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Published: August 6th 2007
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Me and the girls arrived into Airlie Beach on Friday ready to set sail on our big adventure to the Whitsundays the next day. This was to be one of the highlights of our trip and of the package we booked so we tried to be pretty sensible, get organised, showered and get to bed early at Magnums hostel as we had been warned that we would not be getting much sleep on the boat! But our good intentions were in vain as our dorm room turned into party central throughout the night as the girls we shared with went a bit mad! So we woke the next morning looking and feeling like crap! But we plodded on down to the marina armed with our booze in plastic bottles and our clothes in eco bags as instructed by the tour operators. The best plan we could come up with was to hit the booze early and just pray that we didn't crash and burn! At Abel Point marina before boarding we met up with two other Dublin girls that me and Susan had met in Byron- Jessie and Anna and it wasn't long before the laughs could be heard across
the marina, the girls were great craic altogether!
At 2.20pm we boarded the boat with our 50 strong group, mostly in their twenties and got the party started ready to sail around the Whitsunday Islands for a few days. We were booked on the Atlantic Clipper- a 140 ft (34 meter) tall-ship (with a deck spa!) which came highly recommended from Travel Bugs. Have to say they got it right! It was absolutely brilliant and the group we got to share with were just super stars. A real mix of personalities and nationalities.
After some afternoon bevvies, me, Linz and Sus were given our 3 berth cabin. It was a tiny wee thing! But we didn't plan on being in it for most of the trip so we seen the funny side! Me and Sus had to share a double bed bunk which was above Lindsay's bed (I bet she prayed to god we didn't get sick!)
Once settled and fed we got down to business mingling and getting know the other passengers and to break the ice the drinking games got underway (as expected!) We had well and truly overcome our fatigue as the alcohol well and truly took
over!!! Our drinking group was made up of mainly English, Irish and Scottish with an Israeli and a Swede thrown in for good measure so the craic was mighty as we all took the piss out of each other and played the 'G'day Bruce' game (which I was crap at in my drunken state!) The party went on to 5.30am and I was well pleased that I actually managed to be the last girl up on the boat, what can I say it the 'Irish drinker' in me! Mind you I felt it the next day when we all got our wake up call at 7am for breakfast and I was then the last girl on the dingy to Whitehaven Beach!
Had such a great day on Whitehaven chasing the crabs and doing the bush walk up to the look out with the lads- Stevo, Anders and Ido. We even had our first snake encounter! When we finally made it to the lookout the views were breath-taking. It's easy to see why it's one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in Australia. (The Whitsundays is situated in the world heritage listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and boasts 74
islands, stunning fringing coral reef and 1500 species of fish in sheltered bays.)
After being whisked back to the Clipper after a quick sun bathing session, it was time to get kitted out in our snazzy stinger suits for some snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef across two of the main beaches. I seriously don't know how I managed to not drown, I think I was still drunk!!! But have to say it was an amazing site seeing all the coral and the fish swimming around you, a true achievement and one well recommended. But it didn't end without drama as I took a major leg cramp and Eddie (one of the crew members) had to drag me out of the water!!! That pretty much put me off the dive that I had signed up for so I took it easy on deck for a while and just stuck with the snorkeling beside the boat. Lindsay completed the dive and was ecstatic, she said the views were spectacular. Unfortunately the visibility in the water wasn't great but she did manage to see a huge rainbow fish and a turtle swimming by which was pretty cool...maybe next time for me!
That
night the party continued onboard and again not without drama! Susan got herself locked inside our cabin!!! Poor thing, she must have been waiting in there for what seemed like an eternity while we all partied up on deck!!! But I saved her from her cabin fever and after a few drinkies she was fine!!
We got back into the swing of the drinking games again and it wasn't long before the crew decided to introduce their own game called 'Disco Box'. It was basically a goon box (cheap wine box!) and you had to pick it up with your teeth without any other part of your body (besides your feet) touching the floor. With each round of the game a layer of the box gets ripped away. It was an absolute sketch! For a girl who can't touch her toes I found out that I can actually be quite flexible and managed to stay in the game until the second last round! You get two strikes touching the floor before you get spanked with a diving flipper and are out of the game (and I thought we were mean't to get punished??! ha, ha!)
The drinking sessions again continued
well into the early hours and there was just no way I was getting up for another snorkel so I chose option B- to sleep in! After a lunch of leftovers, the gang gathered at the deck and soaked up the last few rays onboard our beloved Clipper before getting back to the marina. A fab time was had by all but the party was not over.
That night the owner of the boat was putting on a big bash for us at Reefos bar so we all met up again and got stuck into the white and red sangria and beer jugs and had a great last night together. The highlight of the night had to be Ido and the lads singing the Chili's 'By the way' as they parted with their t-shirts!!! (wawaweewa!! lol) Stevo came in a close second with his sycronised drinking dance and straws sculpture!! The party eventually moved to the local clubs around Airlie beach including Moroccos, Mama Africa's and even down by the lagoon!
Next morning the gang met up again at the lagoon to say our last goodbyes and laugh at the lads performing their sycronised swimming routine! We also ended up
taking "the piss" out of poor Jamie (no pun intended) as after a heavy night on the razz he was found in the early hours taking a wee over one of the girls back packs in the hostel!!! Poor Claire had to hang around an extra day just to get her stuff washed and dried! But like a trooper Jamie paid for everything and even took her backpack down to the car wash for a power hose!!! lol
That night the girls decided on a nice sit down meal at Boltz Italian where we raised our glasses to the Whitsundays Experience and compared notes on our next travel destination- we are all planning to meet up again at our next stop Magnetic Island (your fav Bettina!!) and so the party continues...
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Jonny
non-member comment
Re: I attempt Disco Box! Gulp! I think that image will stay with me for the rest of my life!!!!