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Day 60-63 Airlie Beach continued
Entry 47 of 70 | show all | print this entry |
The boat set off to the next snorkelling site which is alleged to be one of the top ten in the world and is called Mantaray Bay. Dean and I stayed on the boat with the two young lads and the father of the little boy. The mother who is not a strong swimmer either, put a life vest on and had a go at snorkelling but she had the same problem as me and got a mouthful of sea, she didn't stay in long. Meanwhile, Yoster and Russell were trying to see what they could do to get the little boy in the water. They convinced him into a life vest and put him inside a life ring with his dad beside him and he loved it, bless him. Dean and I watched the fish from the boat, there were hundreds of small tropical fish of all different colours. Then there were some huge fish called Wrasse, Yoster and Russell had names for these but I can't remember them. The biggest one we were told is 55 years old and weighs approximately 50 Kilo's and I would guess about four feet long. He is huge and very friendly, he swam right up to the snorkellers much to their delight. We could hear their muffled squeals coming through their air tubes. There were other big fish swimming around, some big flat oval shaped ones that were stripy and beautiful colours. We got to see a lot even from the boat and Dean said he didn't mind not going in the water. Everyone was more well behaved this time and it didn't take so long to get them all back on the boat. The little one cried a bit when he came back aboard, he wanted to stay in there.
We were going to the famous Hill Inlet Beach at Whitehaven for our lunch, which we were told was an hour from here. Ocean rafting has exclusive access to this beach as all other tour companies do not have contracts to come here. We think this is pretty cool as our small group will be the only people there. We were told that we would be going through a sea corridor they call 'God's washing machine' and that today, it would be on full spin cycle so hang on tight. We set off fast and within ten minutes we were informed that we were in the 'washing machine' as if we couldn't already figure it out for ourselves. The waves were absolutely huge and we were airbourne most of the time as we sped over the top of them. It was brilliant, so exhilirating and great fun - all the girls were squealing as we went up in the air and we all got soaked as we landed. I was looking back to see how the little baby was doing and amazingly, he was fast asleep on his mum's knee - what a guy. They were getting soaked too and one of the young lads handed her a big beach towel so she could wrap him up to protect him, not that he cared - he was sparked!
We got to the beach and it was absolutely stunning - words cannot describe. The water is a pure turquoise (like a swimming pool) and the sand is pure white. Our guides told us that this sand is quartz so you don't have to worry about it being too hot to walk on, it stays the same temperature no matter what. After the bumpy ride I needed a toilet and was hoping that we would land at some sort of resort where we could go to the bathroom. Sadly not, there is just beach and there are no facilities on the raft so I had to wee in my stinger suit in the sea. Oh well, I'm sure that that I'm not the first person to do it, how many 10 year olds can hold it all day? The water is like bathwater, so warm and beautiful. Even in Thailand, we have never seen a beach as gorgeous as this. The sand is just so white (although not the same talcolm powder feel as the beaches of Thailand) but we are the only people here, so you get a true desert island feel - it is just amazing.
After a short time on the beach, they called us back to the boat - lunch is ready. We had the option of bringing our own or paying for the provided lunch. Although we are usually such cheapskates, on this occasion we had paid extra for the lunch and we were so glad we did. It was a buffet style lunch and there were: Bread rolls, cold meats, barbeque chicken, mussells, rice, salad, pasta salad, potato salad, cheeses and everything. We both heaped our plates and went back to the lovely beach where we sat on a rock and ate. Everything was absolutely delicious - and what a place to enjoy it. There have been few places I have ever been where I have enjoyed a meal so much. I suppose that had a lot to do with just how good the food was but also the venue was out of this world. It was just perfect - everybody should do this.
After lunch, we got out of our stinger suits and the boat drove around the corner where we all got out for the walk upto Hill Inlet Lookout. The walk wasn't a very long one or very difficult but we had to walk through forest and the mozzies were out and biting. We got up to the lookout and there is a small wooden platform to stand on. The view was unbelievably breathtaking, pure white sand which appears swirly because of the sand banks and turquoise water. The water was so crystal clear we could even see the stingrays from up there. We took loads of photographs, you don't get to see this every day. Dean looked great on the photo's but after salt spray, fast boat and hair escaped from ponytail, unfortunately I resemble a scarecrow in every one. Never mind, I wouldn't have missed this for the world. It has got to be one of the most (if not the most) beautiful views I have ever seen.
We all walked back to the boat after spending about 30 minutes up there. It was about an hour and 15 minutes back and it was bumpy. The little baby fell asleep again and they put a see through plastic sheet down on our side so he wouldn't get soaked. We were happy about that because we also stayed dry.
We dropped the family off first at their island resort and the baby woke up and was waving bye bye to us all, bless him - he was such a cutie and so good for one of his age. After we had dropped them off, we headed back to Airlie and met up with the other boat that had done the Southern exposure trip. Then the boat drivers had a play, surfing the rafts in each-other's wake so the raft was tipped up almost vertical (well it seemed it). All us girls were screeching with delight and it was so much fun. The boat drivers messed about like this for about 15 minutes, they obviously adore their jobs and who can blame them. We all made it safely back to Airlie bay and Dean and I walked back to our apartment. It has been such an amazing day and definitely one of the best we've had in Australia.
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