Day 6 - Whitsundays

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So today was the day of exploring the Whitsunday Islands and Whitehaven Beach. We first went up to the lookout which was incredible, the swirling sands were breath taking. Our guide Tash told us a little anecdote that NASA had permission to take a good few tons of the purest silica sand to make the lens for the Hubble telescope. NASA then broke it by accident and had to get permission to get more sand. No one else has been able to get permission since. There was also the story that Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed on the island and because there were no palm trees, they had to bring in a load on a ship but had to count each individual coconut. Everything they brought in had to be taken out.



So from the lookout point we went down to Whitehaven beach. We spent a good two hours here enjoying the sun and views. Since Cyclone Debbie had happened there was a tree that had been blown over onto the beach which proved to make a good photo op. If we wanted to go in the water we would have to wear stinger suits which as attractive and safe as they were it wasn't that appealing on a hot day so we stayed clear of the water apart from dipping toes in.



We walked back to the pick up point where Ryan (the deckhand) came in the speedboat to get us and got back to the boat. We set off for Luncheon Bay where we had a decent spread of food for lunch and got ready for a snorkel. Again my family know that I am not good in open water, I am petrified of not knowing whats underneath me. But for some reason my mantra for this trip was f**k it, just go for it. So I whacked on my stinger suit, grabbed a noodle (not even ashamed) and jumped on in. I was so proud of myself and so glad I did it as there were so many fish. Unfortunately due to Cyclone Debbie the water was murky and the reef had suffered so much and a lot of it was dead.



After an hours snorkel we headed back to the boat where tea and biscuits were ready for us. We set off sail again to head to Langford Spit which was just a sand bank, but we were able to see the sunset which was glorious and it was just one of those moments where you just feel so lucky and reflect on life. Alex managed to find some shells, unfortunately one of them looked like a toilet (other said it looked like a jewellery box but I was not fooled). We left the shells behind as you should leave footprints and take memories - awwwww (vom) - but very understandable. The sunset was so beautiful and after we headed back to the boat. We played the game Heads Up which was good, my specialties were Act It Out, Facial Expressions and Music, wooo. We had Spag Bol for tea then started on the goon.



We had began a game that day where you can't answer yes or no to the person who is wearing the dreaded 'bracelet' and come 8 pm if you had the bracelet you had to do a challenge. That night it was Tom who lost. We came up with the Paprika challenge thinking it would have the same effect as the cinnamon challenge... it did not unfortunately and was a bit of an anti-climax but hey ho, it all began again the next day.



I had a lovely goon filled chat with Captain Ben, Tash the host and Ryan the deckhand. They were from Paignton (small world!), Brighton and Canada. We were joined by the rest of the team until gradually people started going to bed and it was just me, Alex, Alicia, Malissa and Fabio left. We had such a lovely chat just about life and things in general. Looking uo at the tars this was definitely one of my favourite nights.

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Photos

Whitehaven
Tree on the beach from Cyclone Debbie