Hamilton Island, Australia (dpa) – With just an hour left until sundown, the heat is still intense. The thermometer is showing 34 degrees Celsius, breathing is getting faster and the sweat is streaming down our backs.
Passage Peak may only rise 400 metres above sea level but this is no mild Sunday afternoon jaunt.
Suddenly, the group finds itself at the highest point on the island. The eucalyptus trees thin out a little and permit an open view of the most magical landscape on the east coast of Australia.
The green-clad hills of the Cook Islands rise above the deep blue waters which surround them.
Not to be confused with a nation of the same name on the other side of the South Pacific, this tropical archipelago is made up of 74 islands discovered by the British seaman James Cook on Whit Sunday, 1770. It is prized in particular by sailors as a holiday destination.
Hamilton Island has a good tourist infrastructure with everything from golf carts to island round trips and clay pigeon shooting on offer. Many of the other islands can be seen from the summit of Passage Peak.
On this particular evening, the setting sun is reflected perfectly in the gently moving water, and all the strain of climbing the hill is forgotten in an instant.
Tourism was officially welcomed to Hamilton Island in the 1980s with the construction of the first hotels.
Two 14-storey hotels were then added at the beginning of the 90s. The Bankers Trust, the new owners, now have the task of picking up where their predecessors left off.
Attempts have been made, for example with the construction of the “Beach Club” in November 1999, to have a minimum of impact on the island’s image as a distant tropical paradise.
The five-star establishment almost vanishes among a forest of palm trees although the towers of the “Reef View Hotels” which stand behind it do disturb the skyline a little. It will take some time for Hamilton Island to shake off its reputation as the Australian Miami Beach.
The Great Barrier Reef can be reached by boat from the Cook Islands in around an hour. The fragile ecosystem of the coral reef is under considerable attack from the tourist industry.
Ventures such as “Reef World” are making their own contribution to the reef’s conservation in only allowing tourists to visit aquatic flora and fauna at selected sites.
“Reef World” is a platform anchored in the reef which is visited daily by a number of pleasure boats. Guests pay around 68 dollars for a visit of two hours during which they have the opportunity to get to know more about the world beneath the waves – by snorkelling, diving or on board a glass-bottomed boat.
There are an amazing 250 varieties of coral and over 1,800 types of fish to be seen around the Hardy Reef.
“Reef World” also organizes helicopter flights around the reef at a cost of around 55 dollars per person. The more romantically inclined can spend the night on the platform and sip champagne beneath the Southern Cross.
The inclusive helicopter flight and accommodation package is for some a little pricey at around 240 dollars per person.
The waters around the Cook Islands are the real attraction for sailors. More than 150 charter yachts are available. There are 12 agents who offer their services on Hamilton Island and Shute Harbour and Airlie Beach on the mainland of Queensland.
The area is regarded as fairly straightforward territory and is a particular favourite with the residents of Melbourne and Sydney. During the high season, yachts should be booked six months in advance, advises skipper Peter Granger who works for the second largest agency, Sunsail.
Day trips from Hamilton Island cost around 50 dollars and take in the six-kilometre-long Whitehaven Beach – rated by many as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
The sand is almost snow white. Whitehaven Beach is on the largest island in the chain, Whitsunday Island. It is completely uninhabited and comes under the protection of nature conservation laws.
Hayman Island lies in the north of the island chain. The resort there belongs to the “Leading Hotels of the World” consortium and offers a level of luxury and privacy which attracts the occasional pop star and the fabulously rich.
Hamilton Island can compete to some degree: ex- Beatle George Harrison owns a villa here and “Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were just here for a couple of days’ holiday,” says skipper Peter Granger.
