Days 231 - 234 - Aye Aye Captain!

At long last we got to sail our own boat - NOT!! This was the part of the trip we were waiting for because everyone we met told us about how great it was out on the Whitsundays and they were right - it is a really cool place and when you get to Whitehaven beach - you really have found Paradise on earth!

We drove down from Townsville and arrived on the Saturday evening with no real plans - we were not heading on the sailing trip until the Monday afternoon. So we had a few days relaxation first which we made use of. On the way into Airlie Beach you are greeted by beautiful views of the harbour and beach areas.

Airlie Beach itself is a good sized town offering all the usual pubs, shops, restaurants and lots of apartments etc. We drove through the town and headed for the esplande beside the beach. We parked up in a makeshift car park there and actually spent the night there - ignoring the usual No Camping signs! Given that there were about 4 other campervans there we reckoned we could get away with it!!

The pubs offer the usual backpacker deals so we headed down town for a steak and a few beers - some of the pubs were busy and others were very quiet - everyone seemed to congregate in one pub called Magnums - not Magnums restaurant in Roscommon now! On Sunday we took some time out to walk the beach and drove out to other local towns within the vicinity of Airlie Beach. All we could afford was to go window shopping! Given that we were heading out for 3 days we decided to book into the campsite the night before we left to enable us have showers etc.

We had to be briefed the next day at about 1.30 PM and we got to meet the group that we were going to be spending the next 3 days with - all 55 of them!! It was time then to head down the 10 minute walk to the harbour. Everyone was waiting at the harbour to board the boat - all of us with our boxes of beer as we could not bring any glass onto the boat.

The group was a good mix - we had some Irish, UK, American, Canadian, German and a few others thrown in between!! We boarded around 3 PM and had a 2 hour trip to our resort on South Molle Island. Everyone rushed to the top of the boat to get the best area to sit for the journey out and to be able to enjoy a few beers in the sunshine as we sailed. Everyone was in great form getting to know each other on the boat trip out. When we arrived at our resort we were shown where we would be staying - in 6 bed dorms. We were paired in a 5 person dorm - a couple from America & Glen from Wexford so it was all good. From all the stories we heard subsequently from people about their dorms, we must have had one of the best - at least everything worked in it except for the bathroom door which fell off!!

We were told to be down in the 'bar' at 7 PM (the bar was as good as a cow shed in Co. Cavan!! Galvanise roof and sides, dirty wooden tables and don't ask about the toilets - it was nearly easier to head for a bush!!). We were told we were having steak for dinner which was great but this is where the craic begins in relation to the food!!! Our host on the boat, Natalie from UK and her friends were the cooks and the guys who sailed the boat were doubling as the pub staff!!

We got some piece of meat along with pasta, potato salad and something else! Anyway the food was freezing cold (straight from the fridge) and as for the bread it was actually frozen!! Given that there was nothing else to be had on the island we could only cure our hunger by having a few beers. Everyone was really friendly and although we nearly had a fight between the D4 lads and the Cork gang - all went well. The night would not be the same without some drinking games to get people going.

Our host Natalie was a howl - we reckon she must have been stoned to be able to keep going as she was up at 5 AM the next morning to cook us breakkie - bacon & eggs (along with frozen bread). What we were not looking forward to was that we had to be up at 6.00 AM and were on the boat at 7.45 AM. We were heading out to Whitehaven beach for the day and stopping to do some snorkelling during the day. Some of the lads were drinking from 8.00 AM the next moring for the whole day - we were still sick from the night before along with sea sickness!!

We got to Whitehaven beach for an hour and it really is Paradise on earth - it is and probably will be the most beatuiful beach we have ever seen. It has white silca sand and blue clear water - we would have loved to have spent hours lying on the beach there but we were on a schedule!

Then it was back on the boat and off for some snorkelling - most people did not snorkel that day due to a combination of factors - weather was cool and people were half drunk!! We had some nice lunch on board the boat and then it was time to head back to the resort for our chicken dinner which was a slight improvement on the night before!!

Needless to say there wasnt much else to do except for drink and a good old party was had given it was our last night on the island. There were plenty of drinking games and some match making too!!

The next day was our last day of the trip so we got an extra half hour in bed!! Up for breakfast at 6.30 AM and on the boat for 7.45 AM - When we got to the jetty we had a few extra friends looking for the frozen bread - have a look at some of the pics.

Anyway our last day went well - we headed out for a cruise for about 3 hours and then stopped for some snorkelling - most people actually went snorkelling that day as it was the last chance we had. The journy back to Airlie Beach was actually a quiet one cause I think everyone was wrecked after the previous nights. TThen Natalie informed us that anyone that was staying around were to meet at the pub for some free beer - there was only about 20 of us staying around as most people had plans.

We headed to the pub for our free beer and actually ended up getting more than we expected. They organised this competition of who could play the didgeridoo the best. Of course Shane was first up along with two other lads from the boat - unfortunately Shanes instrument playing skills did not work but David from Dublin actually won a $100 bar tab which he used to buy some more free beer for us - all well received!! The night was good craic and a fitting end to a great adventure.

Now its time to head on down the coast and our adventure on Fraser Island awaits us in a few days time...

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