Whitsunday Sailing - Day 3

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Today was our last morning on the boat so after a quick breakfast we had the chance to do 1 more snorkel. We opted out of the last snorkelling session - as Will had indulged too much on breakfast and Jo was suffering from heat rash from the wet suit! But Jo (Will’s sister) went for a final look at the Great Barrier Reef, although when those who did snorkel returned to the boat there was talk of box jelly fish being seen in the water, so I think everyone was happy to make that their last dip in the sea!

We then set sail back to Airlie Beach which took about 2 hours and enjoyed morning tea during the sail over to the main land. It was a particularly hot day so carrying our bags from the boat back to the hostel was hard work in the heat, but we made our way back to X Base where we were staying for a final night. Luckily our room was ready for us to check in so we dropped off our bags and had showers (which happily lasted more than 1 minute!) before heading over to the Lagoon where we spent a few hours laying in the shade – 3 days of intense sunshine at sea was more than enough!

We had a walk around town and stopped off a Subway later and a couple of drinks later in the afternoon then after showers back at the hostel we headed down to Down Under Bar, which was next door to our hostel. They had a deal with the boat company that anyone that had sailed on their boats could get a dinner for $10 and they would provide free jugs of beer and cider. We met Chris and Chloe (the Welsh couple), Gavin and Annie (the Irish couple) and Kim & Wendy (the Northern couple) for dinner and drinks. Kim and Wendy were catching the night bus up to Cairns so they only stayed for a drink or 2 but that was still enough time for Will to get them a shot for the road! Jo (Will’s sister) was also feeling the impact of 2 nights on the boat and decided to call it an early night … well it was either that or the result of having downed a pint of cider! Will was the last man standing but was encouraged by Jo to leave half of his jug of beer behind as we were going to be up early the next day for Hamilton Island!

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