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Takes Me Away
Entry 56 of 84 | show all | print this entry |
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"And if the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility."
We carried on north in our Greyhound bus. The driver told us to stay in our assigned seats for insurance purposes...so they can identify our bodies in case of a crash. Soph and I were the only people to get out at Mackay. Obviously not much to draw the crowds here, but it is the birth places of one of my traveling heroes. Our reason for coming here though was to head out to Eungella National Park (Sophie's Mishap of Choice: sitting in bird shit) in search of the elusive platypus. We were the only ones camping there, for $4 a night, and it was real nice and peaceful. We'd wake up, open the tent and I'd take a wizz as I watched wallabies hop away. You can't beat that.
And yes, we saw a couple of platypus. They're very shy indeed. Kind of look like a turd with a beak but are cute, I guess in the same way a poo is cute when it unexpectedly gives you a smile. We watched them dive and resurface and it was good. But a couple of days later we returned to Mackay and civilisation (passing a house with a sign on the road "Aaron Stop Please") and carried on up to Airlie Beach, for a reunion with the Fraser Island Canadians, and our gateway to The Whitsundays. We spent 3 days exploring the Whitsundays on a live-aboard boat: The Avatar, a really slick looking trimaran. It's the size of a tennis court (as everyone repeatedly pointed out...get over it) and just brilliant. About 20 of us were living on it but it was pretty spacious. It had two trampoline-like nets on either side of the sail which everyone could recline on and that's generally what we did, basking in the sun during the day and drinking and chilling at night while the moon smiled down on us like a slice of lemon.
Besides that we sailed round exploring some glorious beaches and snorkeling in some fantastic spots. Soph and I did a scuba dive too, allowing us to see the Great Barrier Reef up close. I'd forgotten how much I love diving. And the reef is even more impressive than I'd imagined. Not just whites and grays but every colour...fantastic blues and reds and purples. On our last day we were snorkeling in a particularly nice spot and found a couple of huge turtles who were kind enough to let us swim round with them, which is probably my east coast highlight so far. A few of us just followed them around for a while and it was great. You'd see them begin to surface and we'd follow them up, sticking our heads out of the water at the same time to see their little heads emerge and their mouths gasp for air. It was so funny looking that me and this other guy just kept cracking up every time we saw it.
Jellyfish were rife so we had to wear stinger suits. Mick Power had been quick enough to point out that they don't cover your feet, hands or head. Sure enough, most people got stung, including me on the face. Not too sore though. At least it wasn't one of the ones that kill you. On the plus side we saw one of my turtle friends hunt down a jellyfish and just start chomping on it. I didn't know they did that, but it was very satisfying to see the turtle finish him off. Good prevailing over Evil. We returned to Airlie beach on the 3rd day, slowly and sadly pulling in to the harbour as all boat journeys end. One last night here allowed us to go out on the piss with all our boatmates, who were all very likeable: some funny English guys, miscellaneous Europeans and several banterful Canadian girls (are there any assholes in that country??). Drunken goodbyes in a couple of reasonably dodgy bars. UV lights in the toilet? Far out. I haven't seen that since Pearce Street DART station.
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