How to holiday like Parineeti Chopra in the Whitsundays
Itinerary
By Hannah Statham
Where do you go on holidays when you’re an award-winning Bollywood movie star like Parineeti Chopra? The Whitsundays of course!
A place best known for 74 island wonders, a reef in the shape of a love heart and a beach made of silica sand so pristine that you can actually polish your diamonds on it.
Holiday like the Bollywood beauty, Parineeti Chopra, and follow her footsteps through the Whitsundays with this itinerary.
Day 1
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First things first, if you are to holiday like a star you need to sleep like one at Reef View Hotel on Hamilton Island.
At Reef View Hotel, you’ll have all the Hamilton Island amenities at your fingertips, which is what makes a Hamilton holiday such an easy option for a time poor A-lister like Parineeti Chopra and yourself (even if travelling with kids). Simply show up and start choosing your adventure, with a little help from the activities desk.
While you’re deciding what to do next, enjoy lunch at Pool Terrace Restaurant located at Reef View Hotel for your first taste of Hamilton Island’s 14 restaurant and dining options.
If you thought Hamilton was just swanky degustation dinners, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by its casual dining scene, which won’t have you dipping into your retirement fund or ballooning out of all your clothes by the time you leave.
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Unless you want to give your pedometer a serious workout walking Hamilton Island’s hills, we’d recommend swapping foot power for an electric buggy.
Keep the camera handy because your private set of wheels makes for the perfect “only in Hamilton Island” photograph to share back home. Hamilton’s golf buggies are included with some accommodation or available to hire for $87 a day, but really, worth their weight in gold to get you from point A to B.
Take your buggy uphill and observe cocktail hour like the star herself at One Tree Hill on Hamilton Island. It’s the sort of place where the sunset is as colourful as your cocktail.
From midday, the One Tree Hill bar pours beer, wine, bubbles, best enjoyed with a share plate of cheese, charcuterie or pate to enjoy while the sun slips below the Whitsunday islands.
By the time the sun has set over the Whitsunday Islands, it’ll be time to make your meal progressive and take your buggy to the door of Manta Bay Restaurant for tapas-style dining. Its menu has a distinct Spanish flair, with everything from shared seafood paella to pan-fried clams with chorizo crumble in a white wine butter sauce.
Day 2
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You’ll soar over heart reef, the famous love heart in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef, before landing on the shore of Whitehaven Beach where a chilled sparkling wine, light picnic and water awaits.
When it comes to award winners, Whitehaven is about as awarded as Parineeti herself taking out the title for #1 Beach in the South Pacific’ – 2017 & 2016 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards and Australia’s Best Beach by Australian Traveller, to name a few gongs in her trophy cabinet.
Pssst – if you’re looking for more ways to see this silica sand knockout, we’ve got 5 more ways where this one came from.
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Enjoy downtime this afternoon to get back to your fan-mail (or just work emails, whatever) – it’s exhausting being part of the Bollywood industry which produces twice as many films as Hollywood.
Cut your cat nap short to enjoy a mango-coloured sunset from the deck of the MV Hamilton Star, which runs one-hour scenic sunset cruises from Hamilton Island.
Sunsets and appetisers go together like dancing and Bollywood, but don’t fill up too much because a VIP a la carte dinner awaits. Take your perception of al fresco up a notch as you drop anchor at a secluded bay for a private dinner under the stars.
Day 3
The feature attraction of the Whitsundays is undoubtedly the reef, which is why you’ll need to save a full day to cruise the Great Barrier Reef with Explore Group like Parineeti did on her recent adventure.
This full-day snorkelling adventure is as gripping as a Bollywood plot, with as many famous faces – reef fish, colourful coral, turtles. With Explore Group’s full day reef cruise you’ll visit two locations within Bait Reef to allow time for MAX snorkelling.
When you get tired of looking at World Heritage-listed beauty, you can retire to two levels of air-conditioned luxury decks. You’ll eat like an A-lister on set – a buffet lunch, morning tea and afternoon tea too.
After a day on the water, make like Parineeti and take your taste buds to Mexico tonight for dinner at Tako. Expect Mexican but not as you know it, with a Japanese and Korean twist.
Day 4
When you’re visiting a destination that’s known for 74 island wonders and a World Heritage-listed reef, you didn’t think you’d just spend one day at the reef did you?
After all, Parineeri said, “can’t get enough of diving in life”. Her words. Not ours.
Back up for a sequel reef adventure, joining Cruise Whitsundays for a full day on the reef.
You’ll cruise like a celebrity on a luxury vessel passing island resorts, deserted islands and secluded bays as you make waves to the outer reef.
You’ll spend the day at A+ dive sites thanks to the location of Cruise Whitsundays pontoons which overlook coral walls. Using Cruise Whitsunday’s two moored pontoons as your base, you’ll have your own private dry land on the outer reef, which is where you’ll find your buffet lunch dished up and sun lounges for relaxing.
If you don’t want to get your blow wave wet, the underwater viewing chamber and semi-submersible has your name all over it. Pssst – for more ways to see the reef without getting wet, dive into this blog post.
Need more convincing?
Parineeti Chopra had this to say herself about this itinerary:
“And to sum it all up – I left my HEART behind in Australia”.
