When Tourism Australia asked me to help them spread the word about my great big home country as a holiday destination, they wanted me to pick any two regions. Of course, since I know my own home region so well, I wrote about that first. But for the second location, I decided to choose somewhere I’ve never been.

Unbeknownst to my husband, I have a little dream holiday all planned out – for “some time in the future”.

To understand the gravity of what I’m about to admit, you have to understand that we’re not exactly rolling in money.

We have a mortgage, and we live on one income. So we’re not the kind of people who will spontaneously book a week’s stay in a 5-star luxury resort, dump our kids in a Kids Resort Club, while we get massages by the pool.

We’ve always been a camping kind of family. We stay in caravan parks. We go fishing. Hiking, exploring and star gazing. We light our own fires and cook our own food. And I genuinely like that.

But.

There’s that little part of me that is a princess.

The bit that has HAD ENOUGH OF ROUGHING IT OUT. Enough of mosquitoes. Enough of sand in the sleeping bags. Enough of beans on toast and screaming children.

Give me underwater adventure and give me luxury accommodation.

I have this dream of going somewhere gorgeous and tropical. I want to eat fresh seafood (that I didn’t have to catch myself) and drink freshly squeezed fruit cocktails. I want a sun tan and a full body massage.

I want to go somewhere with never ending crystal blue waters and soft white sand as far as the eye can see.

I want to go to the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland. The tropical paradise of Australia.

It’s a secret wish I have, and in my “Things To Do Before I Die” list.

The kids will be teenagers. They can be let loose on the Gold Coast, and they can visit all the theme parks to their heart’s content.

My husband and I will be hot-air ballooning, jet skiing, and sailing over the Islands. We’ll be scuba diving and snorkelling in the coral wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.

We’ll be doing what, you know, normal people are supposed to do on holidays.

Relaxing.

Photo credits: Tourism Australia Copyright