Setting sail in the Whitsundays

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July 7 - 9

We decided to treat ourselves to an adventure outside of the caravan and took to the high seas on a tall ship cruise in the Whitsundays. The ship is called the Derwent Hunter and it had a somewhat chequered history as a drug and weapons transport vessel before it was bought by the current owner and shown that crime doesn't pay - tourism does. I'm not really a renowned sea farer but luckily cruising through the islands as the crew looked after me didn't require a great deal of skill on my part.

The crew was mainly made up of New Zealanders so there was a reasonable amount of friendly (?) rivalry between them and Ben, who was the only male Australian representative on board. Thankfully the crushing Tri Nations, Bledisloe and Ashes defeats hadn't yet provided the Kiwis with additional ammunition and the contest was reasonably well matched. I did however keep a close eye on Benny to ensure he behaved himself with the insults (e.g. 'Did you want sux serves of fush and chups?') so we weren't 'accidentally' left on a coral reef as the tide rose and the sharks started circling.

While the ship was lovely the sleeping arrangements were something akin to sardines in a tin so we elected to camp on Whitehaven Beach on the first night and sleep on deck the second night, both of which were beautiful...........and comparatively spacious. We had a chance to walk around a couple of the islands where we took in the scenery and licked green ants - not just because the mood took us, I swear the tour guide suggested we do it. FYI they taste like lemon sherbet but I'd probably settle for a packet of Wizz Fizz before trying it again. We also snorkelled in amongst the coral which was pretty spectacular. Benny was set upon by a school of tiny fish when the crew threw food where he was swimming - the 'fush and chups' comment was obviously a bad idea. The fish tried to nibble him but given they are only a few centimetres long I think it tickled more than anything.

All was pretty rosy until I managed to get sea sick on the second day. I have never been sea sick before and I'm not in a hurry for it to happen again. Luckily some of my fellow sailors looked after me with ginger tablets so I was able to keep breakfast in its rightful place during what felt like a very long day on the choppy water. Strangely, on day three when the sea was at its roughest, I wasn't sick at all. The bad weather on the final day did however provide the crew with a chance for revenge when they watched us get completely saturated in a storm and then offered us rain coats when it cleared. I think we'll call it a draw between AUS vs NZ for this round.

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Photos

Sunrise at Whitehaven
Pretty amazing way to start the day.

Earning our lunch
Having a very 'Young Endeavour' moment.

A little too late for raincoats
By this stage we were thinking about dry land and dry clothes.