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Published: February 7th 2010
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Jan 21st - Jan 25th Firstly let's get this nonsense of what Simon claims to be a shark attack out of the way. We were kitted out in our very fetching wetsuits (to protect us from stingers) and paddling - yes that's right, paddling - in ankle deep water off Whitehaven Beach watching the juvenile stingrays and sharks swimming about when Simon starts screeching and jumping up and down. 'It bit me, it bit me' he screamed! Now as I said before we were in
ankle deep water and the sharks were very small but Simon still maintains one (probably about 8in long) had it in for him and circled his foot before coming at him twice. Not quite Jaws is it?!
Airlie Beach is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands which are 74 islands dotted out in the water amongst the Great Barrier Reef. The Whitsundays are spectacular with clear waters and white sandy beaches lining many of the islands.
There are countless tour operators running from Airlie Beach that offer boat trips around the islands from the cheap backpacker boats that pack in the passengers to luxury catamarans that take only a handful of guests and
spoil them with exquisite food. We went for something more like the latter. I didn't fancy a big boat after doing that the last time I was in the Whitsundays - this ended with me getting very wet after sleeping on deck because there was no space in the open-plan cabin for everyone to sleep. So we treated ourselves to a two night trip on Whitsunday Blue which is a catamaran that takes eight passengers (usually couples) and provides a mouthwatering array of tempting dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
After enduring the 19 hour bus journey from Rainbow Beach we were desperate for a shower and were able to have one at the marina where we also dropped off our luggage. Then we had a few hours to kill before boarding at 3pm so ended up dozing off on a bench near the open air lagoon. Classy.
The boat was amazing and we had a good bunch of people on our trip (two other couples and a pair of friends) but we couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed because the website had made it sound so much more impressive. We went on expecting something like Roman Abramovich's
yacht which in hindsight was probably a bit unlikely. The website said there was air con, a cinema room, each cabin had its own flat screen DVD player entertainment system and there was a big emphasis on luxury. So we were a bit miffed to find a piddly plastic fan in our room, no air con or cinema room and the 'entertainment system' was a personal portable DVD player! Also it is not my idea of luxury to only be allowed one shower a day but nevertheless it was a lovely boat - the bed was comfy and the hose-style shower was surprisingly powerful.
We were welcomed aboard with a platter of fresh tropical fruit and set sail out to our mooring spot for the evening. We got to know the other passengers over some drinks and dinner which was excellent. The food was amazing on the boat and Simon was always after seconds. I told him not to get used to it because we'd be back to pasta soon enough. But it was really good to be waited on and not have to wash up.
Over breakfast the next day we played spot the turtle - turns
Whitehaven Beach
'The shark was this big!' out our mooring spot was very popular with turtles and we saw loads of them popping their heads out to breathe. We love turtles. They are very cute and graceful and not at all scary.
After breakky we were kitted out with wetsuits to protect us from stingers and taken over to Whitsunday Island - home of the world famous Whitehaven Beach. On the way to the lookout our chef/guide/deckhand man told us that ants with green bottoms (quite big ants, not the biggest we've seen in Oz but bigger than British ants) taste like sherbert if you lick them. Now I don't know who would ever have discovered this or why anybody would want to lick an ant's bottom but he proceeded to demonstrate. Nobody else gave it a try though.
Whitehaven Beach is a perfect bit of sand with a 98% silica content which makes it very fine and very squeaky. It's the stuff Bounty adverts are made of. We spent a couple of hours walking around the shoreline looking at stingrays and taking countless photos.
Later that day we hit the water for a spot of snorkelling off the top of Hook Island and
saw a huge shoal of very colouful fish. It was like swimming in a tropical fish tank as they were all around us in the water. They were all eating the coral with a fierce hunger and we could actually hear them eating it. Fish eating sounds a bit like a lot of bubbles popping near your ear. It's louder than you would expect. All of a sudden the fish darted off so I figured something must have scared them and was worried I would turn around and see a big shark but it wasn't a shark just a huge Maori wrasse - giant dumb-looking fish with huge Mick Jaggeresque lips.
There was time for snorkelling the next day too and we saw more colourful fish but no sharks or turtles. I was secretly pleased we saw no sharks because I am a bit scared I will freak out and have a panic attack. I know they won't hurt me but it's just the thought of merrily snorkelling along looking at pretty fish and then being startled by a big dark shark. I still blame Speilberg.
The boat trip was a lot of fun and we certainly ate
Whitehaven Beach
Those dark blobs are stingrays like kings for the three days. We loved being out on the water and cruising through the waves feeling the spray soaking our skin. And the snorkelling was amazing too.
Once back on terra firma the rain started so we spent the rest of our time in Airlie chilling out and reading books. We did venture out to a couple of the big backpacker bars for a few drinks though.
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