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Published: September 17th 2008
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We awoke early on the Wednesday morning all very excited and apprehensive. We had checked onto our boat the day before only to be told at half past four that the boat would not be going out and after we had spent a very long time looking through the boats and offers back in Brisbane before finally selecting our boat we now had only a few hours to organise a trip or we would loose our chance to see the Whitsunday National park, as we had not left any spare days in Airlie Beach for adjustment.
Luckily for us September is a very quiet time, one of the reasons our boat had been cancelled on us, lack of custom, so it left us with a lot of choice, but we had to weed through the promotional blurb and we didn’t really have much time. Our sales rep suggested a few and we left her hanging, always good I think and after a bit of a discussion we settled on a new boat, Habibi. It’s Hebrew for ‘my sweet heart’, so we were told.
We packed up our things and made our way down to the harbour, beers in one
hand and Alice’s diet coke in the other, yes we went prepared. We were soon acquainted with our crew and rest of the group. We were told there would be just 15 of us, which would be good as we didn’t want a huge load, it kind of takes the deserted island feel away when bus loads of people stand all around. In our group of twenty we had a wide mix of Europeans, from the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Germany and Belgium and seven Brits. The last of the British showed up carrying large cases of beer welcomed with sighs from many. I think we may have a bad reputation in other parts of Europe.
We were soon on the boat and after a quick introduction to the captain they showed us to our cabins. We had nicely been upgraded to a semi private double, it was nearly private if only the door had fitted the whole, but it was all wood and comfy and cosy so we felt right at home. We had a bunk just out side our door in the galley with two Scandinavian girls who were very friendly and chatty to us.
The first
afternoon was all about getting out to Whitehaven Beach so through engine power and then sail we made the long trek between the islands. It was beautiful. We had a great barbeque, before sitting round watching the sun go down.
It was an early start on the first morning and after a bit of a rocky night and heavy rain tea and breakfast was warmly welcomed. The first plan of the day was to go to shore and explore Whitehaven beach, so in the dingy we went and set for shore and to see the turtles. The beach was beautiful whiter then white sand and really soft, unfortunately the weather was not the best and we only just made it back to the boat before a heavy downpour. But before we had to leave there was plenty of time to build a sand house or two with the Scandinavians and of course polish up our rings with the fine silicone sand.
After half an hour or so it was time for our first snorkel on the reefs and to see the coral and bright tropical fish. First we had to don some very sexy stinger suits to protect
ourselves from the nasty jelly fish. There are no photos of us in these sexy outfits I am very glad to say. After a quick lesson and run through of equipment and safety we were all in the water and floating around admiring the sights. The coral was amazing so diverse and bright only out done by the brightness and general quirkiness of the tropical fish. Our guide threw in some bread and they were soon all around us trying to get a feed whilst all we could do is watch in wonder.
After a tasty lunch, it’s all about the food, we went on for another dive and then a relaxing float. That evening the pace was a little more sedate, less drinking more talking and chilling out, as we watched the sun go down over the islands and all the bright colours fill the sky we really felt relaxed.
On the second morning we were abruptly awoken by the engines at six thirty, we were moving bays across to a sand bar and new reefs. It all became very clear why we had moved as one of the crew whisked a Belgium couple to the sand
bar and he proposed on the beach, extremely romantic.
We spotted some turtles coming up for air and a morning stretch and got to feed some more fish before having another snorkel. Unfortunately it was over far too soon and with the bright sunshine over our heads it was time to kick back on the deck as we cruised back to the harbour. A brilliant time had by all and I think I’m going to be remembering it for a very long time.
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