My family has instilled in me a great number of strange habits and beliefs; among them is the notion

I know, I know. You guys were probably expecting the exciting conclusion of yesterday s post, in which I tell you all about snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, and also whether or not there were kittens. Unfortunately, I realized that all those photos are still on Rand s laptop, and I m currently overcome with a strong case of jet lag and laziness, so instead, I m going to talk about how crazy expensive food on Hayman Island was.
My family has instilled in me a great number of strange habits and beliefs; among them is the notion that food shouldn t cost much money. downtown los angeles restaurants As is their wont, my family has taken this belief to the extreme. Most flat-out refuse to ever go to restaurants (their downtown los angeles restaurants logic: downtown los angeles restaurants You just pay more for stuff that you can get at home! ), and many of their groceries are purchased on clearance, from those weird discount bins at the end of aisles (you know the ones filled with seasonal cake decorations and dented canned goods).
And then came along Rand, and turned that idea on its head (honestly, if you told me that his sole role in my life, besides all that making out and romance stuff, was to make me question EVERYTHING, I would totally believe you). He loves going out to eat; he adores expensive and boutique grocery stores, downtown los angeles restaurants filled with local products and fancy cheeses. He s consistently suspicious if something edible is on sale.
Over the last decade, I ve tried to strike a balance between these two forces downtown los angeles restaurants in my life. I like buying things on sale, but I ll willing to spend a little more for something local, or organic, or ethically-produced. I m fine with eating out at cheap places, and I m even okay with splurging on an expensive dinner every now and then, provided I think it s worth it.
There were three options for lunch we could order a picnic lunch and take it out with us to one of the islands (prices started downtown los angeles restaurants at a whopping $58 AUS, or about $63 U.S., PER PERSON), or we could eat at back at the resort, at either the pool cafe or the tiki bar lounge. Most days, we chose the latter.
Were the burgers delicious? Yes. Absolutely. Do I think it is even remotely sane to pay $10 per mini burger? NO. NO, not unless each one comes with a free lobster tail or something (and despite my numerous downtown los angeles restaurants pleas to our server, I can tell you: these did not).
On any given night, three of the resort s four restaurants were open, and room service was also available. Unfortunately, I don t have too many photos of those meals, because we often skipped them and headed straight to bed. When we did manage to stay up and eat dinner, we found that the bill hovered around $150 AUS for two entrees and an appetizer (excluding drinks and dessert). Some restaurants were far pricier the seafood buffet at AZURE was $100 AUS per person. Like lunch, these meals were all fantastic, but spending money on food is not something that I m used to. Each time we got a bill, I found myself gasping for air.
I realize I must sound like a total ass complaining about the prices of things. After all, it was an amazing experience, and the food was excellent (and don t forget: free apples). But since we were on an island, with literally  no  other options for food, we started to feel rather trapped by the whole situation. Rand and I both agreed that we d much rather the hotel had been all-inclusive. We d have paid more upfront, but we d at least have known what we were getting into.
En route to Sydney, we stopped briefly on Hamilton Island, and already we felt liberated. We no longer had to pay Hayman s crazy prices. I spotted a vending machine and decided to buy myself a bottle of water. I felt giddy at the prospect. It would be affordable! And cold! And hydrating!
First off LOVE your blog! Both your adventures and your writing are so inspiring! My husband and I are American expats currently living in Norway and while I hate the idea of posting a one-up -type of comment, I have to tell you now, if you are afraid of the prices of food at Hayman Island you should skip Norway in any future travel plans. No lie it costs us $30 USD to eat at McDonalds. MCDONALDS! I d take $30 for some delicious sliders any day of the week! Eating downtown los angeles restaurants anywhere nicer will easily run the bill up to $70-$150 for two people per meal. Needless to say we shop at the end-of-the-aisle baskets frequently
Had to comment and say I really enjoyed this entry! One of the things I dislike most about staying on resorts, even for work when my food is comped, is the outrageous food prices. Even when it s not my money, I can t stomach paying downtown los angeles restaurants $25 for a hamburger or $40 for a continental breakfast downtown los angeles restaurants buffet at which I m going to eat a piece of fruit and a croissant. downtown los angeles restaurants Thanks for the humorous, fun post today! Very interesting.
Oh, I am so with you on this. I can t see spending a lot on food. Hayman Island looks amazing but I don t think I could stay there just for the food price factor. I thought it was bad enough in New Zealand when an average LUNCH was around $50 nzd for 2 not including drinks. Telling yourself you are on vacation only works for so long, and gets harder the longer downtown los angeles restaurants you are there. Luckily we did get free breakfasts at most places, but at a few, it still cost around $10 nzd for a yogurt, toast, and cereal. It helped to stay at places that had a kitchenette, staying in a hostel and eating at food carts when possible.
downtown los angeles restaurants Ouch. I too am an avid discount grocery shopper. I go over the circulars for the local stores religiously nearly every week. If it s not on sale I generally don t buy it. Seems like groceries are only getting more expensive so really I can t justify the prices on organic stuff most of the time.
I rarely eat out on my own dime because it s cheaper and healthier to eat at home, so these prices would have killed me. Thanks for the warning. I was getting jealous before but now I m pretty downtown los angeles restaurants sure I will never go to this resort.
Yikes, I had shared (commented) on an earlier post about Hayman Island being on my bucket list. But, I heard the needle on the phonograph scratch across my dream 33 album of travel as I read about the food prices. Great point that it would be better if it was all-inclusive and to pay more up front.
Rand and I joked about doing this. We didn t have any ziplock bags, obviously, but we still thought we might be able to sneak something out. A pastry maybe? But the staff was everywhere, and they kind of watch you. I suspect because we were not the first people downtown los angeles restaurants to consider doing that.
The bar is already set high with Australian prices in general, before you get the Captive Audience add-on for resorts. A couple of months ago I had lunch with a friend in from Sydney with her family to visit California relatives, and she quite calmly told me about buying 2-3 years worth of clothes for her children here because the one-time outlay and transportation costs were worth not paying 3-4 times as much for the clothes themselves in Australia.
Interestingly, clothes were the one thing I found affordable in Australia. So many amazing downtown los angeles restaurants local designers! The equivalent pieces in New York, London, or Rome would have been completely unaffordable. But I suspect that children go through clothes a lot more quickly than adults.
After we left Australia, we left for Asia and suddenly we felt like we were Kings and Queens of the universe. It was incredible. Main meals in Singapore were like $3 (and sometimes that included a drink and noodles). For the same in Oz we d have paid about $20.
We keep thinking, what if we d have done it the opposite way round?! That would ve been too much of a shock to the system. I still harp on to anyone who will listen about this time we ate out in Sydney in Darling Harbour, and the cocktails cost $28. But the main meals cost $18. Where is the logic in that. I do not understand.
Oh yikes. We recently were in Anguilla at the Viceroy, and it was similar. Luckily, there we had options on the island. Unluckily, the options required an even pricier cab ride, so we often decided just to stay on-site to eat.
The prices are unfortunately quite similar to what we pay here in Norway a pint of beer can often run near $20 and dinners out (even the casual ones) are over $100. The good thing is that we re now so used to it that almost every where else seems cheaper
Yup. My thoughts exactly when the hubs and I moved for a short stint in Melbourne food and drinks are ridiculously expensive! It took a while to get used to the prices downtown los angeles restaurants at least the food is delicious! Really am enjoying your Aussie posts!
I ve just come across your blog somehow and am loving it already. This is the third post of yours that I ve read and I just had to comment. It s so fascinating hearing about other people s perspectives of Australia and in regard to this post, the costs. I m 20 and have lived in Sydney my whole life. Unfortunately I m yet to travel to the Whitsunday s, but I m definitely going to be at some stage. It s funny how being a Sydneysider, you forget that things such as food and drinks shouldn t really cost so much. Although downtown los angeles restaurants some of the prices you quoted above seem exorbitant, others did make me disgruntled but were not at all surprising and probably what I expected. Of course it depends where you go, but it is common for restaurants to charge such ridiculous amounts of money for food, and in regard to the cocktails, ha! That s the norm, love. I know my friends downtown los angeles restaurants and I would certainly love it if a classy cocktail or two didn t break our bank for the entire downtown los angeles restaurants night and week ahead. It s a shame how the cost of basic human needs can put such a dampener on your trip. I hope the fish, sea turtle and kittens made up for it though! P.s. great blog, can t wait to read more about the world I am less familiar with!
Although you would have had marked up prices being stuck on an island (I believe Lizard Island is a similar resort, but food inclusive!), everything is more expensive down here (especially in Melbourne downtown los angeles restaurants (where downtown los angeles restaurants I live) and Sydney).
You will struggle to find a decent main meal for less than $30 per