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Our boat, the Powerplay!Tuesday was the start of our 3 day, 2 night Whitsunday Cruise. This is what makes Airlie Beach so popular; it’s proximity to the tropical paradise! As mentioned in our previous entry, there are tons of options to choose from. Hillary and I were hoping to stay on a sail boat for the cruise, but bookings get taken up quick, so instead of waiting another week, we chose the motorized catamaran with some of the better diving options.
Anyways, that morning we packed up and walked down to the harbour. While waiting to board, we met our fellow travelers who’d be sharing the boat with us, and the representation of countries was quite on par with what we’d been seeing during our trip. Canadians, Germans, Brits, Americans… lol We also met our crew: Pete was the captain (from New Zealand), Ted was our diving instructor (from the USA) and Vicky was our hostess during the cruise (from the United Kingdom). They were all great fun and really outgoing, which is what you need on trips like these!
Once on board we were given some info about what we’d be doing and a little history lesson about the area. The
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The little dingy got towed behind. only problem was, sitting inside is not the best thing to do for those who get motion sick… namely me. Ya, I probably made it only a few dozen minutes before the waves had me turning green and seeking comfort in the cool breeze. Luckily for my ego, I wasn’t the only one. Lol After a bit of boating, we got prepped for our first dive! It was a crazy experience! We practiced the proper underwater breathing and communication techniques while on the boat, but there’s nothing like doing it for real.
So we put on our gear, hopped on the dingy and took off from some real scuba diving! And well, it was crazy! For someone like me who relies heavily on breathing from his nose, only using my mouth was a tough exercise. But eventually you get the hang of it, and before you know it, you’re several feet underwater looking at the surface from underneath it! We stayed in small groups of four, and swam around the coral reefs with our instructor (Ted). We followed along seeing tons of different kinds of fish, and if it was just a bit clearer, it would have been like
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The end of the boat. Finding Nemo! Lol It’s such a weird experience trying to control your movements while underwater. At some points you find yourself drifting straight towards some coral, and not knowing how to stop yourself! Your gut reaction is to stick out your hands to brace yourself, but let’s just say the coral can be pretty tough if you bang into it. Lol Suffice it to say Hillary and I were extremely happy we were able to do it.
That night we settled in for dinner. All the food was included when we bought our tickets, so it was great not having to worry about paying extra for food, especially considering how expensive food is in Australia. As expected, everyone was tired after a day in the sun, and we all hit the hay fairly early.
The next morning, Hillary and I woke up in our tiny room to some heavy rocking. Well, to keep us on schedule, Pete was up plenty early and rocketing the boat to the main Whitsunday Island so we could check out the beach at the Whitsunday Islands National Park (Tongue Bay and Hill Inlet). This is where the pictures for postcards of the beautiful
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Everyone just chillin'. white sand and the shallow bay are usually taken, on Whitehaven Beach. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like that when we were there since the tide was fairly high. Oh well. As a traveler you’ve always got to keep in mind that Mother Nature is the most unpredictable variable during travels. Regardless though, we still had a great time at the beach and took plenty of crazy action shots!
After lunch, we had another diving session. With one introductory dive under our belts, we were able to do a little more experienced stuff. If you’re thinking “Already?!” I was thinking the exact same thing. Lol But we kept it slow and saw even more than we saw the day before! We dove deeper than before (which is painful for the ears when you’re not used to popping them all the time), and we went into an underwater cave! Our instructor even brought along a digital underwater camera, which took the pics that’ll be attached to this blog entry. Hillary brought along her own underwater camera, but since it wasn’t digital you’ll have to see them in person. Lol
That night was relaxed around the boat and chatted with all
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Feeling a bit sea sick. the other travelers on the cruise. We anchored in a little bay where a few other boats had done the same, and it was cool to see all the other kinds of ships people have the choice to ride. And not to mention that seeing the stars on the water was awesome too. You can totally understand why sailors would use the sky to help them navigate the oceans.
Thursday was focused on getting back to Airlie Beach. We did some serious cruising, which was probably a good thing considering some fairly dark clouds were gathering behind us. We had been extremely lucky with weather so far on this trip, and there was no point in ruining it now. Some people spent their time working on their tan; others like me spent their time trying not to get sea sick. Lol Let’s just say Hillary was pretty smart in buying me a package of anti-nausea medicine before leaving on this trip (especially considering my usually poor condition on long bus rides). By midday we were back in Airlie Beach, and definitely satisfied with our great Whitsunday cruise! A typical thing to do after getting back from a trip with
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Vicky and I after I started feeling a bit better. new friends is to meet up at the local pub (after a good shower), but unfortunately Hillary and I had already booked our Greyhound tickets for Townsville, so we ended up missing out this time around. We’d have to be sure to give ourselves a little more leeway the next time around. Anyways, with the two of us back on solid ground, we grabbed our stuff and made our way to the bus for the trip to Magnetic Island, by way through Townsville!
Kevin (and Hillary)
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