Finally... Hamilton Island photos for your viewing pleasure...

Well here I am back at Maccas again... still no luck on the internet front at home. But I have brought my camera memory card and thought I would do a quick report and upload some photos for you to look at.

Just a reminder that I am unable to receive your emails unless I log in here, so best to call me directly if you need me on my mobile. I still have ribbons to give out from the recent ribbons swap... contact me if you are in a hurry for them. Otherwise I hope to have them out to everyone soon.

So I wanted to share with you some photos from the recent Stampin'Up incentive trip that I earned to Hamilton Island. It makes it all so very worthwhile - lucky for me I love my job anyway - but it's amazing to be rewarded like this. Thank you so much Stampin'Up - I would do this job even if not for all the perks, but I do love them so!

So here is a brief rundown on our trip....

Day 1... arrive at airport bright and early for a 10am flight. (My guest this year was my dear friend Cheryl Andrews.. not only is she a great friend, but she was also my first ever recruit, and has a very successful SU business of her own.) We arrived to a balmy overcast day in Hamilton Island around lunch time. Afternoon at leisure and then we enjoyed a beautiful welcome dinner for everyone (I always end up taking photos of the food... wonder if that signifies anything? Cheryl threw hers on the floor - not on purpose... but it was funny!) Our pillow gift was a waterproof bag, with underwater cameras and snacks... okay we think we can work out where our mystery trip will take us...



View from the marina





Guests on our balcony




Welcome dinner dessert



Day 2... yummy breakfast and then met in the foyer to be taken to the marina to board our boat. I am soooo glad I elected to take seasickness tabs before we left. The 2m swell and 2 hour boat ride didn't suit everyone's stomach :-( We were all very glad to get to the outer reef pontoon. I chose to have a 1 hour massage which was heaven. Some went snorkelling, some just sat around and enjoyed the sun and good conversation. The trip back was better by far! :-)

That night I was lucky enough to have Simon, Ness and Cheryl to help me finish off my swaps! Yay for teamwork....



Busy sticking my swaps together... thanks guys!





Our Day 2 pillow gift full of new products from the next Mini!



Day 3... breakfast at Sails restaurant by the water. We had our Make and Take session and swapping between demonstrators. So many beautiful cards and ideas, and then we sat down to make ourselves 3 fantastic projects featuring items from the new Mini catalogue due out in December! In the afternoon we went shopping and just took it easy... and what a great place to do that. Apart from the day out on the reef I had a nanna nap every day! Hooray for that! After moving, it was very much needed! Dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant with a great group of girls and hubbies.




View from our Breakfast table





View from the Hotel... doesn't that water look gorgeous!




Cheryl and Myself at dinner





Dessert! (Again)





Another Pillow gift (which matches our luggage tags!)



Day 4

Up bright and early to have a yummy breakfast at the wildlife park and then off for another boat trip (arent we brave?) to the gorgeous Whitehaven Beach. The boat trip was completely different this time - much more fun! Some went snorkelling at Chalkies Beach, and some just enjoyed the sun, but we all had such an awesome time. Marelle unceremoniously dragged me into the water, but I forgave her really fast 'cause the water was lovely.

We got back at lunchtime and as we headed back towards the hotel we heard someone call out to us.. it was Shelli and Sterling who invited myself and Cheryl to join them for pizza by the water. It's not an opportunity to miss when you can sit down and get to know your company boss one-on-one. I got to spend a lot more time with them this year, which was really lovely.

Another Nanna Nap in the afternoon (of course) and then we all had to meet in the Hotel foyer at 4.15pm to be taken to our mystery destination. It turned out to be a Golf-buggy scavenger hunt - with clues that took us all over the island (golf buggies are the main mode of transport on Hamilton Island). The final clue was back at the hotel... we were given a bag of alphabet stamps and we had to make the name of our evening destination out of the letters. I have to say that it wasnt hard (there's not all that many places to go!)... off we went by Golf buggy to the Yacht Club. What a beautiful location!

After a fantastic 3 course meal we ended up back at the hotel for cocktails and conversation. What a great way to end the day.





View of our hotel from the boat, heading out to Whitehaven Beach




Me on gorgeous Chalkies Beach - how white is that sand?




Beach Art ;-)




Cheryl soaking up some sun on Whitehaven





My feet in the softest whitest sand ever




Marelle and Dave




Claire and Miriam striking a pose




Myself and Shelli at the Yacht Club




I loved the table decorations





What a great group we had at our table! Cheryl, myself, Emma, Sean, Simone and Jason. I love getting to know both the staff and other demonstrators... its definitely the highlight of each trip for me.




Dessert! (Of course!)





Final night pillow gift... I love my new bag!

Day 5

I did today what I do every trip... I got up nice and early and went for a walk and took lots of photos. It was a wonderful trip all round.. and so wonderful to relax after the turmoil of the past few weeks. But as I mentioned the best bit of all is spending time with people that I love and that mean so much to me. Here's to a wonderful Incentive trip... and now I am inspired to get myself moving to make next year's trip to Fiji... lots to do!!!

To finish I wanted to share a few photos from that last morning walk. Enjoy!

Linda xx