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Published: January 22nd 2008
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Day 98 - Sunday 6th January
Thanks to a valium tablet i'd had a good sleep even though the German bloke had done his best to disturb it. I was quite refreshed when the bus pulled into Airlie Beach a little before lunchtime. Its a very hot sunny day so i'm glad its a small place as we haven't pre booked accommodation and I didn't fancy carrying my bags for long. Even so by the time I dumped my bags in the room I was covered in sweat and wanted to cool down.
You cant swim in the sea at this time of year as there are too many jellyfish in the water, there is however a big manmade lagoon so we headed there instead. After spending the afternoon at the lagoon we went to a fish and chip shop for dinner. They're everywhere in Australia. Tomorrow were doing a two day sailing trip around the Whitsunday islands, so after stocking up on some supplies we headed back early to our hostel. Even though were staying in a six person dorm theres only the three of us in the room. Great I should get some decent sleep.
Day
99 - Monday 7 January
We were down the harbour at 8am to check out the boat which will be our home for the next two days. Its actually a yacht and looks pretty decent and expensive so it should be a good trip. We then met the other passengers. In total there are the three crew all from Australia, myself, Russ and Simon, and 9 Germans, eight of them couples. (looks like we've been done over again). Its going to be pretty cramped infact my bunk is actually in the corridor.
After setting off we quickly split into two groups. The germans all sat together on one side of the boat and us brits on the other. For the next two hours we sat on deck in the sun admiring the scenery, whilst the wind gently blew the sails and powered us away from the mainland.
I was starting to get a little sunburnt so headed down below to escape the sun. However after only 10 minutes I was feeling very very seasick and had to go back up on deck. I'd rather be sunburnt than feel like that. I was also extremely dissapointed as one
of my dreams of winning the lottery and spending my days sailing idly around the Caribbean has now been dashed. I'll stick to dry land.
The whole day was spent doing a mixture of sailing, snorkelling and applying as much sunscreen as possible in between. Its definitely worth snorkelling out here not only are there plenty of fish, but its the best coral i've ever seen.
That evening over dinner we were still split into two groups. The germans all sat on their side of the boat drinking water while we started ploughing through our 4 litre box of wine. By 10 pm we'd seen all the Germans off to bed, we in contrast stayed until the wine ran out at 1 am.
Day 100 - Tuesday 8 January
The Germans had all got up early to do some snorkelling before breakfast, I had a lie in instead until 8am. As we upped anchor shortly afterwards I only managed to eat half my breakfast before seasickness took over and I bolted for top deck.
After a short sail we landed on Whitsunday island which houses Whitehaven beach which is frequently voted as one of the
best 10 beaches in the world. Its a long stretch of pure white sand and blue waters and apparently the sand is so fine you can use it to clean your jewellery. We took a short climb up the hill to the lookout point to take some photos then hit the beach for a couple of hours. Unfortunately its cloudy today like it had been on my previous visit here so you dont see the beach in all its splendour, but given all the sun exposure i'd had yesterday its probably a good thing.
After another snorkell off a different island, it was time to head back to the mainland. Back on shore we just had time to get showered and a bite to eat before we had to catch another overnight bus south. Although almost everybody else had two seats to themselves, so could stretch out I was sat next to another German bloke. What is it with me and Germans these days, I should be out celebrating 100 days since I left the UK instead im squeezed in on a bus. To make matters worse he kept falling asleep and resting his head on my soldier. Even
when i 'accidently' elbowed him in the ribs he wouldn't wake up.
The coaches like the ones back home are crap, they cram too many seats in so theres not enough legroom and after a few hours its uncomfortable. You wouldnt believe it but over in Asia there much better. Its going to be a long night so time for another valium.
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Ivan
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freudian slip
Whats this about Germans guys sleeping on your soldier, I wouldn't stand for those sort of shananigans son!!! (Or were you missing Far?)