major Brisbane TV News' 'Influence' in SocialMedia for 2011.

SocialMedia influence for Brisbane TV News
23 Decmber 2010 to 3 September 2011

We have only seen the effect of 'Choppergate' over the past 10 days. It will be interesting to see the longer term effect, especially if the issue continues to surface in the media.

Sources:
Queensland Online SocialMedia Report
Courier Mail
Klout

Would a Gondola boost Whitsundays tourism?

2011-08-20T14:25:00.000+10:00

Would a Queenstown style gondola and viewing platform + restaurant above Airlie Beach be a boost for tourism?
We've made up these images for discussion - click to enlarge.

Official statement: Merger between EW & TW

2011-08-16T18:38:00.018+10:00

Bloggers Note: We suggest you read the very bottom item which refers to our releasing of this news on SocialMedia Monday 15 August, plus our Update on Saturday 20 August 2011.

*Message from the Chairman* (PM Tuesday 16 August 2011)

Dear TW partners,

Today I am excited to announce a step forward for the future of tourism and economic development for the Whitsundays. The Boards of Tourism Whitsundays and Enterprise Whitsundays have unanimously agreed to merge the two organisations.
This merger will create a far more coordinated approach to the development of the vastly different industries in the Whitsunday region, with tourism being one of those key industries.
Staff of both organisations will work from the same office effective immediately, however the process of establishing the new organisation will take longer. To guide this process a transition committee has been appointed, made up of TW and EW Board members, who have already commenced work on the legalities, finances and other arrangements to form the new organisation. I have been appointed Chairman of the transition committee, and EW Chairman Jim Elder will be Deputy Chairman of the transition committee.
Peter O’Reilly has been appointed as CEO of Enterprise Whitsundays to ensure the economic development staff have a stable structure under which to work through the transition.
While the transition committee works through the process of the merger, both TW and EW will continue to operate as normal, with the two organisations sitting alongside each other as business units.
I am very positive and enthusiastic about this opportunity for the Whitsundays community and industries, as I am sure you will be. You do not need to have any concerns about destination marketing activities being impacted – in fact this merger will create more opportunities to access funding for tourism marketing and industry development than before.
There are still many details to be finalised. However we have compiled some FAQs and further information on our website: www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au/business-centre
You can also read the official press release (being released to media today) – here <https://mymail.ezemsgs.com/ch/2669/2dbnbx2/1480942/20356nbsv.pdf>.
I trust we have your support in this new venture, and if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.
Chris Jacobs
Chairman, Tourism Whitsundays

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
16.08.11
TOURISM WHITSUNDAYS AND ENTERPRISE WHITSUNDAYS TO MERGE
Tourism Whitsundays and Enterprise Whitsundays have today announced they will be merging the
two organisations.
The merger has been a topic of consideration for a number of years and is seen as a strong and
positive move by the Boards of both organisations.
The merger will take functional effect immediately with the two businesses being run side by side
whilst the new umbrella organisation is put into place.
Tourism Whitsundays Chief Executive Officer Peter O’Reilly has been appointed as CEO of Enterprise
Whitsundays to ensure the economic development staff have a stable structure under which to work
through the transition.
A Transition Committee made up of Tourism Whitsundays and Enterprise Whitsundays Board
members has been formed to effect the change in structure and steer the organisation through until
June next year.
Chairman of the transition committee will be Chris Jacobs with Jim Elder as Deputy Chairman.
Mr O’Reilly said the merger had the full support of both Boards and key stakeholders such as the
Whitsunday Regional Council, Tourism Queensland and major industry supporters.
“The merger will provide significant cost savings for both organisations, as well as establish a central
board and organisation to grow our local economy,” Mr O’Reilly said.
“The Whitsundays is a very diverse region, with several strong industries spread across a broad
landscape and there will be a huge advantage to the region having the one board focused on
coordinating and growing these industries for the benefit of our communities,” he said.
Mayor Mike Brunker said the merger would create a more unified approach to growing the region’s
economy.
“Tourism is the lifeblood of Airlie Beach and the islands, whereas the inland areas are more focused
on agriculture and Bowen and Collinsville have a huge potential in the mining industry,” Mr Brunker said.
“In the last 12 months the effects of the GFC have shown why we need to develop diverse sectors of
the economy in the Whitsundays so that when one is suffering the other sectors carry the region’s
economy,” he said.
“All sectors of our economy will benefit from having the one organisation to coordinate growth
strategies.”
Enterprise Whitsundays Chairman Jim Elder said the region was vast and diversified, with numerous
business challenges across all industry sectors.
“This merger is long overdue,” Mr Elder said.
“A single point of contact for any tourism business and economic opportunities can only benefit the
region,” he said.
Tourism Whitsundays Chairman Chris Jacobs strongly supported the merger.
“Tourism is the major economic driver for Airlie Beach and the islands, and I am eager to ensure
tourism continues to develop and grow in the Whitsundays,” Mr Jacobs said.
“But this is more easily and effectively achieved if the growth in this sector is aligned with that of the
rest of the region’s economy,” he said.
“This merger offers increased opportunities to access funding to benefit tourism and a number of
other significant benefits,”
“The merged entity will have a lot more pull and a lot more clout.”
While the transition committee focuses on the legalities, finance, governance and other issues for
the new organisation through this time, the operational aspect of the two organisations will merge
immediately.
EW staff will move into the TW office, offering immediate cost and resource sharing benefits. Both
businesses will continue to operate as normal - ie. the existing Board and governance structures of
the two organisations will continue to operate and guide the business units through the transition
period. The existing projects and destination marketing activities of both organisations will continue
as planned and as normal.
Existing sponsorship and partnership arrangements with the two entities will remain unchanged for
the first trading year. New formulas and approaches will be reviewed over that period for the
following year.
Partners of Tourism Whitsundays and Enterprise Whitsundays have received information on the
merger, and members of the community can access more information, including an organisational
structure, at www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au/business-centre
ENDS
For media enquiries, contact:
Danielle Seymour, Marketing Services Manager, Tourism Whitsundays
Ph. 07 4948 5904 or 0417 765 736
communications@tourismwhitsundays.com.au
Note: Media please be wary of wildly inaccurate reports being made on social media by people
posing as legitimate Whitsundays news sources. Please contact us with any queries directly.

UPDATE: Sat 20 Aug 2011 - Bloggers Note: Our report was spot on. Yes, I also have concerns about people posing as legitimate Whitsundays News sources giving out misleading tweets - a story about that soon.

Do The Whitsundays gets bigger & better

2011-08-16T10:54:00.000+10:00

The 'Do The Whitsundays' promotional concept continues to grow, with more than 30 of the regions top operators, plus one of Australia's most successful Travel & Wine marketing companies, joining forces to present a long-term campaign to promote the Whitsundays.

The campaign will commence shortly and will continue until next year's dry season. It will be promoted to a world audience, with extra attention focused on the 'Drive to' / Family / Domestic travel markets, which many operators say needs more exposure.

The DTW campaign will also be heavily promoted to the memberships of the RACV, RACT, and from December, the RACQ, plus directly through Visit Vineyards 36,000 membership.

Visit Vineyards has so much confidence in this project that they have extended up to $1,000 to cover airfares for one of the many competitions to be run. They have also commissioned a full-time team in Hobart, Adelaide and Melbourne to professionally promote DTW in the states.

Promotion of 'Do The Whitsundays' will also be heavily promoted via SocialMedia, which will be handled locally by Roam Media .

The campaign has been professionally planned and is about to be implemented, however there are still a few opportunities for other good and reputable Whitsundays operators to be a part of this major independent and exciting promotion.

Do The Whitsundays Contributors:

Visit Vineyards - http://www.visitvineyards.com.au/
Toscana Resort - http://bit.ly/pNwyOM
Marry Me Margaret - http://bit.ly/nTFVB3
Total Weddings - http://bit.ly/pQ6M4f
Air Whitsunday - http://bit.ly/qImv0p
ReefWorld - http://bit.ly/eYK6qX
ReefSleep - http://bit.ly/gRiwZd
Airlie Apartments - http://bit.ly/pqxHet
Whitsunday Island Adventure Cruises - http://bit.ly/oHe33R
Charter Yachts Australia - http://bit.ly/rlO6if
Catering Whitsunday - http://bit.ly/p4Ewfk
Airlie Beach Hotel - http://bit.ly/mRBM0q
Airlie Day Spa - http://bit.ly/r4tm6a
Aviation Adventures - http://av8.com.au/
Tropix Photography - http://bit.ly/lgvCMA
Into the Blue Gallery - http://bit.ly/qN3P0h
Cruise Whitsundays - http://bit.ly/4A1XXT
Daydream Island Resort - http://bit.ly/hxR5D6
Adventure Whitsunday Big 4 - http://bit.ly/p9DOzr
Whitsunday Fishing Charters - http://bit.ly/peTd3J
A & A Motel Proserpine - http://bit.ly/nkLXMW
Figurehead Hair Salon - http://bit.ly/mP8sXv
Whitsunday Crocodile Safari - http://bit.ly/osT1uM
Whitsunday Dive Adventures - http://bit.ly/b50mPr
Maxiaction's 'Ragamuffin' - http://bit.ly/rVUul
Beachworx - http://bit.ly/ir2PYO
Base Airlie Beach Resort - http://bit.ly/obF6dW
Seabreeze Art Gallery - http://bit.ly/pTJNR4
Cape Gloucester Eco-Resort - http://capeg.com.au/
Sushi Whitsunday - http://bit.ly/p4Ewfk
Magnums Backpackers - http://bit.ly/qqVL2P
Roam Media - http://roam.net.au/

Do The Whitsundays
FaceBook : DTWhitsundays
Twitter : @DoTheWhitsunday
YouTube : DoTheWhitsundays
Images : http://on.fb.me/n0me0r
Map : http://bit.ly/r2QUGA
Google Earth : http://bit.ly/oHivAJ
Contact : James
Email : jd@roam.net.au

Tourism Whitsundays & Enterprise Whitsunday to merge

2011-08-15T18:09:00.003+10:00

Exclusive: Tourism Whitsundays and Enterprise Whitsunday are to merge.

'Starship Enterprise' will take on all the functions that are currently undertaken by Tourism Whitsundays and Enterprise Whitsunday, and reduce some of those that are duplicated.

Cost synergies and non-replication of tasks may result in some staff being laid off.

The new entity will be run by by Peter O'Reilly as the CEO. Mr O'Reilly is the current CEO of Tourism Whitsundays.

The new board of Tourism Whitsundays will be reduced to three. It is believed that two of those are Kellie Medford and Chris Jacobs.

It is believed the staff of Enterprise Whitsunday first heard of the merger from us through a post on SocialMedia.

Sources: Two independent and anonymous sources

SocialMedia's role during the Queensland Floods

2011-08-01T19:27:00.002+10:00

Excerpt from Queensland Floods Inquiry interim report released today Monday 1 August 2011.

During the 2010/2011 floods, some councils and the Queensland Police Service used social media such as Twitter and Facebook to disseminate flood warnings and information about local conditions. Where it was used, social media was found to be an effective way to provide information to the community.

An independent review of the Brisbane City Council’s response to the January 2011 floods determined that Facebook and Twitter were used extensively to access information about the 2010/2011 floods.

Many of the councils that do not currently use social media to provide information to residents have indicated an intention to do so in future disaster events.

As it may be possible for the public to post information directly to an official social media site, there are concerns that a member of the public might post false information. For example, inaccurate information was published on the Western Downs Regional Council Facebook page.

The Commission acknowledges that additional staff, beyond the resources of some councils, may be needed to prevent inaccurate information being posted. However, where there are enough staff to monitor content, social media can be a useful tool to respond to rumours in the community.

For example, two employees of Goondiwindi Regional Council updated the council’s Facebook site 24 hours a day to correct rumours promptly and to provide up-to-date information to the community. The Queensland Police Service also used its Facebook site to respond to rumours; for example, a rumour about the failure of Wivenhoe Dam.

Recommendation
Councils that have not already done so should consider how social media may be used effectively to provide accurate information about flood levels and local conditions to residents during a flood event.

Source: Queensland Floods Inquiry Interim Report - Section 4
Full Report here
Queenslanders turn to Whitsundays local for disaster info

Boat & Trailer stolen from Mt Julian

2011-07-29T15:20:00.000+10:00

Police are investigating an incident of stealing following the theft of a boat and trailer from a house in Mount Julian.

Preliminary investigations indicate the boat and trailer, which were parked and secured at a residence on Shute Harbour Road were stolen sometime between 8am on Saturday July 16 and 9am Sunday July 17.

The trailer is a Four Seasons single axle boat trailer and the boat is a Four Seasons black and white 5.5metre tinny with QLD registration QB558Q.

Police are encouraging anyone who may know the whereabouts of the boat and trailer or has information relating to this incident which could assist with investigations to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Most Whitsundays residents won't have access to 2 cyclone shelters

2011-07-10T10:26:00.009+10:00

Click here for full story

The Queensland Government has announced that Category 5 Cyclone Shelters are to be built at Bowen and Proserpine State High Schools. There is no cyclone shelter planned for the 'Airlie Isle'.

The 15,000 or so residents & visitors of the coastal villages of Airlie Beach, Cannonvale, Jubilee Pocket and every other community east of the Bruce Highway (and the most exposed to cyclones) will miss out.

As everyone knows, the only road access between the coastal villages (and islands) and the rest of Australia is a 25km drive on Shute Harbour Road, and it is often cut due to flooding - even just after a couple of hours of heavy rain (there has even been a song written about it).

The coastal communities (Airlie Isle) have been 'cut off' from Proserpine & the rest of the mainland at least five times in the past year, and have experienced cyclones twice. The whole Whitsundays were isolated at one point for three days. See map of usual road closures.

There has been no announcement by the Queensland Government on flood proofing road access between Airlie Beach and the Cyclone shelters.

So, two CAT5 shelters are to be built in the Whitsundays and most of the population will not have access to them.

But that's not the worse part of this story. Imagine its cyclone season 2013-4, it's been raining a few days and water is lying around, but the roads are open, as is the usual. However, above normal sea temperatures in the Coral Sea encourage a cyclone to form very quickly. It grows from a Cat2 to a Cat4 overnight but seems to be heading away. At lunch it turns towards Airlie Beach and is expected to hit that night.

Most people are out for the day thinking the cyclone is no threat. When they get home and watch the news they find out that it may hit in 6 hours. Thousands pack up & hit the 25km road to Proserpine, but then find the road has just been closed. A thousand vehicles with many thousands more occupants are now stuck in the canefields between Hamilton Plains & Brandy Creek with 200+km/hr winds bearing down on them.

Not a scenario I wish to happen, however, circumstances are that it more than likely could.

Footnote:
The Whitsundays are getting two cyclone shelters - one each in Bowen and Proserpine.
Whitsunday Regional Council's Administrative centres are based in Bowen and Proserpine.
State MP and Tourism Minister Jan Jarratt's headquarters in the Whitsundays is in Proserpine.

Reality Bites

2011-06-19T23:24:00.004+10:00

In the past two weeks, three very important sets of statistics about the Whitsundays were released, and hardly a mention was made of them.

Property
In the Whitsundays, Median sale prices of units and townhouses plunged 10.7% in the first quarter of 2011. The average apartment is losing over $3200 in value every week - If that rate continues, the average Apartment in the Whitsundays will be worth half its value next Easter than it was last Christmas.

Tourism
In the last ten days, important tourist statistics were released - they were the International and National Visitor Surveys for the Year ending March 2011. The Whitsundays has:
+ plunged from 10th to 16th most favourite destination for international tourists;
+ ceased to be in the Top 20 favorite locations for Aussie tourists.

Click the graphs to enlarge.

Whitsundays Domestic Tourism Spending Years Ending 31 March 2006 to 31 March 2011
Expenditure	Rank	Spend $M	Share%	Visitors x1000	Visitor Nights x1000	Expenditure per Visitor	Expenditure per Night	Avg Stay

3/2006	15	710	2	548	3720	1295	191	7
3/2007	16	714	2	569	2644	1255	270	5
3/2008	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3/2009	20	489	1	465	1878	1052	260	4
3/2010	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3/2011	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Whitsundays International Tourism Spending
Years Ending 31 March 2006 to 31 March 2011

International Tourism Spending - Top QLD Regions

Comparing Year Ending 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2011

Sources:
Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism
Mackay Daily Mercury

Worrying Tourism Numbers for Whitsundays

2011-06-06T19:50:00.015+10:00

Spending by international tourists in the Whitsundays has fallen by almost 30% compared to the previous year.
Nights spent in the Whitsundays by international visitors are down almost 20%.
Spending by each visitor per night is also down 20%.
International visitor numbers overall are down 15.

The Whitsundays has slipped from 10th to 16th for most international tourist dollars spent in a region in Australia. It now lies behind the NSW Northern Rivers (15), Darwin (14), Hobart (13), NSW South Coast (10), Sunshine Coast (9) & our friends in the Tropical North (6).

	International Visitors to the Whitsundays Years Ending 31 March 2011 & 2010
	Total $million				Share%					Per Visitor					Per Night
	2010	Rank	2009	Rank		2010	Rank	2009	Rank		2010	Rank	2009	Rank		2010	Rank	2009	Rank

Excluding Package Expenditure	105	16	146	12		1	15	1	12		550	18	660	17		97	4	114	2

Including Package Expenditure	116	16	163	10		1	16	1	10		608	18	734	17		107	4	127	2

	International Visitors to the Whitsundays
	Visitors '000				Total Bed Nights '000					Avg Nights Spent
	2010	Rank	2009	Rank		2010	Rank	2009	Rank		2010	Rank	2009	Rank

Excluding Package Expenditure	191	10	222	10		1086	18	1284	19		6	18	6	19

Including Package Expenditure	191	11	222	10		1086	18	1284	18		6	18	6	19

Almost all numbers concerning the Whitsundays Tourism industry are in the red. The Whitsundays did increase its rank by 1 in average nights spent from 19 to 18.

Source: Australian Department of Resources, Energy & Tourism

Missing hikers, Whitsundays

2011-06-06T08:34:00.007+10:00

Midday Mon 6 June 2011 - Cannonvale

2.30pm Monday 6 June 2011 - Update
Missing Hikers located:
A search helicopter today spotted five hikers missing since yesterday in dense bushland in the Conway National Park.

The males were spotted by the search crew shortly after midday in the Cannon Valley area.

The group is unable to be winched out due to the dense canopy cover and rugged terrain.

Supplies, including food, water and tents, will be dropped via chopper to the group this afternoon.

An SES rescue team is currently enroute to the group’s location. It is anticipated that they should reach them by late this afternoon or early evening.

The group, believed to be Whitsunday locals, and include a 54-year-old man and four teenage males, aged 16 and 17, are all believed to be uninjured.

They left yesterday morning and failed to return from a bushwalk in the Conway National Park.

1.00pm Monday 6 June 2011 - Update
Unconfirmed report all five missing are from Whitsunday Christian College.

11.30am Monday 6 June 2011 - Update
Fog lifted enough for a helicopter to search the valleys off Cannon Valley & Cannonvale for the five missing hikers.

8.30am Monday 6 June 2011
Police search and rescue are searching for five men who failed to return from a bush walk in the Cannon Valley area yesterday.

12.40pm Mon 6 June 2011 - Cannonvale

The men, who left yesterday morning, failed to return from a bushwalk in the Conway National Park.

Police search and rescue and SES conducted a search of the area but failed to locate the group last night.

The search for the men resumed at first light this morning.

WebCams looking at Search Area
Search Area Map :

Airlie Beach Wedding industry's future looking good

2011-06-01T15:15:00.004+10:00

The Whitsundays Wedding industry was spared some potentially bad publicity recently. If you read the front page article in this weeks local paper, the Whitsunday Coast Guardian, then you will recognize that this letter is from the Bride & Groom, Renae & Matt. That article can be found here.

The following is correspondence from Renae and Matt:

WOW, what a rollercoaster, and I tell you the final straight was the best.

The wrap up of events....

1. Thanks to Phil for the Whitsundays Limo at the Airport - the best airport transfer ever!!

Thanks also to James and Phil for meeting us there, a very pleasant surprise and it was great to finally meet you both.

2. Cathy at Airlie Apartments was sensational. Hospitality was fantastic and the rooms were great. We could not have wanted anything more, they were perfect! I have jumped on Trip Advisor and provide a review of Airlie Apartments and the generous hospitality. She even drove us to the marina for the ceremony and to the airport to leave.

3. Sharon from Guardian was fabulous. I just got off the phone with her and the stories sound great. I hope it is recognition of our the community has banded together. We even made it into the social pages, getting snapped at Capers on Saturday night!!

4. SV Domino.....WOW. Julie and Reg were amazing. Fussea Buggers catering and Julie provided great nibbles to get us through our nerves, several cups of tea, and reg gave us a nice smooth ride to Lovers Cove. Julie even did me a rose bouquet totally unexpected and the boys had button hole roses. They were both wonderful and could not have done more to help us out! I have provided a ripper of a review on Trip Advisor

5. Daydream - Christine and Brad were waiting for us on our arrival. They had the place set up beautifully! They allocated us an extra hour as photos took so long and did so with no dramas at all. They were great and an awesome venue.

6. Waterline on Shingley Restaurant! WOW, what an experience. 4 hours of dining BLISS. Awesome food & seafood, my favourite. Sam's hospitality was great, and the Chef even came out for a chat and to ask our opinion of the food. We had the whole restaurant to ourselves, awesome wine and 3 yummy courses! I have provided a review on Trip Advisor

7. Ziggy Ziegler Photography - was fabulous! His photos are amazing. He was there from when we boarded to the restaurant. His photos are out of this world and on Friday, yes one day after the Wedding, he provided us with an extremely generous package of 360 printed photos, a CD of all photos, and his favourites blown up. I will send some through. He was wonderful spending time with him and learning some tricks of the trade!

8. Ivan Conway - Ivan has been very flexible over the last month. He was very professional and worked well with Ziggy as they have worked together before.

9. Voyager - Stephan and his crew were awesome....the trip was great and Helen from Tropix photography gave us some extra special attention taking some great fun shots on Whitehaven beach and a package of 10 free printouts and a disc. I have messaged and uploaded some stuff to their facebook site for Tropix and Voyager

10. General Airlie Businesses.....

We have some outstanding meals all based on recommendations: Ship Wrecked, Coral Sea Resort Restaurant, Capers, and Sirocco Restaurant!!

We went and spent (!) at the Airlie Beach markets on Saturday, I did the run out to Cannonvale and Matt and I did the Whitsunday's Trial Run on Sunday.

We posted this blog before we left http://brisbanerunsquad.blogspot.com/

All in all the Wedding and Honeymoon ended up perfect, better than we ever would have expected thanks to 3 people........

JAMES, PHIL AND JEN!!! You are all champions, and maybe should go into business as wedding planners :-)

We are definitely coming back to Airlie Beach for our 1 year anniversary!

Regards

Renae

-------------------------------------------
Renae Jones
Head Coach
Brisbane Run Squad
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Man shot in Gumlu

2011-05-31T17:11:00.002+10:00

Police were called to a disturbance at McCain Street in Gumlu early this morning.
Around midnight, it is believed a 21-year-old man and a 39-year-old-man became involved in an altercation, as a result the 39-year-old sustained a wound to his arm consistent with a gun shot.
Both men were transported to hospital for treatment.
A 59-year-old-man has been charged with one count each unlawful wounding, possession of an unregistered weapon and fail to secure a weapon.
He is due to face Townsville Magistrates Court on June 1.
It is believed the men are known to each other.
Police investigations are continuing.

Map:
Source: Queensland Police Service

Queensland & Whitsundays Tourism Social Media

2011-05-16T09:31:00.002+10:00

A quick look at Social Media influence in the Queensland & Whitsundays Tourism Industries since Christmas.

Social Media Influence in the Queensland Tourism Industry - Click to enlarge

Social Media Influence in the Whitsundays Tourism Industry - Click to enlarge

Social Media Influence for Hamilton Island compared to QLD Tourism Avg - Click to enlarge

Good sign for Whitsundays lovers

2011-05-14T07:33:00.000+10:00

A Cairns astrologer has rubbished fears that Friday, the 13th could bring with it the end of the world. Rather, it's a good day for asking others out on a date.

The alignment of the four planets Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter on this day is no bad omen for humankind, according to Johnny Fernandez.
In fact, such an alignment happens only once every 50-100 years, and very rarely on Friday the 13th.
The last time these planets were observed together was in October 1910.

Fernandez said those concerned about the world ending need not fear, as the planets involved would be beneficial to any modern-day lovers.
"It can bring a lot of creativity, and a lot of expression in the romantic areas, and it represents transformation," The Daily Telegraph quoted Fernandez as saying.
"If you have been trying to ask someone out, the foundations have been laid down for you," he added.

Images taken from the Cannonvale Webcam, Whitsundays, Friday 13 May 2011 -

Fatal traffic crash, Newlands, near Collinsville

2011-05-14T07:24:00.000+10:00

Investigations into the traffic crash at Newlands, approx 30km of Collinsville continue.

A 58-year-old Townsville man died when his unladen semi-trailer left Mt Coolon Road (Bowen Developmental Road) for unknown reasons and rolled around 11.30 yesterday (Friday 13 May 2011).

The Forensic Crash Unit are investigating.

Mass sackings at Whitsunday Times printers

2011-05-05T18:44:00.007+10:00

The Whitsunday Times' printer (and immediate owner), The Mackay Daily Mercury, has announced this after noon that "NEWSPAPER printing facilities in Mackay will close in July as part of a plan to consolidate Queensland operations."

APN News & Media, the owners of the Whitsunday Times, are closing the Mackay (and Bundaberg) priniting facilities, resulting in the loss of 25 jobs.

Our 'tip-off' tweet about the Whitsunday Times 2 days ago

Sign of troubles at the Whitsunday Times and its owners started appearing two days ago with a profit downgrade warning by APN, followed by the sacking of many Sub-Editors at the Whitsunday Times sister papers.

The possibility of rationalization (retrenchments) at the Whitsunday Times must now be on the cards.

There is now speculation that the Whitsunday Times will be reduced to fortnightly or monthly printing, or maybe cease altogether, after the local printing operations close in two months.

Source:
Mackay Daily Mercury