Day 1: We arrived into Airlie Beach early evening and myself and Dave immediately tried to get a package booked to start sailing The Whitsunday Islands the following day. Airlie is full of different providers but many were closed by the time we had arrived and, both being on quite a tight schedule, we were keen to get something booked ASAP. Luckily, the hostel we checked into had just 2 places left on a catermeran called Wings 2, which was departing the following morning. The boat seemed nice and we managed to negotiate a good deal so booked it straight away. Kat had already got her whole east coast trip planned and she was booked on a different boat departing the same day so we agreed to meet up with her again after the trips.
After we had booked up and checked in with the Wings people, the 3 of us headed to the bar next door for some cheap meals and a few drinks with Kelly, Bud and his Aussie mate Carl. Stayed in there for a few hours hanging out with them before saying our goodbyes. Bud was heading south while we were at the Whitsundays. Hopefully, we will have him as our driver again before we're finished in Australia.
Day 2: Dave and I headed for the meeting point to begin our 3 day / 2 night sailing trip. Somehow, we managed to get lost along the way and had to wake up this girl sleeping in her garden so we could ask for directions. After telling us the way, she then gave us some additional information to pass onto one of the crew members (Ian), who happened to be her boyfriend. Unfortunately, I can't repeat the message she wanted us to pass on but let's just say she wasn't too happy with the state he had left the house in that morning! Not a dispute we really wanted to get in the middle of.
Thankfully, we made it to the meeting point and even had time to get some beers in for the trip. We met the crew - Ian (we didn't say a word), Rachel (South Africa) and our skipper for the 3 days, Tom (New Zealand) and then boarded the boat to get underway.
There were 28 people on the trip and the first thought of many (certainly me) after getting on the boat would have to have been "where are we all going to sleep?". The catermeran wasn't exactly big and there was no indication of where 28 people would fit. Thankfully, after a long safety briefing, we were all shown to our rooms (the dining room in mine and Dave's case). Nice and cosy for everyone but all part of the fun. Tom also warned us all about the strong possibility of seasickness. A few hours later, we knew exactly what he meant.
Some cool people on the boat - Johnny and Chris (Wales), Andre and Sylvie (Canada), Laura (UK), Theresa (Finland), Matthieu (France), Sebastian (Switzerland), Ivo (Holland) and Heath ( (Australia). Also there was a group of Danes, who spoke to no-one but each other throughout the trip and some other French and Swiss girls we talked to a bit. Hard to get to know everyone in just 3 days. Everyone we did meet initially seemed really nice and we all got on well. A good start to the trip as we headed to our first sight for some Snorkelling.
Sylvie and Andre did some diving at the first sight but I wanted to check the visibility before shelling out and getting involved myself (although it's hard to say no when you have your licence). Decided to snorkel to begin with and we saw quite a lot, despite the visibility not being ideal. Laura claimed to have seen a Shark (no-one believed her) and myself and Johnny saw a huge Mauri Wrasse (named Priscilla by the crew) and we followed her for ages before finding ourselves miles away from everyone else. An enjoyable Snorkelling session, even if the water was pretty cold throughout.
Back on the boat and we started to see what the seasickness warnings had been about. Tom didn't exactly hold back taking the Carermeran across the ocean which, combined with strong winds and pretty big waves, meant lots of concentration from all of us to not be the first one to spew. Thankfully, we all made it...for now.
Eventually, we anchored up for the night and settled down for dinner. Throughout the trip, I've seen how much you can learn about people when it comes to food and this was illustrated again by this Danish girl, who always positioned herself at the front of the queue when it came to meal times. She was pretty rude to anyone who was in her way and had no hesitation taking massive portions with no regard for the 27 other people behind her. We didn't make a big deal of it and laughed it off mostly - especially when she confronted Johnny the time he had the cheek to be in front of her. Quite unbelievable. Mind you, with the expression she had on her face, it would take a brave man to get in her way.
We spent the rest of the evening chilling out with some beers, while Tom and the crew detailed where we were in relation to the islands.
Day 3: The anchor came up at 5.30am (5.30!!!!), which was basically a loud wake-up call to everyone on the boat. If that didn't do the trick, the waves smashing off the side of the boat definately did as we set off again - Tom didn't really hang around.
Then, much to mine and everyone else's amusement, Dave was the first one to succumb to the seasickness as he gave us all an entertaining show at the back of the boat. Funny for us but I was sure he wouldn't be the only one.
First stop of the day was Whitehaven Beach - the main attraction and most famous beach of the Whitsundays. Having seen photos, we were all pretty excited about going there and hoping for better weather than groups had had in the previous couple of weeks. Tom and the crew said it had been loads of rain and a pretty brown beach recently.
Thankfully, we got lucky and the rain just about held off so we could appreciate what is a stunning beach. Soft White sand contrasted with crystal clear blue water makes for a beautiful beach and some quality photos as we spent a couple of hours there. Wetsuits were required for swimming (lots of Jellyfish around) but we didn't mind. There were also Stingrays swimming close to the shore. We then spent ages messing about for jumping photos and pyramids - was a good laugh. We just managed to get away before the rain came and were all pretty blown away by the beach. It's supposedly the 2nd best beach in the world so I'd like to see which beats it. Unfortunately, no-one seems to know what number 1 is!
Back on the boat and we headed to Mantaray Bay for some more Snorkelling or, in mine, Heath's and Andre's case, Diving! (I just can't resist). The dive wasn't ideal for me because I couldn't stop my mask fogging it - very annoying. Thankfully, I could see enough to witness the biggest Turtle I've ever seen, who was chilling on the bottom long enough for us to each swim right behind him for some underwater snaps and we could even touch his shell. The previous day, Ian had told us that Turtles tend to eat Jellyfish, which leaves them feeling lethargic and pretty-much stoned. That was definately the case with this guy who wasn't moving for anyone. Poor visibility and a fogged up mask but you can't really complain when you see a Turtle this big. Awesome.
We then anchored for the evening and got in line behind the Danish girl to get some dinner. Rachel did a really good job considering the amount she was cooking for. We then had a look through the day's photos - including our sweet underwater snaps, before getting back on the beers and watching the stars from the front of the boat. Myself, Johnny, Chris and Laura ended up getting pretty wrecked and having a cool night.
Day 4: Final day on the boat and we were up really early again for more Snorkelling and Diving (tiring business this travelling lark you know!). Another good dive with more Turtle sightings (seems to be loads in Aus) and also another huge Wrasse and a Stingray. Myself, Heath and Andre thought the dive was ok but nothing spectacular. Ian, on the other hand, thought it was amazing. I told him he needs to get over to Borneo - that's amazing.
We then headed back to the mainland to finish the trip. All had an awesome time and were very grateful to the 3 crew members for their part in it. A few showers across the 3 days and some seriously choppy waters but we still got pretty lucky in comparison to previous groups by the sounds of it. A thoroughly enjoyable few days and more great people met.
That afternoon, a few of us went down by the lagoon in Airlie hoping to sunbathe and relax for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the weather wouldn't let us as it kept changing it's mind every 5 minutes until we all gave up. We then said our goodbyes and went our separate ways as most of them were continuing north or heading home. Myself and Dave met up with Kat again that evening and just chilled at the hostel.
Long bus journey to Emu Park the following morning.
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