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Published: February 11th 2009
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The Whitsunday Islands are a group of islands somewhere along the Great Barrier Reef between Cairns and Brisbane, just off Airlie Beach. There are hundreds of them spread throughout the sea and a very popular tourist trip for all types of people is to take a sailing trip through these islands, a 'must do'!!
We arrived in Airlie Beach after a long bus ride and were quickly greated by Koza and Jord again! It was so exciting for us to see them again. We all decided to go on our sailing trip the following day so we decided to take it easy that night.
After packing a small bag, putting our larger backpacks in storage, and buying some cheap alcohol for the trip, we headed down to the marina! It turned out to be a beautiful day as we met the crew and the rest of the group. We had 28 people overall, where 11 of them were Canadians! This was apparently a record.. and what a crazy mixture. We had a 2 day-2 night trip with an awesome group of people. We spent our time snorkelling at many different reef areas and there was also lots of home-made
cooking for us to enjoy on the ship! The sailing was a ton of fun! Our sail ship was called the 'British Defender' which used to race around the world - it even placed second in one of the races! Therefore, as I'm sure you can imagine, it was quick and heaps of excitement. We were usually hanging off the side of the boat while it was at a 60 degree angle. Each morning we woke very early for breakfast on the deck, which usually consisted of spilt tea and flying cornflakes. The motor would then start running and we'd be off to a snorkelling destination. What a life eh? We all suited up in our usual stinger suits, then Locke (our fav crew member) took us out on a smaller boat to a beautiful reef area - in the middle of nowhere. We were able to swim about and explore for about an hour before they would pick us up for a delicious lunch. During one of the snorkelling trips, we were lucky enough to spot a massive sea turtle and follow it around for a few minutes. Amazing! We also spotted many different varieties of fish. We were
also supposed to stop at a beautiful, world known beach - Whitehaven Beach. This is one of the top 10 beaches in the WORLD! It was a beautiful white coral sand beach, with some of the finest sand out there. Obviously, we were very excited to see this beach! However, unfortunately, as we became closer, the crew realized that due to the wind and tide conditions, we were unable to anchor safely. BUT instead, they took us to another beach around the corner, which we were able to anchor at - safe and sound. This beach was very secluded and just as beautiful, in our eyes. Our group were the only ones on the island for majority of the time... we all got to know each other more and relax on this amazing beach in the middle of no where. They dropped us off there for a few hours to relax and play in the sand, like the 12 year-olds we are. Just as our energy was dying off and we were getting hungry, we saw the boat heading back towards us, and it was Ben bringing us huge platters of crackers, cheese and olives. Yumyum! It was really heaven,
who would have thought we'd be having food dropped off to us on a secluded beach! At night time, we all relaxed to clear skies filled with stars, music and our special goon drink. It was at this time that we really got to know everyone on the boat. Drinking games were attempted but soon forgotten because it was difficult because there were many different languages and nationalities.
On our last day, we were heading back early in the morning, a storm was brewing, the wind was picking up and the waves were becoming massive! We were practically all on our side with all of us desperately hanging on, being soaked with sea spray. It was insane. Unfortunately, in combination with the storm and a night of partying, a few people were green in the face. Poor Koza.
Once we made it back to shore, we sadly said our goodbyes to everyone. We've now decided that this was definitely the highlight of our Australian trip!
After a trip like this, we were desperately in need of a job. After some research, we headed to Townsville in hopes of securing waitress jobs. We had to backtrack slightly, now
going up North again, but it was definitely worth the trip to meet up with Koza and Jord again! What a trip!
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