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Published: December 17th 2005
Good afternnon everyone...and a happy +30C, sunny although its a little humid...Sorry, I have heard how great the weather is there...LOL...
To bring you todate...
Monday morning we left Cairns and bused our way to Airlie Beach, about 11 hours south. It wasn't bad, slept most of the way, nice senery of the country, it was interesting to see signs stating "flood area ahead, measurements ahead" and then drive past signs 2 meters high. We arrived in Airlie at 7pm checked in slept some more.
8:30 the next morning, we boarded the "Derwent Hunter", an ECO Tall ship in which we travelled the ocean for 3 days and 2 nights. It was amazing. The weather we awesome, nice and warm. The first day we had great sailing conditions, we stopped at Chance bay, swam in the ocean, and sat on the Beach. We had mentioned we had never had fresh coconut before, so the 1st mate...aaarrrrrrrhhh...climbed a tree and cut one up for all of us. We slept there that night. It was soo hot we all slept on the deck. Second day we snorkled somewhere. it was pretty cool. We travelled to Whithaven Beach. They dropped us off on the back side of the island, took us to a lookout point, which we took some amazing photos, and in the process, some large bug flew in my sleeve and stung me 5 times in and around the arm pit...but I survived and got pictures of it too...When we got down to the beach, it was breath taking, similar to the movie "The Beach". The water was soooooooo clear, the sand, which is actually silica, the purest form of glass in the world, it was so soft. Heather cleaned her ring with it, it is that fine. We took some really great photos of our Just Married flip flop in prints, and us in Stinger suits (Box Jelly fish). We swam with large sting rays, reef sharks, and whitie fish. I tried to catch one, ending up face first in the sand...lol...We also saw a whale egg close to shore, in which Scotty, the 1st mate, explained that whale eggs always end up on shore, and that is the reason there is so many beached whales... That night we slept once again on the deck in Macona inlet. The last day we were taken to a great snorkling place with fish galore. We never did see Nemo, but then again, he is in Sydney. We did see a crazy amount of weird colored fish, and hopefully our underwater camera worked. the rest of the day we sailed back to the marina. The trip I would give a 15 out of 10. That good. The food was amazing, and always too much. The people on the boat were from all over the worls and were amazing, special mention to Tommy and Lisa the crazy and gullable Irish...beware of vampire drop bears, only toothpaste on the back of your neck will protect you. Richard the Captain, Scotty the 1st mate/boat monkey, and Mason the chef and all round great guy. That night we were all invited to Magnums, a bar in town, for a drink just to get together. Its amazing what sea legs are like, can't walk in a straight line, and boy did we get drunk quickly...another early night...I think that was the purpose of that evening.
Yesterday we took it easy, wandered around the shops and such. Last night we picked up take out, sat on the beach and watched the sunset. As the you can't swim in the ocean with out a stringer suit, most places have a "Lagoon" which is a huge public pool. After dinner we went for a great swim, and found that the pool is naturally heated by the sun, and soooooo warm, like a bath tub.
Today, we packed checked out and are waiting for our 8:30pm bus which is going to take us straight to Sydney...its only 48 hours...groan...We will be in Sydney in a couple of Days
Hope everyone has a wonderful and Happy Holiday, and we will in touch soon.
If anyone needs or would like to contact us, our mobile is 0431 155 138, and apparently the operator knows how to get through to us, right Siobahn!
Miss and Love you all,
Neil and Heather
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Brad
non-member comment
The Snow is awesome
Just wanted to keep you both up to date with the great weather here. I was lucky enough to shovel about 30cm of snow yesterday and fix my mail box which was crushed by the snow plow. Enjoy the heat. Merry Christmas and it is awesome to here about your travels. see you soon. Neil I am now the MPB at our branch. Later