Airlie Beach Joyflights and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Roulettes as Whitsundays Reef Festival Concludes and Hamilton Island Race Week Starts

We popped into Airlie Beach on Saturday 18 August as the Whitsundays Reef Festival was in full swing.  The main street of Airlie Beach was closed for a spectacular parade, and there were helicopter joyflights operating from the beachfront.  Heli-Biz Robinson R-44 VH-DCN was operating 5-minute flights over Airlie Beach, and when I approached the counter about mid-afternoon, they were fully booked for the remainder of the day!

As the Reef Festival wrapped up over the weekend, the Hamilton Island Race Week - one of Australia's biggest yacht racing events - kicks into full swing this week.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) elite formation aerobatic display team - the Roulettes - will be performing over Hamilton Island again this year, and are scheduled to arrive into the Whitsunday Airport at Shute Harbour on Monday 20 August.

According to their Facebook page, the Roulettes will perform in their Pilatus PC-9/A aircraft over Airlie Beach on Monday 20 August from about 4pm.  They are also scheduled to display over Hamilton Island twice on Tuesday 21 August and again on Wednesday 22 August.  Displays should occur during the afternoon.

This information is of course, subject to change!