Whitsunday Islands

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Ellie and I have just arrived back from an epic two days (two nights) sailing trip around the 74 beautiful islands of Whitsunday.

When we were told we were going on a 'sailing trip', I don't think we were quite expecting to be so involved in keeping the boat going! Along with a captain, two crew and twenty paying customers, we all had to help out at some point at pulling certain ropes, hoisting the mast up and making sure that we held on for dear life as the boat went from a seemingly flat 'safe' position to a scary (almost) vertical position. During our two days sailing around Whitsunday, we had an awful lot of rain (yes, it does rain occasionally here) and wind so the weather (and giant waves) made for an eventful trip!

However, apart from the fear of the boat capsizing at times, when we were on the deck and took in some of the views of the islands around us, we were all captivated. When the sun came out and we were gently bobbing along - there were some beautiful idyllic islands to take in and admire.

One of the highlights of the two day trip for us both was being taken to a beach called Whitehaven Beach which boasts crystal clear waters and sparkling silica sand. We were told that the sand was 90% silica and it is used to make glass and clean jewellery so that is sparkles again. Apparently, even the people at NASA use Whitehaven silica sand to clean the lenses on their spaceships! Although when we were on the beach it wasn't particularly sunny (the sun kept hiding behind the rain clouds) - we were taken to a lookout point over the beach to admire the views below and around us (I have attached a picture of Whitehaven Beach to this blog). It was a fabulous place to stand and take in for a few minutes a beach of true beauty and lookout on the surrounding islands that have so far been untouched by humans.

Whitsunday Island sailing was an amazing trip and some of the sights we saw, can't be put into words. We took a fair few pictures between us and hopefully we will get them uploaded soon and give you a brief insight into the dazzling beauty of the islands.

Anyway, we are both going to get an early one tonight as we are sailed out (it's hard work pulling ropes!) so will update with another blog soonish...

Next stop? Rockhampton.

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Photos

Whitehaven Beach
A splendid beach!

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

A working holiday
Your photo is great and brings back good memories of our day at Whitehaven Beach. Happy travels.