Whitsundays

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Having an aussie pass (Greyhound Bus Pass) means that I can book bus trips when I want and to where I want within a restricted time period. Beyond that, the bus pass is good to get me from Cairns up in Northeast Oz down to Sydney. So from Cairns my first stop was Airlie Beach where I had a sailing trip to the Whitsunday Islands booked. The bus ride from Cairns was about 12 hours, so to save money I booked the overnight bus leaving Cairns at 9pm and arriving in the morning. This is always the best because you save on accomodation for a night.

Anyhow, I arrived at Beaches Hostel and was so thrilled to be there becuase the first hostel I stayed at in Cairns was a dump. Beaches felt like a 5 star resort compared to my first hostel. Not to mention the staff were all young and friendly, which was a nice relief from the staff at the hostel in Cairns who had few to no teeth and thick accents which I couldn't understand. Moving on, once in Airlie Beach I had a day to kill because my boat named Broomstick didn't leave until the next day. So I figured I would go to the beach in Airlie Beach since the day was nice. To my surprise they didn't really have a beach there, but instead this man made lagoon that somewhat resembled a beach. Not a cool place to hang if you ask me. So instead I walked the town which I found out quickly was tiny and without much but pubs and clubs to see. However, with so little to do, I managed to get through the day without ever stopping to twiddle my thumbs.

That evening I made my first attempt to cook a meal for myself in the communal kitchen. An absolute madhouse it was. People almost fighting one another for an available pot or pan. It was successful nonetheless and I had myself a lovely stirfry with plenty of vegetables (onion, tomato, celery, and bell pepper which they call capsicum for some reason) and some meat.

The night was spent watching World Cup and meeting the other backpackers in my room. We had ourselves a TV in the dorm so it made for a more quiet viewing of the matches than sitting in the noisy pub. At some point I fell asleep and awoke to new day, the begining of my sailing trip.

At 1pm we launched our 60+ foot sail boat from the harbour and were off to the Whitsunday Islands. This collection of 74 islands surrounds the coastline around Airlie Beach and has some of the most spectacular snorkleing and beaches around. My first time on a proper sail boat was an experience of a lifetime. Before I knew it we were cruising along at 15 knots with a 30 knot head wind so it felt as though we were going so fast. Boat all tipped up on its side with the deck at a 45 degree angle to the water. I got to help raise the main sail, all good fun.

Anyhow, the people on my boat were great. I met some fantastic people, played some really fun games at night with the group, and had just an absolutely fantastic time. Two nights, three days, and an entirely soaking wet wardrobe later we were back in Airlie. The sailing trip was over with and we all met back up that night for drinks and stories. All in all it was worth every penny I spent on the trip. I would recommend it to anybody traveling through Oz.

Cheers
Marcus

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Photos

Whitehaven Beach
Ranked #2 Beach in all of the world by somebody. I would agree with that. During the day the beach was so amazingly white, and at night it would glow in the moonlight.

Airlie Beach
Airlie had a small beach which nobody went to. Looking at this picture you might be asking why not? The answer is they are too busy recovering from 3 days at sea.

Broomstick at Night
This may have been my favorite part of the days on the boat. At night we all just sat around sharing travel stories and playing really fun games. My favorite had to be the "hoola hoola Yee-haw"

Shipmate
Bobby was from Canada and will be entering the Canadian equivalent of the FBI soon. He was really inspiring to me as he come on this trip for much the same reasons I'm here. Being quite young for the police force he really felt the best way to get more life experience was to travel. He had quite a journey here in Oz and I think about that almost every day.

Comments

[streeter]

sailing
sailing is awesome isn't it man. BVI next spring for sure. Good to hear from you. take it easy man.

[cecilia]

what to say
but you are out there, out "here," so to say. I had no idea you were taking off like this. What is the plan for the trip? how much time and where to and, well shieze, nevermind. just flow with it jugg...the travel bug looks great on your shoulder. it is great to see you radiating like this, exploring yourself through paths of the world...maravilhoso! bless your trip, bless you sweetheart, I send you a lot of love and support on your journey.....forward ever. backward never.