Sailing the Whitsundays

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You know your in Australia when you turn up at a hotel called 'The Croc Club' and find the lady at reception is doing battle with a roaming snake behind the desk. "Ah it's only a brown snake, they won't harm ya" she said as she recovered from her fluster to check us in. The Croc Club had all the makings of a very nice place with well appointed rooms, a large bar and a swimming pool. However, as we picked up our bags and headed for the room the snake charmer behind reception remembered "oh and you can't swim in the pool today...there's a snake in there!".

We were in Airlie Beach on the Whitsunday coast. This small, yet lively town, much like Cairns, has grown around it's harbour and burgeoning tourist scene. The boisterous bars and restaurants buzz with excitement about this area's 'raison d'être'. Sailing the Whitsunday Archipelago.

It was a bright, early morning start as we gathered at Shute Harbour to meet Reg, the Dutch owner and skipper of S.V Domino. The 36ft yacht was to be our cruising vessel for the day, shared with a chirpy couple from New Zealand and two surprisingly quiet (for Americans) Americans. The tranquility we enjoyed from this rare occurrence lasted a mere minutes as the Kiwi's took centre stage. As the beautiful Coral Sea shimmered in the sun and Domino made waves, we learnt all about the pairs dairy farming business.

It was a beautiful day to be out on the water. Sea planes glided overhead as we sat on deck, passing islands frequented by the likes of Rod Stewart and the visiting Oprah Winfrey. The only essential ingredient that was missing was wind. Despite this the sails still came out, more for shade than any real wind power as we gently cruised to Bali Hai island.

Once Captain Reg had dug the anchor firmly into the clear deep blue, we all swam to the lavish white sand of Bali Hai. A satisfying lunch was consumed under what little shade there was, before we donned the mask and fins for a snorkel. It was amazing to think that, although we had travelled 700km south since Cairns, we were still swimming amongst the Great Barrier Reef.

The fish on this snorkel were slow to come out but when they did it was quite special. Half an hour or so of paddling had passed when we spotted the first of many turtles. These old men of the sea nonchalantly continued pottering about the sea bed as we got within touching distance. I had the video camera at the ready and almost bopped one on the nose in my Attenborough film making excitement. Rob was able to touch one as it glided past him and Han, on the other side of the reef, was watching two young ones feed. Meanwhile Reg, who had called me over to the boat, laughed as he chucked bread in by my arms for nippy bat fish to go for. Subsequently everyone getting back on the boat fell prey to these persistent, fast moving, fish.

It was a gentle cruise back, to Airlie Harbour in which we all stayed in our stinger suits as protection from the sun. This was fine until one person got changed and then we all just looked silly. Talking to the old Dutch skipper on the way back, I could not help but envy his job. He may have had a 'done it all attitude' but he was light hearted, interesting and a good captain, despite his frustration at the lack of wind. Hell he probably has done it all since leaving Holland forty years ago. When he mentioned retirement I wasn't slow to remind him who would be waiting in the wings.

Clean of all the sea salt, we buzzed with the other Airlie Beachers over dinner at the excellent Sidewalk Cafe. An evening of boozing was remedied the next morning with a huge buffet breakfast followed by watching England win the second Ashes test in Adelaide.

Having seen the best of the Whitsundays, our East Coast tour bus rolled on. One Hundred kilometres south and a few coffee stops later, was Cape Hillsborough National Park. Along the back paths of the lonesome beach we saw cute little kangaroos, joey's in pouch, before taking the 4km loop walk to some impressive lookouts. As evening set in we barbecued in the bushland, fighting brush turkeys for our food and spotting kookaburra's singing above before driving on for a bed in Mackay.

The Whitsunday coast had been a beautiful place to be, made special by a sail around the islands. Airlie Beach was not bad either. We ate in great restaurants, drank by the sea and had a hotel with a pool, which we never did swim in, despite the staff at The Croc Club assuring us that the snake had gone.

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