Day 102: Cairns to Whitsundays

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Day 102: Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Cairns to The Whitsundays, Australia.

Per the Contiki Brochure, "Today we drive to Airlie Beach, gateway to the Whitsundays, to board our sailing yacht. Enjoy two days and nights sailing the stunning Whitsunday islands. Swim, snorkel, or laze your way around this tropical paradise, on board a sailing yacht. Your third night in the Whitsundays will be spent relaxing and toasting the sunset on Daydream Island."

So, yeah, we drove to Airlie Beach (our driver for the rest of our trip is Youngi (Australian) and myself and about 20 others hopped onboard The Broomstick sailing boat. That was to be our home for the next 2 nights. During my travels, my "boat" accommodations have steadily gone downhill. In Egypt, I had my own room (complete with television, air-conditioning, balcony and my own bathroom) while going up the Nile. In New Zealand, I was in a tiny room that had enough room for four bunk beds and had to share 3 showers with about 40 girls. The Broomstick was a typical sailboat (so I've been told, I've never been on one before) and below deck it had 1 room with 6 berths, 1 room with 4 berths (for the crew), a galley that also had 6 berths, 2 bathrooms (with a hose in one for a "shower") and the main bedroom at the front of the boat that had 14 berths. It was cramped as hell (and hot as hell at night.) Definitely an experience I'm glad I did, but when it comes to accommodations, it's an experience I'm happy to have behind me.

Anywho, so we get on the boat and we head off to Macona Inlet where we anchor for the night. Our crew is Captain Pete (Australian), Will (Australian I think... can't remember), Pete (from Minnesota) and Patrick (from Germany.) They cook up some good grub in that teeny tiny galley and we all sit around and talk for a while before going to bed. I decide to forgo the very hot bunk room and I sleep on the top deck under some tarps the crew has set up due to light rain. It was very windy all night and I was worried about rolling around/off so I spent most of the night with my arm hugging some trunk thing that was up on top.

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Comments

[Chris]

You slept holding a truck of recently un-burried treasure?
You're on a boat!!