Shout out #6
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2006
1
7
41
Trip End
Ongoing
Cairns,
Australia
Thursday, August 3, 2006
airly beach was the location for sailing the whitsunday islands and my next stop after fraser island. it was also the location where the rain gave way to sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. i booked 3 days/2 nights on a maxi racing sailboat converted to carry passengers. when boarding, i was in a mental hangover from fraser island. i'd been around enough of the boxed wine, drinking game (what's with drinking games?) scene for awhile and decided to keep to myself a bit. i took in the afternoon, the boat, and how the crew made it work.
we watched the sunset from one of the islands, re-boarded, and found a place to anchor for the night. i took a nap after dinner and awoke to a beautiful night. everyone was talking on deck and the stars were brilliant. i felt much more social and engaged in the conversations i had avoided that afternoon (where you from?, how long you hear?). i slept like a baby that night in my stretcher-like cot...the rocking boat did the trick.
the next morning brought the highly exciting snorkelling stop at a nearby reef. it was strongly recommended that we wear stinger suits (full body tights worn to prevent death by the lethal jelly fish stings) although the stingers are mostly a threat in the summer. a couple english passengers referred to them as our power ranger suits. we took to the reef like superheroes...
en route to our lunchtime destination, the cook reported a wierd sound in the engine (they used a motor to pull into anchor spots) and then a wierd smell below deck. the crew started looking at the engine belts toward the front of the boat, while a fire broke out in the rear. all the passengers were sent to the front deck while the crew raced to extinguish the flames. it was an electrical fire, not the result of a thrown belt. the electrical systems were now down. we dropped anchor and i was asked to watch if the boat drifted while they diagnosed the problem. i soaked in the sun and waited for the story.
the ship was run by an interesting skipper named ash (also short for ashley). he has lived a great life. now in his mid to late 30's, sailing has been a hobby of his since he was a child. 5 years ago, through random circumstances, he arrived in airly beach and took a job sailing. in those 5 years, he balanced his time between sailing and travelling. whenever the wind blows in the right direction, he quits and follows it. when he's looking to return, he'll send an email and will return when needed. i get the impression he's one of the more capable skippers to be found...there's typically a place for him in any outfit. aside from knowing how to sail and run a crew, he also needs to know a certain amount of mechanics, plumbing, and electronics.
when he had figured out the situation with the electrical problem, we had another delay. the tide had lowered as they worked below deck and the ship was now stuck in a sandbank. we would have to wait for it to rise before going to our night anchorage. ash put down the ladder and encouraged us to swim and soak up the sun while he and the crew fixed the wiring. i ripped off my shirt and dove in from the boat (minus the power ranger getup)...that was the best news i had heard all day. the fire and the delay were only contributing to the fun. not one person joined me in the water though. i got out and jumped back in several times (sometimes i dove, sometimes i cannonballed it). finally another person, an american girl, decided to join me. we climbed aboard and the boat was ready to move...the faulty circuit was bypassed, and the tide was high.
that night i stayed on deck for hours watching the sky and talking with whoever was around. most often it was ash and a girl from denver. by the time i went to bed, i had seen over 20 shooting stars and was even more taken by the southern constellations.
my sleep however, was highly disturbed. it started off well enough- listening to my music and rocking with the boat. i drifted off until rudely being awoken late in the night. the girl below me was snoring louder than any individual i've ever encountered: even louder than my grandpa. there was nothing feminine about it either. she inhaled harley davidson's and exhaled nascar racers (doppler effect included). she was snoring directly into my ear from the bed below me. i put on my noise-cancelling headphones which only managed to reduce the sound from super-human to human. i tried playing music, but the batteries had died in the intitial rocking session. it was a full-on disaster.
in the morning there were many grumpy faces looking at me. it was the logical assumption that i had been the perpetrator. until that night, i would have never thought a dainty woman could sound like such a raging ogre (at least in her sleep). for a minute i wanted to blame myself too. i'd rather take the scorn of 20 passengers than believe a woman could make such a transformation at night. then i thought of a saying my good friend has, "they're all 400 pound gorillas who look nice and smell sweet". it made me laugh.
back in airly, i had decided to stay a little longer so i could go diving on the great barrier reef. katie continued onward so we said goodbye. i hopped another boat, she took a bus northward. there was a good chance it was the final goodbye.
the boat took me to a place called the steps. it was a group of reef clusters where we would be doing a few dives. in college i had gotten my diving certification but have very few dives under my belt. they took a group of us rookies to easier locations. i saw the reef, the broad variety of reef fish, a couple sand sharks, and i heard whales. on the ride to the reef, we saw a whale emerge from the water and slide back under. hearing whales underwater was just as cool.
from airly i took a bus to townesville and went directly to magnetic island by ferry. magnetic is a small island with several beaches and bays. it's a nice place to relax for a few days or more. while checking into my hostel, i met a swiss guy named phil.
the next morning phil and i decided to go for a bike ride. we rented bikes and went on our way. the bikes were more in the grandma's garage category than i preferred, but they got us around. the biggest drawback was the kickstand secured to the back frame. i haven't touched a bike with a kickstand since i took mine off at the age of 6. no respectable kid rode a bike with a kickstand in my neighborhood. now i'm riding this bike, with this kickstand, while wearing this enormous bubble helmet (a requirement by law), and i'm extra happy to be a stranger in a strange land. on the positive side, my bike did have a bell. it had a spring operated bell that worked by pulling back the hammer with your thumb and releasing it in the direction of the metal top. i was so proud of the bell that i rang it as i passed every pedestrian within 10 feet. i think phil was a bit jealous of the bell.
our first destination was the main beach at horseshoe bay. it was the focal element of the island, but the water was more murky. we talked over lunch about where to go from there, back to the roads or by trail? we opted for a trail that meandered by several secluded bays and reduced much of the road ride back. it was a hiking trail, though we decided to go for it anyway. 2 kilometers of hiking with our bikes easily cut our ride by 4 kilometers and got us well off the beaten track. we picked up the cheap (cheap meaning heavy) bikes and headed up the rocky trail. now that we were in the land of sunshine and lollipops, i had taken to wearing sandals and board shorts only. as we neared a side trail leading to the first bay, i stubbed my left pinkie toe on a rock. my toe quickly turned purple, but it wasn't too bad. i just had to walk with a hobble.
we took the side trail and went for a swim. aside from a couple overweight nude sunbathers, the place was ours. the water was clear and cool and we got to refresh a bit before carrying the bikes further. around the corner, the trail dipped by the next bay. again we dropped the bikes and went for a swim. again the water was clear and cool, and again we had the bay to ourselves. yep, just us, the water, and the jellyfish i came across. it's tentacle got my right inside elbow. fortunately it wasn't one of the more viscious species (there are 1500 species of jellyfish in some areas) because phil refused to pee on my arm. being swiss, he preferred to remain uninvolved in the situation. next time i'll be taking a german on my adventures.
so we continued onward. i hobbled to my bike, picked it up with my left arm, and walked along the trail. it took us past a fence, into a group of trees, and petered out. we knew the road was close, because we could see it on the other side of the fence. the side where the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. we walked further into the trees and were able to see a gate. just a little bit further and we'd be free. as i limped through the thickening shrubs and trees, looking at the gate, i walked through a huge spider web. the strands were as thick as thread and stuck to my face and chest. then the sun shined even brighter on the other side of the fence and the birds sang such sweet songs.
we could wait no longer and decided to climb the fence. i lifted my bike, raised it over my head, over the fence, and let go. basically, i threw my bike over the fence and it banged loudly on the ground. phil was certainly getting a kick out of my antics so far. he took a little more care in getting his over the fence and we both scrambled over the top. we were now on the dirt road and had survived the bike carrying stunt. i grabbed my bike, hobbled a little alongside it, and noticed some resistence in the back wheel. the toss had bent the back wheel quite a bit. now it rubbed on the brakes with every revolution.
i strapped on my bubble helmet, kicked up the kickstand, rang my bell, and pedaled off with a wobbly back wheel. phil just laughed even more. with the toe, the arm, the helmet, the bike, the bell, and the tire, all i need was an orange flag sticking up behind me. he could introduce me to people and whisper out the side of his mouth "he's a little slow". no questions would be asked.
after magnetic, i completed my east coast run with a stop in cairns. i was surprised to hear that katie was still around so we spent a few days there. basically, we swam in the lagoon, went to the rainforest, saw some crocodiles and parted ways. i'm now in sydney with 2 days until i fly to bangkok.
australia's a funny place. like the u.s., it's a mixture of cosmopolitan cities, rural towns, and highly varied terrain. also like the u.s., it's a result of british colonization where a totally new culture emerged in time. sydney's the heart of it's cosmo, fashion oriented culture. as i went further north, there were a series of beach towns with a strong beach culture. when i got to the great barrier reef where the surf died, the beach culture gave way to resort oriented towns and some countrified (kfc and pizza hut) towns even further to the north. it's a nation with a vast array of unique animals though the biggest attraction at the zoo is steve erwin (crikey!). all-in-all, it's not that different than the u.s. the people are a little more civil, friendly, and are very well travelled...they know a lot about the world around them. we've got 'em on obesity though. they're #2 in that category.
