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Published: December 28th 2008
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We started our day with a quick trip to the dive shop to buy some new snorkels. Ours had been slowly giving up the more we used them and even full of tie wraps they’d started to leak again so we’d felt it was time to invest in some new ones. It was quite a novelty to have proper snorkels with the drains to stop you swallowing water and we were excited to try them out.
We’d had to check out of our motorpark by 10am but we had decided to pay to store our van there while we were on the cruise rather than leave it at the marina which wasn‘t secure - so we drove back there to park up. The bonus was that it meant we could use the facilities at the campsite right up until the coach came to get us to take us to the marina, on the downside it meant that we had no aircon as we were parked in a storage field not on a powered site. To cool off we made our way over to the large swimming pool and spent the next few hours diving in, then laying to dry off.
The coach picked us up around 4pm and by 4.30pm we were sitting on the back deck of the Whitsunday Magic, with about 30 other people, being introduced to the staff who would look after us for the next three nights. We’d chosen a large tall ship for our cruise and it was one of the more expensive ones which we hoped outpriced the average schoolie in hunt of a party ship. We were very pleased to see a mixed age group ranging from about 22 upwards, mostly couples, so it definitely wasn’t going to be one of the party crusies we’d seen going out.
After the introductions, we sat out on the back deck under the shade watching the mainland getting smaller and smaller. The ocean was a vibrant turquoise and we left a completely flat imprint in the water behind us. It wasn’t long before we were asked to help out by raising the sails. Once they were up we whizzed along.
We took the opportunity to chat to some of the other guests as we watched the sun set over the islands. The sky became a hazy shade of pink and gold streaked with
ribbons of cloud. We didn’t want to tear outselves away from it as the sun got lower and lower until it eventually disappeared behind a hill, leaving the hill tops bathed in a warm glow.
Freshly baked Lebanese bread was served as afternoon tea, with a range of homemade dips to keep us going until dinner and they were greatly received. When happy hour came around we got a glass of wine from the bar and realised that all the staff had memorised our names already! There were seven crew in total and they were all either Aussies or from the UK.
When they called to tell us dinner was ready, we all went down to the inside dining room that was laid out in a mix of tables seating four to eight people. We grabbed one for four right next to an open window as I got the feeling that the air con wasn’t going to be that effective. I was right. Half way through our chicken and bacon salad we were all roasting. We were joined at the table by two single people on the trip - Micheal who was from Germany and was out working
in Australia for a couple of weeks, and Natalie who was originally from Lincolnshire and had gone to the same uni as me. In between courses Reggie, the skipper, came out to talk us through where we’d been (Able Point Marina to Stonehaven at Hook Island, where we had dropped anchor for the night) and where we were going tomorrow (various snorkelling spots around Hook Island). Pudding of a white chocolate tart followed which was delicious After dinner we headed to the sundeck to make the most of the night sky. We lay down on the sunbeds looking up to the sky. Matt spotted a shooting star and said I refused to go back indoors until I saw one, but unfortunately after a while I had to give up.
It was a hot night in our cabin and we only got a whisper of draft out of our aircon unit. Instead, we relied on a desk fan, but that just seemed to move the warm air around. It didn’t bother Matt though and he went to sleep almost straight away.
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