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Published: June 23rd 2006
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I've crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, and yes, it's totally tropical man!
But anyway, I made it to Airlie Beach, bright and early on Monday morning. I'd bumped into my old mates from 1770 - Andy The Manc and Grandpa (Chris) The Sweed - on the bus which was great cause Andy is a little cutey and the old Manc-bonding got us off to a good start, so I followed them into the hostel they'd booked - Airlie Waterfront Hostel, cheap digs, good views although a bit run-down.
The next 3 days were spent out on the piss with various groups: Andy, Grandpa, the Sweedish girls, Jacinta and Gillian the Irish girls, Gemma and Emma from 1770 - I felt truely popular!
Leslie from 'Classic Sailing Experience' had rung me several times to worryingly inform me that the boat I was supposed to be on - The Iola - was in dock for repairs. Now, for a start I'd thought that I was sailing on the 1928 classic - Ron Of Argyle - but obviously not, and was now shunted to Providence V....it didn't feel right and I had a slight inclination that I was being done.
All fears vanished when I walked down the marina to Providence's mooring bay and saw what a beauty she was: 62 foot long and 14 foot wide, she was built in 1988 as a replica of the original Gloucester Schooners. Built of timber, Providence is a two-masted, Gaff-rigged Schooner with a huge 6 sails to capture and master the wind .... and I was spending the next 3 days and 2 nights on her - FANTASTIC!
The other 14 backpackers and I had an amazing time over the next 3 days, sailing from island to island through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. We all got on really well, chatting, smoking, drinking and munching on the delicious food prepared by the deck-hand, Darren.
Days were spent lazing on the beach, (yes, we made it to the stunning Whitehaven beach!), raising and lowering the sails, traversing the sometimes very choppy Coral Sea, battling through the occasional rain storm and snorkling over the reefs. I had no idea that the Great Barrier Reef would be as beautiful as it was. Just snorkling, the vibrant, multicoloured coral was less than a meter below you, glowing iridescently or swaying with the swell.
An enormous plethora of marine life was constantly swimming past my goggles - the whole cast of 'Finding Nemo' as well as maybe 20 other varieties of tropical fish, weaving in and out of my arms, fingers and legs. Taking a large gulp of air I could dive down to follow coral abysses, chase huge vividly marked fish and follow lazy turtles in and out of the maze of shapes in this other-worldy place. This is truely something everyone should see at one point in their life.
Nights on the schooner were spent sleeping out under the stars in our SWAG bags, watching the mast sway from side to side like a hypnotist's pendulum.
Having painted such a rosy picture, I should admit that all was not perfect. Darren, the rather moody deck-hand and cook, (think Hitler in boardies), had to spend 2 hours trying to unblock the toilet and then came down on us hard when he found a tampon and toilet paper was the cause of the blockage, despite having said 'If you haven't eaten it, don't put it down the toilet!'. Anyway, the end result was the toilet's impella was buggered and from then on
the skipper informed us that we had no choice but to "Bucket and Chuck-It" - I'm sure I don't need to elaborate. Still, it was quite funy watching the embarrassed faces shout "Bucket coming up!", a warning call for everyone to avert their eyes and clear a path from the loo to the back of the boat. Lovely! At least being a lad has the advantage when it comes to pissing, although peeing off the back of a speeding, rocking boat is quite a challenge.
...
Booked on the bus to Townsville tomorrow despite warnings that there's nothing spectacular there. Still, I think I've got some days to waste before I need to be in Cairns...I say 'I think' because I've had a phone call from 'Exploaring Oz" saying that their 18th May Cairns->Darwin trip was cancelled due to the recent cyclones having caused large road flooding, and the 1st June trip may go the same way. I'm going to ring tomorrow and hope it's back on, otherwise I dont know what I'm going to do to get to Darwin.
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