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Sailing the Whitsundays
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After a grueling 11 hr bus ride to Airlie beach, I arrived with not much sleep, a sore neck and a missing bag. Not the best way to start. After a phone call we found my bag however, and it had been left in Townsville somehow. Not to worry though, as I would get it back the next time I was on the bus. It was a good thing there wsant really anyrhing really important i needed in there.
I proceeded to confirm my place on my boat and walked down to the mariner with about 10 mins to spare before we boarded the vessle. Talk about a tight schedule i run! I was a little disappointed too as I had booked a boat called broomstick, and ended up on a boat called condor. Broomstick was smaller and lighter, and also had less people, and I was looking for that more personalized feel to it. Ah well... Condor it was. There was a weird mix of people on board too. I couldnt really fit in to any of them. About half the boat was American girls who were "studying abroad" and already had their groups and didnt much talk to the others on board, there was a small Sweedish group, who stayed to themselves, same with a small group of Irish girls and a small group of poms who stuck to themselves. I did manage to befriend a few of the American girls, but it wasnt that easy as they wernt that welcoming. :P
Our trip started out with a quick sail out to a snorkeling spot where I managed to find and swim with and photograph a turtle! The water was colder than cairns though, and visibility was a lot lower too, so it wasnt overly amazing in comparison (still really nice though). After the snorkel it was a quick sail then anchor over night. The next day I slept in right passed breakfast I was so tired from the day before.. and i wasnt happy that no one woke me for it. Never mind.. this was the day we went to see white haven beach, which is the 2nd (I think) most photographed point of australia, and for good reason too. It is stunningly beautiful!! It is made from 98% pure white silica sand, and is amazing to look at and to feel. It was such a beautiful bay with stunning sand formations in the sea/inlet. We first walked up to a good vantage point to snap some pics, and then it was down to play in the sand. It was blindingly white and beautiful, and the water so clear just like a tropical paradise. I managed to find a big stingray in the sand too and got few close pics of him. :) We had a few hours down on the beach frolicing in the sunshine before we had to get back to the boat for lunch. I was sad to leave, as this was THE most beautiful beach I had ever been to!!
After lunch it was a sail to another snorkeling spot. I had an opportunity to go for another dive now too, but I opted out as I knew it wouldnt compare to the diving I had just done in Cairns. It was this snorkeling trip I managed to catch a school of about 12 or so reasonably large (about 50cm - 80cm) bumphead parrot fish. These guys were cool and crazy at the same time.. they were great how they let me get up really close to them, but crazy as they were just munching huge chunks of coral left right and center, and then it was coming out their rear end as.. well... sand. So really... all the coral beaches you see really just consist bumphead parrot fish poo... mmm... nice.
We anchored over night at the same location of the snorkeling spot, and due to the light on the boat this attracted all sorts of fish! One of the staff collected the blood from the steak and put that in a bag overboard too.. so maybe that may have helped to attract the fish.. and the sharks.. who knows? We did get a show though! We were out with the spot lights over the side where we saw loads of different sharks - at a guess they were black reef tips, so not very aggressive. There was the odd trevally, and we saw dolphins too!! Occasionally we would see a squid swim near to the surface, and if you shone the torch long enough on it a shark would eat him.. cooooool! :D
The next morning we could jump in for a quick snorkel if we wanted before we sailed back to the mainland. I took the opportunity to swim with the bat fish that were hanging around underneath the boat, but then someone thought it would be funny to throw some bread in the water right in front of me. Needless to say the fish went nuts and I had a feeding frenzie right in front of me. Alright! After the swim it back on board and the last leg back to the mainland. There was quite a strong wind about so we got some good speed up along the way... that also meant that we got back quicker and had less time on the boat.. so goes life. :P
I must say although I did enjoy the trip over all, I wasnt all that impressed, particularly compared with my superb prodive trip. The changing of boats was a surprise to me, the mix of people wasnt the best (but you cant do much about that), but the main thing that upset me most was that my 2.5 day / 2 night sailing trip translated into a short trip to Whitehaven beach and 2 snorkeling trips. It left me feeling disappointed, like I was expecting more.
Back on the mainland I had half a day to kill before I got back on the bus to Hervey Bay - Gateway to Fraser island... i sound like an advertisement when I say that. I ended up talking to Nora, one of the Irish girls on the boat and discovered that I got on with her really really well! Its a shame I didnt figure this out at the BEGINNING of the trip. :P She invited me back to her hostel to have a shower which was nice of her. As the showers on the boat were a) cold, b) not very fresh water, and c) we basically didnt use them, I was very glad to have a nice hot shower, and felt a lot better once I was cleaned up. Me Nora and an English guy called Nick ended up going down to the lagoon in Airlie beach and had lunch / after noon tea there and chatted for a while before I had to catch my bus which was a nice change from the boat. This time it was a 13 hr trip... urgh! Idid manage to poichase an inflatable neck pillow before I left... this turned out to be one investment that was well worth every cent!
I will update photos soon... please click here... http://picasaweb.google.com/mrphillipthomas/20080326AirlieBeachAndWhitsundays
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