Day 281-287: Airlie Beach to Rainbow Beach
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
47
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Airlie Beach > Whitsundays > Bundaberg > Rainbow Beach,
Australia
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Woken up by some German bint with pleurisy hacking away at about half 7. The 6 bed dorm was full last night despite there only being 3 of us late afternoon, definately gonna have to try and stick to 4 beds wherever possible, 6 is just too many for my liking. Fell back to sleep after German bint left the room to go wash out her lungs. Woke again at 9.25am giving me 35 mins to have brekkie, shower, finish packing and check out...so dropped the shower option as I'm only sitting on a bus for 4 hours. Bus pickup was 10.45am. In-drive entertainment was Jurassic Park for the first part of the journey. Haven't seen it for bloody years, looks dated now but I must be getting the 3 films confused coz I was expecting Jeff Goldblum to pop up but he never appeared.
Lunch was at some petrol station with heart-attack food cafe attached. To maintain my healthy lifestyle I had a bag of crisps(!) with my houmous dip, followed by a 97% fat free yoghurt....mmmm, filling. Saved some money tho. Arrived in Airlie Beach at 3pm, had done some hostel research and decided to stay at Backpackers By The Bay, had heard some bad things about Reefos, Beaches and Magnums and this place had won some best backpacker award so should be alright. Courtesy bus was waiting, 3 others staying there too. Started chatting to a guy whilst checking in - Paul (such a common name....mental note: must change mine), a 19 year old student from Ramsbottom, pretty mature guy for his age, wouldn't normally think that I'd be able to get on with a teenager (god tha makes me feel old!!). Neither of us had booked a sailing trip around the Whitsundays so we started looking into what was available. Found one which looked quite cool on the Southern Cross sailing tomorrow for $350 - looks like all the 3 day 2 night ones are around the price.
Went for a wander into Airlie and ended up at Peter Pan's travel shop - in the end we got the same trip for $315 so we booked up. Didn't do much in the evening; dinner, watched some telly, played cards and a few drinks. Was still pretty warm when I went to bed, but the aircon wasn't on. Turns out that they don't switch it on in 'winter' - even tho it was probably about 25C at night.
Tuesday 21/06/05:
Went to the courtesy bus stop which then took us to the marina. Left the big luggage at the hostel and got charged $9 for the privilege. Sailing with a company called Southern Cross on a boat of the same name with 12 people on the tour altogether; two Belgian girls, Scots couple, Scots girl, Swedish couple, German guy, and two Swiss Girls, plus me and Paul. The crew consisted of Pete the Skipper and Luke the Peck. Realised when I got to the marina that in my rush to get to the bus stop I'd forgotten to check out and still had the room key in my pocket. No time to go back so luckily managed to get one of the Southern Cross staff who was going back into town to drop it off for me.
Unfortunately the curse of the east coast has struck again with it being dull, cloudy and practically no wind, which isn't very helpful when you're going sailing. We motored out of the marina and then raised the sails but didn't last long as there wasn't really enough wind to get us to where we needed to be quick enough. We cruised toward Luncheon Bay and on the way had luncheon. In the bay we had the option to go diving or snorkelling. Although I didn't want to spend the $75 I thought that I really should have another dive just to keep practicing and to remember everything. Plus we would only be diving to about 12m and the water was dead calm. I was the only certified diver who went down to had a dive master as my buddy which was cool and set me at ease. Paul has dived loads since learning in Thailand so he went snorkelling. A few others did an intro dive too. This time I felt more confident and it went pretty well, managed to finish the film in the camera off too.
When we got back on the boat afternoon tea and biccies were waiting.....mmmmm, very welcome when you've had saltwater in ya gob for an hour. Then we cruised round to a little inlet where we laid anchor for the evening in a very quiet and calm bay. The evening was some nachos before dinner, then a very nice chicken thing, and sitting around chatting on the deck. Bit bored so had a few games of cards with Paul before bed.
Wednesday 22/06/05:
No stupid o'clock starts on this tour, people started moving around about 8 and as my bunk was in the dining area everyone was walking past me anyway. Most people were up the front of the boat where there were 4 bunks and a double, at the back were two doubles and in the middle, the dining area, where I was there were 4 bunks but only 2 of them were used as we were 2 down on the tour. Still cloudy, like a grey blanket covering the sky, it hadn't moved at all. There was a little more wind and we set sail after brekkie to Hill Inlet where we jumped in the tender (the dingy attached to the boat) and went to the island to go on a short walk up to a lookout which looked over Whitehaven Beach. The view was stunning and the area is amazing, beautiful pure white sand beaches and water in a dozen shades of blue. The lack of sun was disappointing as it would have been so amazing if the weather was good. The lookout was pretty busy, one of the downsides of being in one of the most beautiful parts of the east coast.....there was even a small group of photographers who must have been on some photo holiday, of course they all had ridiculously expensive cameras....had a bit of camera envy.
We jumped back on the boat and had lunch, then travelled round to Whitehaven Beach itself. Hardly peaceful and secluded thanks to the shedloads of tourists but even that didn't detract from how gorgeous it was. We were dropped off and had 3 hours to spend doing what we liked on the beach, took a frisbee and volleyball with us and spent loads of time playing on the beach. Couldn't really be there and not go for a swim, although the weather was dull the water was still warm and once you were in it was ok. Just getting out in the breeze was a bit chilly. The beach is unique on the reef in the fact that it's made from tiny tiny balls of pure silica which is what makes it so white, and also the reason it squeaks when you walk on it. Had a great time playing frisbee on the sand and in the water, even invented a excellent doubles game of frisbee which I shall copyright and make a vast fortune from.
Eventually it was time to return to the boat. Nice to get back into dry clothes. As fresh water is in short supply on the boat we were all restricted to a 30 second shower a day, the shower was basically the hose tap in the toilet and it was cold - so unsurprisingly nobody bothered, the swim at Whitehaven was my shower for the day. We cruised round to the next overnight stop, felt a little rough en route, don't think it was sea sickness, seemed to be triggered by the smell of fuel and exhaust fumes which I caught every so often. Was also complete knackered as you don't exactly get a great nights sleep in a bunk. So headed downstairs for a snooze, ended up sleeping for a couple of hours, waking up not long after we'd dropped anchor in Sid Harbour for the overnight stop. Missed the pre-dinner nibbles but wasn't too fussed.
Dinner was great tho, steak with veggies. Too bloody cold to stay up on deck this evening so hung out with a few people downstairs chatting and drinking. Evening went pretty quickly and by 11ish we were all pretty knackered and settled down for the night.
Thursday 23/06/05:
First activity of the day was a 1km bush walk along Sawmill Beach which is part of the harbour we stayed in overnight, so just jumped in the tender and went for a wander. Weather was exactly the same as the last two days tho the wind had picked up quite a bit, so when we got back on the boat we went for a proper sail. Just as you see on the TV when the boats are racing along and leaning over so much you think they're about to flip over and smack into the water. Luckily it didn't, pretty scary at times tho, I was on the low side and sometimes the water was only a few inches from my back. We weren't zooming along, about 9 knots apparently, but still pretty quick considering it was all wind power. Sailed for a couple of hours over to Daydream Island, slowly, finally, there were a few breaks in the cloud and the sun popped out every now and again. However the wind was freezing, we all had jackets, fleeces, jumpers on, plus we'd hauled the blankets out from below deck and some of us, inc me of course, had wrapped ourselves up in them.
We arrived at Daydream in time for lunch. After lunch there was the option to be dropped off at the beach for a quick swim and snorkel. Although the sun was occasionally showing itself it was still way too cold to be going into the water, so hung back on the boat with a couple of others. Once they were all back it was time to make our way back to Airlie Beach. Set sail again tho the wind had dropped a little so we weren't going so fast and thankfully there wasn't so much lean. Got back to the marina about half four and that was it, 3 days sailing around the Whitsundays done and dusted. Let down a little by the weather but glad that we went on a boat with a small group, some of the boats held up to 26 which was too many. Got on really well with everyone and had a great time, enjoyed Paul's company too, think we're also gonna travel down to Fraser Island and do that tour together which is cool, will enjoy the company for a bit.
Courtesy bus dropped us off back in town, dropped off the underwater camera so that could be developed ready for tomorrow and headed back to the hostel. Had a hot shower!!! Yay.....felt bloody marvellous, tho actually considering I hadn't showered for 3 days I didn't feel too grubby, it had been too bloody cold to sweat. In the evening me and Paul headed down to Beaches which is a bar/backpackers/restaurant in Airlie for post tour drinks and food. Drank loads but for some reason couldn't seem to get drunk. Good night in general tho still freezing, had to go back to the hostel to get a fleece - it's just not right!! By 1am I was shattered so headed back leaving Paul and a couple of others at Shenanigans.
Friday 24/06/05:
Felt real rough during the night, gut was killing me and had the shits....nice! Wandered around Airlie during the day, lagoon was closed so chilled by the harbour. As to be expected now that we've finished the sailing the sky was blue and the sun was out. Hung out with Paul for the day, hired a pedolo in the afternoon and went for a 30 minute jaunt around the harbour area. Got some bloke on a boat to take our pic. In the evening we killed time until we had to go catch the bus to Bundaberg which was an overnighter leaving Airlie at 11.30pm. Bus was about an hour late tho, took some sleeping drugs, stuck the ear plugs in and tried to get some sleep.
Saturday 25/06/05:
Managed to get quite a bit of sleep really, only woke up a couple of times. Apparently woke up and said to Paul "Where are we now???" and went straight back to sleep - have no recollection of that whatsoever. Arrived in Bundy at half 10, wandered over to the nearest hostel which turned out to be full - there's a load of work available at the mo so the backpackers are pretty chocker. Bloke at the hostel told us to try the place right at the bus station called Salty's Rest, turned out to be a real find, got a twin room for just $18 a night each. Place was clean, quiet, air conditioned, big kitchen, excellent for one night anyway.
In the afternoon we took a walk to the Rum Distillery that Bundaberg is famous for and the main reason for stopping here. Bundaberg itself was a bigger town than I was expecting, guess it was busy coz of all the backpackers in town working. The distillery was about a 40 min walk out of town, we would have got a bus but didn't know where the hell to get one from so had some exercise instead. The tour was about $10, lasted about an hour, best bit was the smell, smelt like golden syrup everywhere coz rum is distilled from sugar cane...mmmmm. Got 2 free drinks at the end of the tour which went down very well in the sun. Of course there was a shop with lots of alcohol and Bundy stuff, only thing I bought was some rum fudge, v nice.
We did try to get a life back to the city but no one was pulling over, so walked for about 20 mins before some woman in a people carrier pulled over. She'd seen the Bundy bag I had and wanted to know if we knew if they were selling some special edition rum at the shop...we didn't know of course but we did ask if we could get a life to town. Despite baby sitting a couple of kids she kindly let 2 strange blokes into her car...love the aussies. She could talk the hind legs off a proverbial but the lift was much appreciated. I buggered off to wander round the town while Paul went back to the hostel. Found a net cafe where I could finally upload pics so got all that sorted.
Headed back after dusk finding Paul watching the Lions game in a bar near the hostel. Went back to cook dinner after and just hung out in the hostel for the evening, did think about going to the cinema but there are no bus services in Bundy at the weekend! Ended up watching Chicken Run and The Wedding Singer on telly.
Sunday 26/06/05:
Had a fantastic nights sleep with only the two of us in the room, quiet and comfy. Caught the 8am bus and with the hostel right at the terminal didn't have to walk more than 10 metres to catch it...great! Only a 4hr trip to Rainbow Beach but on the way the skies clouded over and the rain appeared again...not looking good for Fraser Island. Bus dropped off outside a couple of hostels, but we'd decided to go to a different one so took a quick walk over to it. Rainbow Beach is v small so only 3 hostels....and the one we picked was closed down! Good choice....so we went to the YHA instead which looked ok. Turned out the guy running the YHA had bought the other hostel and closed it down only the other day.
Went for a quick wander round the town, tiny and not a huge amount to do but pretty chilled and a couple of bargain cafes for food. At the hostel we booked our Fraser Island tour. We decided that we'd carry on travelling together as we're heading in the same direction, both ending up in Brissy, tho I'll be staying longer than Paul. The Fraser tour is a 4WD self guided thing, which basically means they get up to 11 people, give em a 4WD and send em off to the island to do their own thing. Sounds potentially disturbing but it's one of the cheapest ways to see the island....only $139 for 2 nights accom at the YHA, 3 day/2 night tour, free meal, free beer...and we leave tomorrow.
At half four we had a meeting with all the people we'll be travelling with, this was to go through tour details, watched a video on how to drive around the island without crashing, then we had to get together and work out our shopping list for the 3 days. Then we skipped off to the supermarket to go buy it, luckily a couple of people had cars. There are 9 of us altogether; Tobias and Marcus - German lads, Monica and Roger - German couple, Kat and Ned - English friends, and Denis - German bloke. Organising and buying the food wasn't too painful considering you had 9 people all having an opinion.
In the evening Paul, me, Kat and Ned went for some food over to one of the cafes on the main strip. I made the usual assumption of assuming a bloke and girl travelling together were a couple, turns out they were just mates from uni, both were studying at Melbourne Uni for a few months on an exchange. Good couple of people, think I'll get on well with them. Spent the rest of the night in the hostel losing at pool as usual, you'd think I'd know what I'm doing by now. So tomorrow it's off to Fraser Island in a 4WD with 7 strangers for 3 days...should be interesting.
