Amazing Sailing To The Whitsundays

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We moved on and arrived in Airlie Beach last night. We’ve finally checked into some luxury when it comes to accommodation. We’ve got a place in a 4 star holiday resort with a great camp kitchen where we actually even cooked our first Aussie curry!

Today we ventured to the Whitsunday Islands – weather permitting a spectacular and gorgeous place to be. Mother Nature however was not on our side today and we experienced a light storm with rain, wind and very, VERY choppy waters. Thankfully we were on a catamaran called the Camira and not a boat (basically a lot less rocking involved) which made it slightly better. I’m usually a good seafarer however even my stomach was thrown out of balance. Looking back at the experience at least two thirds of the boat were having some sick feeling to a greater or lesser extent. The Camira had some amazing sails and it was so cool watching them go up and down. There were also 2 trampolines at the front of the catamaran which you can lie down on and enjoy the breeze (and occasional splashes of water) whilst you sail through the winds.

Mother Nature and the Sun God did show us some pity and allowed us to sit on Whitehaven Beach. This is nominated as one of the top beaches in the world and as soon as you step foot on the sand you know why. The sand is 97%-98% pure silicon sand meaning that it would be ideal for making glass and very high spec lenses. The water in the whole area has a magnificent clean green-tinted colour to it. The sand is almost powder like and I spent a few minutes polishing our gold jewellery and it’s amazing how clean the sand made our gold. My copper kada had become a dull and black colour in five minutes it was literally sparkling! Thank you Mother Nature for giving us that amazing experience!

Due to the poor weather on the day snorkelling was a little out the question though they did attempt it in the morning. Poonam went out though came back disappointed as the rain had caused the waters to become a little too murky for snorkelling. I, on the other, hand chose to stay on board and soak up the surrounding view and improve some of my photography skills as well a little bit of quiet contemplation to a background sound of the sea. 

Despite today’s weather we had an excellent time and we could so understand the attraction to the Whitsundays. We did a one day tour however with perfect weather I understand why the two/three day tours are so much more popular. However, if you are not best friends with the sea then perhaps a one day tour is more than enough!

Australians are such nice people. We were given some warnings about racism amongst people here but we have not seen any of it. We’ve seen loads of people and while we are on occasions the token Indians on tours, nobody bats an eye lid and no one talk’s down to us. There have been a few occasions but I think that’s more the person having a bad day!  Last night was an excellent example; late night – and Oz not having the British abundance of street lighting in Airlie – we were walking from the bus stop to our hotel. It turned out to be a very long walk and down a road that was a little too quiet. We came across some teenagers – now in London you’d fear being stabbed but here these guys were asking if we were okay and if we needed to use their phone in case we were lost! Yes, we are talking about teenage boys and no they weren’t geeks; they were alcohol carrying normal schoolies (as they are called here) on their end of term holiday with mates!! Think Britain went wrong some where! We even had an intelligent conversation with 4 other 17 year boys whilst waiting for a bus the other night!

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