OK, got yourself a cuppa? - I've unloaded my camera so here's my wrap up of the fabulous 2010 Incentive Trip to Hamilton Island.
Day 1: Wednesday
We headed off bright and early Wednesday morning. We Melbourne IT girls and our guests had a momentary hiccup when our 7.15am flight was cancelled, but we were soon checked in to the 7.45am flight in time to get our connection to Hamilton Island. It was great seeing some other excited demonstrator friends at the Melbourne and Sydney airports and meeting some new faces too.
KellieSue and Angie - the Stampin' Up 'behind the scenes' girls who organised the trip and worked so hard on all the great little personal touches along the way - were there to greet us and get us onto the bus for our hotel: The Reef View.
Here's our room ...
And check out this lovely view. (A bit cloudy on our first day but blue skies were soon to come.)
A bit of time to unpack and relax .....
.... then we headed off for a quick explore of the main street. Managed to fit in a cocktail too!
Wednesday evening was our welcome dinner. We gathered in the hotel lobby and were all about to head off when we came across the festivities of a large corporate group. They had fire trucks, dancing girls and even fireworks, so we paused for a moment to soak up the carnival atmosphere! What a great way to get in the mood for our dinner.
We followed the torches to our dinner venue - right on the beach. (Here it is in daylight - off at the end of the beach there.)
As always with Stampin' Up events, the flowers were gorgeous and the room looked just lovely.
John and I were on table 7. The place names looked very cute and set the theme for the trip ....
Hmmm - I somehow managed to come home with photos of the flowers and food but not the actual people on our table! Will have to see if someone can email me a pic! Had a lovely evening catching up with other demonstrators and their hubbies/guests.
It poured with rain during the later part of the evening but we made a dash for it anyway. Here's John and I looking slightly rained on!
Got back to our room to find the first of my pillow gifts. Each night demonstrators receive a little gift - it was so exciting to get back to find our what surprise awaited us!
This time it was a special waterproof bag with all the things we'd need for the next day's exciting adventure - snacks, water and underwater cameras.
Day 2: Thursday
I'm pictureless at the moment for this day, as we left our cameras in the room and just took our underwater cameras. Will be back with some pics to illustrate once we get those developed and perhaps grab some pics from the girls with cameras that day.
What an action packed day! We were up bright and early. Each morning we had a choice of 3 places to go for breakfast. An early start today so we grabbed our breakfast vouchers and headed downstairs to the closest option. Since we were heading out to the reef I opted for a nice light breakfast of fruit and toast - skipped the eggs! Turned out to be a wise move!!!
We all jumped on buses and headed to the marina where we boarded the Fantasea reef tour boat. The trip out started well with chatting and laughter. Once we hit the bumpier open sea stretch, it was off with the chatting and on with the focusing intently on the horizon - grin. I'm notoriously not good on boats so had dosed up with some medicated travel sick tabs, they gave me a nice old woozy head but did the trick on the tummy. Some others weren't quite so lucky and had rather a grim ride out to the reef. The crew did a fabulous job of bringing cold cloths and cups of ice chips, and of course a large collection of barf bags that did get quite a work out!
Before too too too long (well, felt like ages for some I bet) we were out at Reefworld.
We could sit on the sun deck, check out the fish via the underwater viewing chamber, go scuba diving or snorkelling, or try out the waterslide.
John and I spent most of the time there snorkelling - checking out the coral, fish, clams and other fabulous sights. Was really great fun. I'm possibly glad I've not got pics just yet as I was wearing the most unflattering Blushing Bride stinger suit!
There was a feast of food on offer on the boat but I decided might be best to just keep it small with that trip back in mind!! Washed it down with some more travel sick tablets. They sold a ton of these for the trip back so not quite so many green faces!
John and I headed out that night for a seafood dinner at Mariners. (I was STARVING now that I could eat without worrying about boats!)
We got back to our room to find my next pillow gift. This time it was a great tin of stamping products - a new Summer mini stamp set (I've blanked that out in the pic as it is under wraps til December 1st!) plus a punch, markers, buttons, clips and ink pad. Yum!
John helped me put the last finishing touches on my swaps! (He's a Stampin' Dimensionals qualified assistant now!)
Day 3: Friday
John headed off today to play golf with some of the other boys. They had a fabulous day on a spectacular course. Will pop some pics on once he unloads his iphone.
I was excited to be taking part in the swaps and make and take this year. I gathered up my swaps and my tin of stamping goodies and headed off.
We were back to the venue we'd had dinner at on Wednesday night.
What a beautiful setting for some stamping and catching up with friends.
First off was a nice leisurely swap and chat. (I got the most gorgeous collection of swaps. If you're coming along to a class or a workshop soon I can't wait to show you.)
Here's a peek:
Wow - so stunning.
Yvonne, Pam and Simone ....
Alisa, Yvonne and Claire ....
And some more table shots ...
Soon it was time to sit down and start stamping. I'd love to show the lovely card, scrap page and little choccie bag we made but they're under wraps til December 1st. For a change, I actually finished my make and take projects. I'm usually too busy chatting at Stampin' Up events and don't get them done, but had a lovely couple of hours here to complete them. (Some chocolate nibblies on the table to keep those energy levels up - yum!
After the make and take time we took a few more group photos. The official/unofficial group shot is coming soon. We thought we'd do a few colour collections as well.
Here's the blues and teals ....
.... the reds ...
... and once again with our 'supermodel poses' ..... :-)
... and the neutrals and pinks ....
Now for the New Zealand girls ....
A quick pic with all the Incentive Trip achievers from Angela Sargeant's team ...
Shelley is always happy to join us for a photo (and always looks so lovely.)
Shelley Claire and I ...
What a gorgeous backdrop too - so tropical.
Can't forget our lovely camera girls - Kellie Sue and Angie.
Time for some relaxing in the afternoon then I was off for a massage and facial at the spa - aahhh, bliss!
I called in on the way back at the Hospitality Room.
This was on the 19th floor with magnificent views. It was the room where we could catch up with each other and with the Stampin' Up staff .....
... and eat some of the yummy yummy choccies on offer ...
..... and of course we also got to spin the wheel and win a great prize each day. I got 2 rolls of ribbon, a white gel pen and a pack of the yummy Antique Brads.
Friday night John and I headed over the road to the Beach Club for a delicious dinner at a table by the pool. (It was going to be a table on the beach but the wind wasn't quite cooperating! They moved it to the pool so that we wouldn't be eating sand all evening. )
Day 4: Saturday
Aaron (who heads up Stampin' Up in Australia) let us know about a half day trip to Whitehaven so a large group of us booked in for some more ocean fun for Saturday morning.
This time we were on two great jet boats.
A quick safety briefing then we were off ...
Miriam was looking decidedly less green for this boat trip!
Got some great views on our way out - here's the yacht club which turned out to be where our farewell dinner was held on Sat night.
And we got a nice view of our hotel too on our way round the island. (It is the big one there on the right.)
We zipped off on a great ride til we got to Chalkies Beach.
Some quick pics - here's Miriam and Claire soaking up the sun ...
John and I got our stinger suits on and hit the water for some more great snorkelling. Just a few metres into the water was more coral and heaps of fish. I'd thoroughly recommend this day trip if you're heading to Hamilton Island.
All too soon it was time to jump back on the boat and head over to one of the world's best beaches - Whitehaven Beach. Some relax time here enjoying the 98% silica sand ...
.... having a swim ..... taking some pics .......... and just soaking up the sun ....
Here's Dave and his wife Jennifer (from the US office) and Aaron and his wife Karen (from the Australian office)
All too soon again it was time to jump back on the boat and head back to the marina. What a fabulous half day adventure.
John and I grabbed fish and chips for lunch .... what a lovely setting for a picnic lunch ...
... and managed to fit in another cocktail ...
... washed down with some coffee and cake. Mmmmm did I mention 'this is the life!'
Time for a quick spin of the wheel - here's Ness checking out what prize she 's spun today.
Then it was off to de sand and sea ready for the final night adventures. We had to meet in the lobby at 4.15pm. We all gathered around to find out what we'd be up to .....
Turned out that we were put into teams of 4 for a Buggy Rally - what fun!
We trooped outside ...
... to our waiting convoy of Golf Buggies. (The zippy little vehicle of choice on Hamilton Island.)
A final reminder that regular road rules applied to buggies!
And of course some more camera snapping ...
Then we were off ....
John and I were in a team with Kim and Warren Gavarra. Here's our boys studying the map ...
Kim and I were most excited to get to one of our first stops and realise that we were going to get some goodies along the way. One of the 25 questions was about this location and what Emma's favourite stamp set was - turned out we got that set as a prize, yippee!
The phone a friend option came in handy (shhhhh!)
Off to the next stop, where we found Aaron ...
... and an ink pad prize ...
... not to mention gorgeous views from One Tree Hill ...
Time to study the questions and jot some more answers ...
At another stop we found Dave ...
... and some 12" cardstock, mmmmm!
One of the questions was to find the date on this whale ...
And here's Warren off counting shade huts on Catseye Beach ...
Before too long we were all done. Time to head back to the hotel, unjumble our alphabet letter clue to find that we were off to the Yacht Club for our dinner. Another buggy ride (this time in the gorgeous twilight ...)
... and a buggy team photo ...
Then it was time for our farewell dinner ...
Doesn't the yacht club look stunning at night!? Can you see the pathway of lanterns there to light our way up to the area where we had delicious nibblies?
Some more group piccies of course ...
It was so lovely to have so many opportunities to chat and laugh and share ideas with other demonstrators.
Soon it was time to head in to our tables ......
A little something to help us all get motivated to achieve the 2011 trip to Fiji ...
I loved the candles ...
The meal was divine and we had a lovely evening chatting with Angela and Paul Sargeant, and Aaron and Karen Scott.
After dinner we headed back to the Reef Lounge. I found some nice comfy chairs with some of my demonstrator friends and we chatted til the wee hours.
Got back to our room to find my last pillow gift - a teal bag ....
...which matched the purse we got the night before ...
Day 5 Sunday
Sunday was a nice lazy day for us. We slept in a bit, packed up our rooms, managed to cram all of my lovely gifts into our luggage, checked out then headed to Sails for a long breakfast. Here's the gorgeous view from our brekky table ...
Some quick shopping for presents for the kids then we found a couple of deck chairs on the beach and lazed about reading.
Aaaahhh! I managed to get through 1 and a half novels while I was away, uninterrupted reading time -what bliss.
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel, wave a goodbye to our lovely lovely trip organisers Angie and Kellie Sue ....
.... and jump on planes back to Melbourne.
Was lovely to get some cuddles from these two at the airport ......
... and even lovelier to get home to find mum, dad and my sister had not only looked after the kids while we were away but we had a tidy house, all the washing was done, plus the ironing, even a sparkly fish tank and happier looking pot plants to go with our clean, shiny, happy kids.
What a perfect end to a fabulous holiday!
Thank Yous
A big thanks to Stampin' Up for having such a wonderful trip on offer to reward their demonstrators and for spoiling us and making us all feel so special while we were away. They're such a generous company to be involved with. John is so supportive of my Stampin' Up business and it was lovely to be able to take him along to share the rewards.
Incentive Trip Questions
So how do you earn the Incentive Trip? There's a few different ways that all involve a mix of sales targets and team building. The numbers looked quite large to me but I can now vouch for the fact that with consistent work and a positive attitude they're definitely achievable. I have to thank my lovely customers and fabulous Think Ink team who helped me earn this trip, and my parents and sister for minding our two so we could go.
Want To Join The Fun?
This might be a good time to remind you of this page with information about how you can become a Stampin' Up demonstrator too and join in the fun.
Whether your plans are to just get the super value starter kit and your products at a discount, or to work towards goals like the Incentive Trip - I'd love to have you join my Think Ink team and help you get started. Becoming A Demonstrator
Thanks for joining me for my Hamilton Island wrap up.
:-)
Sue
Dear Sue,
Your holiday to hamilton island looked amazing...
My husband and I are going in March for 10 days, we are very excited...
Thinking of going to whitehaven beach and also doing the glass bottom boat tour to see the reef...My husband and I can't snorkel, so thought this 2 hour tour would be ideal...
If you don't mind me asking, the whitehaven beach tour you did, which company did you book that with? The jet boats look like fun.
I hope you get to go there again sometime.
Thank you for your information about hamilton island, it gives me a better idea about the island and what to do...
Have a good day. All the best...
Kind Regards,
Katherine
Posted by: Katherine Digiglio | February 08, 2011 at 08:09 PM