Airlie Beach and sailing the Whitsunday Islands

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After a glorious time on Magnetic Island (forgetting being violated by possums), we headed further south to Airlie Beach - the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. We arrived in the late afternoon after our ferry and greyhound rides, once we found a hostel it was immediately out to look for a sailing trip around the Whitsundays. This is without question, one of the most popular excursions for backpackers when visiting Australia. Airlie Beach is a tourist town that eat, sleeps and breathes sailing trips out to the islands and Great Barrier Reef. We spent three hours going door-to-door between the many travel agencies in town before settling on a three day, two night cruise on a boat named Summertime. You can go sailing on larger boats holding as many as 50 people but that seemed a little less personable. Instead Sonya and I had opted for a smaller, more intimate cruise of up to 16 people. As Summertime was setting sail the following morning, we managed to get a fantastic standby price. We paid $369 per person when the going rate was $599 - so if you're prepared to be flexible and providing all the boats aren't full, there are really good discounts available. We were over the moon with our deal. The boat included all your meals and refreshments, a free scuba dive, unlimited snorkelling, a kayaking trip, a visit to Whitehaven beach - one of the world finest, and there was even a hot tub onboard! All booked up, we then rushed to the supermarket to get a few supplies and of course, a prerequisite for any Whitsundays sailing trip, a couple of bags of goon - yes, filthy cheap, wretched hangover inducing boxed wine.

The next morning we were up and out early to get to the marina for 8am. We were met by Mikey, our dive master, who got us to complete some paperwork before taking us on board our home for the next three days, Summertime. The boat was almost 60 years old but still in good shape and while it wasn't huge, it certainly didn't feel too cramped. Our skipper for the trip, Brad, welcomed us all aboard and gave us a quick introductory briefing, including his strict guidelines for showering - one minute per shower, no messing around. Afterwards Aly, our host and chef showed us all to our beds below deck. There were 14 of us in total and all of a similar age - nearly all young couples, apart from three German girls and their American classmate. Everyone soon started getting to know each other as we set sail for our first destination, Whitehaven beach. We arrived around 11:30 and Aly and Mikey took us over to the island. A short walk along an inland trail and we reached the look out above the beach. It was stunningly beautiful. There's no other way to describe it. Ripples of pale blue and turquoise sea, perfect glistening white sand and lush green little islands in the distance. I don't think the photos quite do it justice. We followed the trail to the beach and as we stepped onto the crisp white sand, it squeaked beneath our feet. Ali showed us a quiet spot away from the crowds and the group of us fooled around, posing for pictures, making human pyramids and playing frisbee until it was time to leave. Aly also managed to convince half of the boat that the sand of Whitehaven beach could whiten teeth and much to her delight the guys and girls started rubbing the wet sand into the mouths with a finger. I'm sure she was pulling their legs but either way there were some pretty funny photos of people with a mouthful of sand. After we returned to the boat, Aly served a delicious buffet lunch before we set sail again. It was time to crack open the goon and enjoy the ride. We chatted away for a few hours until we reached a quiet bay where Brad decided we would spend the evening. Anchor dropped and it was time to eat again. This time Aly had prepared Honey mustard chicken, Greek salad, vegetable pasta bake and garlic bread. As if that wasn't enough, there was enough for second helpings and chocolate cheesecake for desert! We were being really spoilt. Later that evening the crew took us below deck to show us all the photos they'd taken during the day trip to Whitehaven beach. There were some nice snaps of us all goofing around and everyone had a good giggle. The next day we would be scuba diving and snorkelling so Mikey gave us a briefing and told us to take it easy on the wine as it was an early start - breakfast at 7am, ouch! Sonya and I stayed up with a German couple, Andy and Laura. The four of us talked utter nonsense and had a really funny time before calling it a night sometime around midnight.

I didn't sleep particularly well, despite the amount of wine consumed. We had a double bunk bed, just about big enough for the two of us and our small backpacks squashed by our sides. Maybe it was the swaying of the boat and not the bed but either way at 6:30am when Brad started raising the anchor, I felt like I'd hardly slept. The loud clunking noise was relentless so I soon gave in with my futile attempt to lie in and joined everyone else on deck for breakfast. Sonya and I were in the last group to scuba dive so had a few hours to kill after breakfast. We sat on the back of the boat and got acquainted with the hot tub while we waited with our fellow dive partners Wendy and Stein from Holland. It was soon our turn to get kitted out; wetsuits, buoyancy vests, air tank, googles and fins. I had to help Sonya to stand up - when your not in the water it's a heavy load your carrying. We went out to the beach where Mickey ran through the basics in the shallows; breathing, clearing your mask and your regulator. Demo over it was time to get out as see the reef. Unfortunately, the visibility was poor and it was difficult to see more than a few metres in front of you. Still we did spot some tropical fish and colourful coral. As we went deeper, Sonya had trouble equalising - her ears wouldn't pop as she had a bit of a cold so it was causing her discomfort. Both Sonya and Wendy decided to give the rest of the scuba dive a miss and just snorkel instead while Mikey, Stein and myself carried on for the remaining ten minutes or so. It was a good activity to have for free as part of our trip but given the poor visibility I wouldn't of been impressed if I'd have paid for the dive. Back on the boat and it was gourmet pizza for lunch before some snorkelling and more hot tub time in the afternoon. Sonya and I goofed around as she wanted to pretend she was in Titanic, making us go to front of the ship and stand with our arms out stretched - for some reason she insisted on being Jack(Leonardo DiCaprio) so I was stuck playing Rose (Kate Winslet) - she is an odd girl I know! After the days activities, we all settled down to watch the sunset, glass of wine in hand and with some tasty snacks to nibble on. The sky was clear and sunset was incredible, with a multitude of orange and red colours on the horizon. As if the food hadn't been good enough already, that evening Aly really pushed the boat out so to speak. We were treated to juicy marinated steaks, creamy potato bake, cauliflower cheese, garlic bread and salad. Again there was more than enough to go round so we got seconds followed by chocolate caramel shortbread. It was so damn tasty! As everyone was exhausted from a long, busy day it was an early nights sleep but not before getting to see dolphins circle the boat and splash around for half an hour. It was a special experience seeing these playful creatures up close in the wild.

After a much better sleep than the previous night, we awoke to the heavenly smell of bacon in the air. Aly had prepared a cooked breakfast for us and it was delicious. Afterwards it was off to explore the nearby bays and coves in our inflatable kayaks. The kayaks were two colours, either red or blue, and in no time a game of bumper cars broke out. We were in blue so Sonya and I would paddle our hardest and smash into the closest red kayak before out of nowhere we'd get slammed in retaliation. Mikey led us all around a headland into a shallow bay. I think he realised a few people were underwhelmed by what they'd seen while scuba diving so he was eager to make up for it. The group began to spread out as we leisurely made our way across the long bay. Soon enough there were excited shrieks from our shipmates: "Look, over there!" Whilst pointing vaguely with their paddle in a general direction. Sonya and I couldn't see a thing and were getting jealous as more and more people cried out. We made our way to the front of the pack and soon enough we spotted lots of marine life. There were these wide, shadow-like figures nearby and as we edged towards it for a closer look, it darted off revealing itself as a stingray. From then on we started to see lots of rays and to everyone's delight, turtles galore! In the distance we caught a glimpse of a turtle as it poked its head out onto the surface to take a deep breath before diving under the water again. As we continued on, we saw many turtles, always solo never more than one at a time, floating around us. As they got too close to the side of the kayaks they would shoot off through the water like a torpedo. We must of spent nearly three hours leisurely paddling in the various bays and in that time we saw countless turtles, rays and tropical fish. It was definitely the highlight of our sailing getaway. After making our way back onto Summertime and before Brad set sail for home, a group of us decided we would finish the trip by making a splash! With cameras at the ready, we somersaulted, swan dived, bombed and belly flopped into the sea below. It wasn't an elegant display of diving akin to Tom Daley but it was good fun and it got smiles on people's faces. The ride back to Airlie Beach took almost three hours and as we sat on the back of the boat soaking up the sunshine, I didn't want the trip to end. We'd had a memorable time - meeting some lovely people, eating like kings and queens, watching glorious sunsets and not forgetting seeing some amazing marine life in the wild; dolphins, rays, fishes of all shapes and colours, and of course, turtles. I said before, sailing the whitsundays was one of the most popular excursions in Australia, and rightly so. Make sure it's near the top of your to-do list!

That night, back on dry land, we met everyone from Summertime for dinner and drinks while watching the British and Irish Lions in their second test against Australia. It was a nice way to bid farewell to one another as we went our separate ways on our travels. Not so nice was the rugby score, as they Aussies narrowly defeated the Lions. We had one final day in Airlie Beach. Compared to the previous three days, it was a fairly uneventful - sunbathing, catching up on emails and booking hostels. I did, however, cook delicious, juicy kangaroo steaks for dinner before taking the bus that evening to our next stop Agnes Water.

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