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Published: July 12th 2008
Derwent Hunter
Our home for the next three days! Hurray! 8th July - Licking Ants Bums at Whitehaven Beach, Whitsundays
We got up at 7.30 am and headed to Gloria's Cafe to meet the crew and the other people we would be spending the next three days with!
We were all given a small blue bag yesterday (apparently you can't take backpacks on the ship in case you spread bed bugs). We were pretty much just told to bring a bikini, a jumper, a toothbrush and deodrant.
Stacey, the ship's Cook, gave us a brief introduction to the ship and then we all got on board. The ship is lovely. It was built in 1946 and was originally going to be used in the war but was turned into a lobster fishing boat by the ship builder as he thought it was too beautiful to be destroyed.
The cabins were nice and were made of dark wood panelling but they were tiny. Me and Amy had to share a double bed, and another girl was in our cabin in a single bed above the double. We had a small bathroom that had two doors with the other door opening into the cabin opposite ours -
so you had to lock two doors every time you went to the bathroom.
We set sail for Whitehaven Beach first. Mainly because the weather was pretty dull and windy and it was too cold to go snorkelling. I was slightly upset that we were going to this famous beach in really poor weather as I thought that the white sand and crystal clear water might have looked better in the sun but I have to say it still took my breath away.
Dave our tour guide took us on a short bush walk first before we got up to the Whitehaven Beach Viewpoint. The most interesting thing that me and Amy learnt was the green ants nests are edible! We had seen a couple in Cairns and some at Airlie and they are just big white chalky balls with clumps of leaves stuck to them....apparently they taste like lemon sherberts. Will have to give them a try when we get back.
We also had the option to lick an ants bum...the green ants have really big bums and if you hold its head and lick its bum it also tastes like sherbert. I must admit I
was tempted but having last seen a green ant on a toilet seat in Daintree I just couldnt quite stomach it. Plenty of our group tried it and loved it though!
When we got up to the viewpoint you could see Whitehaven Beach - it was beautiful - not sure if the photos I took show it off to its full advantage. It is often the beach you see on all the postcards in Australia - it's pretty iconic. From the view point we could see lots of sting rays in the shallow water to the right of the beach. When we got down to the beach itself we all headed over to where the sting rays where to get a good look. They were harmless - I got within about a meter of one but managed to see three really close up.
When we first got to the beach there were lots of tourists in yellow raincoats which spoilt the view but we were allowed to stay until the beach was deserted! We just couldnt get over how fine and soft the sand was - it was like talcum powder!
We had a lovely meal on
the ship when we got back - Stacey is an amazing cook. We sailed around the islands until the sunset and then we moored for bed time. The wind was so bitter that we were all in bed by 10pm.
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