Sailing the Whitsunday Island's

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20.2.2012



Not sure what happened as we seemed too have missed this day out! M x



21.2.2012 Whitsunday’s



Off to sail the Whiitsunday Islands for 2 nights. Key ingredients for a successful trip. Wind – for the sails, Good people on the boat, and nice weather.



As we got to the meeting point to board the boat we both noticed that there were an awful lot of girls around. As it worked out there was 23 girls and 2 boys one of them being me. Lucky me 😉. Once on the boat we had the usual health and safety. Basically the boat was a triamaran with 2 huge nets on either side were you could sunbathe. There were hardly any rails to stop you falling overboard so you had to be careful when walking around. We got given our rooms/hatches. Me and Sophie were in a private cabin, if that’s what you can call it. It was a hatch on the deck which you dropped into. It was pretty small with a matress in it and that’s it. Sophie struggled in getting in and out due to the lack of arm strength. There was no shelter on the boat apart from a small living quaters and a kitchen downstairs, so if it rained we would have been screwed. Luckily the weather was perfect.



We got to know people on the boat, a group of English girls and the other guy who were nice. The skipper then decided to put the sail up. They informed us that it usually takes 12 men to erect the sail as it weighs 400kg. However we only had 2 on board! So all the girls had to help and get stuck in. We managed to do it eventually. I was put down soon after we put it up as there wasn’t much wind! We made it to our first destination, a snorkeling spot near hook island. We got our sexy stinger suits on – a full body suit that prevents the jelly fish stinging you. We had also been told about the different jellyfish and how they can kill you and you only have 12 minutes to live and a helicopter service costa $4000! So as you can imagine the girls were crapping themselves. So as soon as Sophie got into the water she started panicking and getting upset, which seems to becoming a regular thing in the sea. Sophie jumped back into the boat and I kept on snorkeling for a bit longer. The coral was amazing and so many different types of colourful fish. A lot of the other girls became nervous and got out as well. I think they were making each other worse.



Once back on the boat we showered and dried off. We had some veg and dips and sunbathed until we reached our spot for the night. We dropped anchor just before sunset, which was beautiful, a really perfect setting. The Whitsunday islands around us, the sea was calm, the temperarure was still warm and everyone chilled out. We had an amazing Spag Bol for tea with garlic bread, which we could have as much as we wanted. We lay on the nets star gazing, with no light pollution it was fantastic. Shooting stars all around, but Sophie kept missing them. We went to sleep in our hatch until we woke up at 12.30 sweating and unable to get back to sleep. Everyone was asleep on the nets which we should have done. We couldn’t stay in the hatch so we got out and looked for somewhere to sleep, I robbed some cushions from downstairs on the couches and laid them out on the deck and made a bed out of them. It was really comfy and cool. As we were getting to sleep Sophie saw her first shooting star! However that wasn’t the end of the night, a couple of hours later it started raining and the wind got up. We couldn’t stay outside so we had to go back into the hatch where we eventually got to sleep. M x



22.2.2012



Up at 7 this morning for breakfast. Woken up by the sounds of the boat engine and the chef banging a wooden spoon against a pan. We were heading for the island which was the home of Whitehaven Beach. We took a short walk up to a look out of the beach and it looked amazing. The view was fantastic, the weather was even better! Bright blue sky, turquoise water and white sand. We could even see small sharks and stingrays in the water from the lookout. We got a few pictures and headed down to the beach. It was beautiful, with small sharks and rays swimming around you in the warm water. We spent a few hours there admiring it. We bumped into Adam and Largey who were there on another boat, so we had a chat and a laugh with them and hearing of their antics on the ‘party’ boat.



We then got back on the boat seeing two big sea turtles on the way. We then headed for our next destination, but we didn’t quite make it as the motor wasn’t working properly and there was no wind to sail so we were going so slowly. It felt like we weren’t moving at times. We had to change paths and go somewere else for us to snorkel. It was actually really good snorkeling until another boat came with about 50 people and it became too busy. This time Sophie did much better. She was a lot calmer and we snorkeled together until they called us to come out. We saw lots of different coloured fish with our favorite being a flat bright yellow one which reminded us of Jenny. Saying that a lot of birds have reminded us of Jenny. Usually ones with long thin legs. That night we had a few cups of goon and fell asleep under the stars.



23.2.2012



We were up at half five this morning. The night before we had all drunkenly agreed for going for an early morning snorkel. We had to get up early so we had time to snorkel and then get back to Airlie Beach for 11. It was well worth it, so many nice fish and really colourful coral. We had about half an hour chasing the fish around when we had to get back on the boat. The way back was so hot it was unbearable. There was no shade on the boat and no wind so we were cooking. Our tans were really good though. We finally arrived back at the port and had to walk back to our hostel in Airlie Beach. I think we both had a bit of sunstroke as we both collapsed on our bed and had a few hours kip.



We woke up late afternoon and went for a dip in the lagoon which is always nice. We chilled out there for a bit then went for McD’s for a 50 cent iceecream which we both decided was the best value for money in the whole of Auz! We had sweet and sour chicken which I cooked for tea and had an early night. M x

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