Whitsunday's

Whitsunday’s…

So we’ve been off sailing around the Whitsunday Islands for a couple of days! The Whitsunday’s are a group of 74 islands just off the East Coast of Aus, most famous amongst backpackers for diving, snorkelling and of course Whitehaven Beach. Our boat was called Atlantic Clipper. It is bigger than the majority of vessels sailing the area. A lot of the boats take groups of about 20 people but on ours there was 50 plus the crew. Dominated by Irish backpackers, all from Don’s part of the world - Ecto and I were quite out of place, not for long though, a couple of beers into us and we were all the best of friends. We were picked up in Arlie at about 12pm and piled onto the boat, after handing over our thongs for the weekend (Flip flops for those of you who aren’t familiar with the lingo), as they were not needed on the boat. Don was a bit dubious about handing them over. After all I had just got him a brand spanking new pair of Havaianas because his last thongs broke. Anyway, the water was really choppy for the first day of sailing…the wind was up so my new hat was stowed away safely below deck. The first stop was the wonderful Whitehaven Beach, we arrived as the sun was beginning to set, so there was to be no leaving the ship on our first day. The original plan had been to go snorkelling and diving but everyone ot too drunk so that was suspended to he next day for obvious health and safety regulations! We parked up and got stuck into drinking games and meeting folk. We played the funniest game where you take a Goon box (a backpacker cheap drink - boxed wine - about 5 pounds for 4 litres) and tear an inch off the top. You take in turns to try picking it up using only your mouth and you are not allowed to touch the floor with anything but your feet…more difficult than it sounds! Anyone incapable of doing it got a big whack on the arse with a flipper…OUCH! Unbelievably, out of about 20-30 of us, the surprisingly bendy Ecto drew with a mighty flexible chick! By the end of the game there was nothing to pick up but a flat piece of card on the floor! Excellent!

We were rudely awoken the following morning, feeling surprisingly fresh, by an air horn and the crew shouting. They like to get everyone out of their pits to get the most out of the trip. We were shipped over to Whitehaven where we spent the next 2 hours. It really was as beautiful as everyone had said, the sand as soft as powder, view to die for - a photographers dream! We splashed around in the gorgeous, refreshing water before going on a little adventure with the snap happy Don - forever taking photo’s. On this island I found the scariest toilet ever! Those who are not keen on spiders look away now! They were stinky composting toilets in what looked like a tree house, real outback Aus style. I was walking up the path when I heard a rustle in the undergrowth and I saw something in the corner of my eye.… it was a massive monitor lizard! Black with yellow spots, it was amazing, I watched it for a while, not being sure whether they were dangerous…eek! I continued up the walkway and he soon retreated into the bush. They look so funny when the run - silly little thing scarpering into the undergrowth…legs going wild! Well I had made it to the toilets in one piece…I opened the door to the first cubical where a massive spider had made a home for itself. His cobweb stretched right across the room, just above the toilet, Probably a right poisonous bugger…I wasn’t about to find out! I wouldn’t like to be the unlucky person to be camping on the island and bump into this creature and his web in the middle of the night! The wildlife is amazing over here - living in Sydney for so long, we kind of forgot what Aus is like. We saw the occasional possum or huntsman spider, but it’s nothing compared to the tropics of Queensland.

After our awesome visit to Whitehaven, it was time to try snorkelling. We sailed to a little bay on one of the other islands. On the way, there was a whole load of commotion as everyone rushed to one side of the boat - someone had spotted a dolphin. The second time it surfaced it was huge - surreal! It was a whale. At this point some dippy Irish girl shouted “Are you sure its not a shark!”. We watched for a while, hoping he would resurface but the shy bugger had disappeared. We were dropped off at the bay by the dingy to try out a bit of snorkelling. It was absolutely breathtaking. This was the first time Don and I had been snorkelling and although we were both freaking out, it really was the highlight of the trip. Everything under the waters surface was so colourful. The coral and the fish - amazing technicoloured parrot fish and zebra fish swimming all around us. With my ears under the water I was able to hear the fish munching on things attached on rocks and coral, it was so clear and vibrant…truly amazing! The coral was massive in some places it looked just like a big colourful brain as big as a Mini…Bring on the snorkelling and diving in Thailand!

We had a slide attached to the side of our boat, running straight into the sea. The was an Aussie girl swimming in the water after using the water slide - I noticed something swimming around her… there were at least 4 large fish swimming around her. They were square, a similar shape to angel fish but about a foot long! She was feeding them bread and playing with them in the water. I couldn’t believe they were so confident and unafraid. It was brilliant. I was tempted to jump in too, but thought I would appreciate it from a distance, I didn’t fancy getting done by a stingray in deep water! That night we parked up in a different bay, where we could see Arlie beach on the horizon. It was a brilliant night. Singing Irish singalong favourites and playing drinking games with the Irish folk and getting plenty of goon inside us! The cabins on the boat were tiny…3beds in a bunk style with not enough floor space to swing a cat! Don, Ecto and I shared a room. There was a typical ship window in the room, all round and at water level, so the water would slosh up when the boat was in motion, this also meant we were sleeping under water - pretty freaky!

ECTO’S BIRTHDAY!!! WOOP WOOP!!!

On the last day the water was wonderful and calm. We cruised on back to Arlie which took a couple of hours. The crew practised the man overboard procedure. They flung a buoy into the water and had to turn around as crew jumped into the dingy to rescue the red ball of plastic. Ian, one of the crazy folk on board, decided he would jump in the water to give the crew a real rescue. We were in hysterics. They picked him up and drove him further away from the boat and dumped him there…HA! The cheeky bugger! They soon had him rescued and safely back on the boat with us. Crazy boy! Little did he know that asking Don to hold his beer while he done it would result in an empty beer can by the time he got back. We cruised on home and enjoyed the basking in the Whitsunday sun. The boat organised an evening in the pub that eve. With it also being Ecto’s birthday it was the perfect excuse for a party! A couple of free beers provided by the Atlantic Clipper and some free pizza…excellent! It was the perfect ending to an awesome weekend, saying a good farewell to the folk we met on the water and wishing Ecto a happy 23rd birthday! Good times!

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