FROM PLEASURE ISLANDS TO PICKING PEANUTS OUT OF...
Trip Start
May 09, 2005
1
18
25
Trip End
Ongoing
Awesome Airlie, Wicked Whitsundays, but Bollocks to Bundy!,
Australia
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Luck, however, was on our side! Our original 2-day, 2-night trip we booked got cancelled, so we were upgraded to a 3-day, 2-night cruise on a similar boat. It was a fairly small ex-racer that went like the wind... well, when it was windy at least. There was only 12 people on the trip so it wasn't over crowded, plus we had perfect weather for the full three days..
1. SETTING SAIL!
. On the first day we went to Whitehaven beach, which is known as the second best beach in the world... but I don't care what the judges say, I reckon it's even better than Camber Sands! There we saw some sting rays and these tiny little sharks. And the next few days were basically spent cruising about the ocean, relaxing, snorkeling, at night drinking goon*, sleeping, relaxing, snorkeling, at night drinking goon, relaxing... etc etc. The snorkeling was really ace -- probably better here than at the Great Barrier (no crazy-black-human-attacking-fish either!). I saw several big-arse blue fish that I liked to call 'bubbas', lots of jelly fish, a confused-looking turtle which I swam next to for a while and rubbed it's shell, a black tip shark that I chased but it turned into a torpedo and sped off at a million knots, plus heaps of other big fish, little fish and cardboard boxes...So after a few fantastic days sailing and having fun, you'll be pleased to know that the last week has been well and truly gash! Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with picking fruit as a profession -- if you're a septic-swamp-dwelling-imbred-hillbilly with leprosy! My God, people actually pick mangoes for a living! And their idea of a holiday is going to pick tomatoes for a week on the farm down the road! The first farm we landed at wasn't actually too bad. The locals were friendly enough, I think (I couldn't understand a word they said!), and we even got a day picking sweet potatoes, or peanuts from a shit as I liked to think of it
1. SLIP STREAM!
. Plus, I got to see a 60 year old, 18 stone woman get medieval on a rats ass! She stamped the hell out of it with all the grace of an elephant!! However, the second farm we were sent to was run by the biggest bunch of arseholes around! Really arrogant and patronising, and I saw loads of guys getting bullied and then sacked for the owners pleasure. I really wanted to remind them that without us backpackers the work would take three times as long, and the only reason they do this job is because only really, really, really thick people would enjoy it! Although having said all that, Giggsy seemed to have fun...* Goon is a term used over here for extremely cheap wine. You can buy 5 liters for $10 -- ie about 4 quid! Of course, it takes like acid and if you spill any on you you need to wash it off sharpish, otherwise it will burn your skin!
Lost in translation... I've been meaning to mention this for a while -- a lot of the Aussies we've met keep saying "but" at the end of every sentence. Example: "Awe yeeeah, it's not too bad this time of year but" or "it might rain but" to which we will always reply "but what"... Hilarious and hours of fun for us!
