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Published: January 24th 2008
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Mmm...three days sailing the Whitsundays on the love boat. Hehehe...whatever. With excitment we boarded up on the SV Romance to head out for 3 days and two nights of sailing through the Whitsunday Islands. There's approxametely 74 Islands off the coast of Airlie Beach that ranks as some of the worlds most pristine sailing. Funny thing is there was no wind the whole time so not much sailing was going on. But the fact that we were in a sail boat cruisin through some very pristine regions is what really mattered.
Hobbits aren't known as sea going critters but Haggus hopped on the deck with one furry foot and then the other. He heard that the local rum Bunderberg was a good remedy for getting your sea legs so he loaded up his travel bags with rum filled bottles posing as tea. He was a happy hobbit until finding he was to run out of supplies the very first night. "Naughty, naughty hobbit." (His companion Clover chuckles with glee at his dismay....Mulhahahaha).
So first off we were assigned our lodgings. To Haggus delight they were hobbit sized. We even had our own private room with a
round hatch door leading into it. Sounds lovely....eh? Well, only if the conditions permitted. It was located next to the bulk head (the engines) with the added bonus of having a broken AC unit throughout the rest of the boat. Only if you were Satan himself would this room haved seemed like a charming place to rest your bones for the night!
After much merry making with our fellow passengers we settled into our room. We did actually manage to fall alseep, but that had mostly to do with that rum we brought along. And then...And then...at about 2 in the morning we both bolted awake feeling as if the boat was on fire. From the puddles of sweat coming off of us however we couldn't quite understand how this boat would be on fire. Surely the gallons of sweat we were losing every hour would put the fire out. Stumbling out to the top deck we stood around dumbed and dazed as the cool ocean breeze brough some relief. And herein lay the conundrum. Below deck was our bed that was soft but hot as all hell. On deck it was nice and cool but with nothing
The Bad.
It's not the Box Shape Jelly fish but it will still give you a nice proper sting if you get hit by it. to lay on but cool slabs of metal. Oh yah baby...it most assuradely was not the love boat that night. Nor for any of our other fellow travelers laying spralled about on deck with nothing but a sheet for padding. Clover opted to sleep on deck with a sheet and pillow. Haggus however attempted the rotation method. For an hour he'd cool off on top of the deck while sleeping on the bench, and then would go below to give his body some padding while he rolled around in sweat. Needless to say, the next morning we both had huge bags under our eyes and felt like we'd been run over by a water buffalo during mating season. Haven't seen that before but it sounds baaad!
Did we forget to mention the sunset that night was purty 😊 ?
So with this in mind we greeted our first morning on the SV Romance with a somewhat pounding headache (dang irishmen on the boat startin up those drinking games). Alas, we were all shuttled off to a small Island and told promptly to march over the hill to find a nice beach. So trudging along we climbed
The spot
Relaxing on the coral beach after our dive. through a sandy bug infested jungle with the vacant look of zombies ordered to march. I swear there was an orc behind us with a whip (where there's a whip, there's a way, I don't want to go to work today). To our dismay the lead zombie turned right when he should of gone left. For crying out loud, after 15 minutes of up hill hiking in which we could barely see due to the rain burst of sweat coming from our foreheads we came to the scenic overlook. Standing numbly, we all gazed down at a gorgeous white beach straight out of a paradise bond movie. Problem being, we all hurt! We didn't want to be looking at paradise, we wanted to be swimming in it. Grumbling about who was leading this zombie train we headed back into the jungle to find the right path down to the water.
Finally we stumbled down to WhitHaven Beach. You'd think we went running straight into the water hooping with joy and delight. But no wait, you gotta stop 10 feet from the water to don a full body wet suit(killer jelly fish again) while the sun is literally burning
a hole through the top of your head (I can feel the melanoma starting). So lurching into the water with stiff sweaty arms and legs we finally bombed into the waters of paradise.
It was a god send! Instant relief swelled through our bodies. Joy and life was found again where only moments ago we were the living undead. Granted, we felt like hobbit saugages bobbing about(hobbits like sausages though). We splashed into the cool refreshing waters that were super crystal clear. Paradise was found rather then lost in the oddest of moments. Granted we had to keep an eye out for our little stinger freinds, but at that moment we almost didn't care. It was the super hang over cure and we highly recommend it to anyone having a rough morning. To be there in the off seaon when you didn't have to don a stinger suit would be too much, you might never leave. Surely this is where Frodo and Bilbo went at the end of the movie in their little boat.
Days on the boat were great. Evenings were even better. We have a billion sunset shots from the boat. We would end
:)
:) up following the sun all the way into the water with the camera. Despite the cons we poke fun at. This was a great experience despite nights spent in the bowels of the ship sleeping with the living dead. We even managed to fit in some diving. Scott got one more dive than me because I started the trip with a head cold 😞 The coral was as pretty as any we have seen however because of recent storms the water was a bit murkier than normal. But no complaints really becuase we got two free short dives as part of our sailing package. Diving adds up so when you can get it for free you go for it.
Everytime we dove or went snorkling we saw jelly fish. As to whether they were the ones that kill you that can't be answered. We stayed away from them none the less. Unfortunately we didn't do our east coast research as well as we had hoped. We were unaware that we would be arriving in Australia during their six month killer jelly fish season. The funny thing is everyone but us seemed to know about it. Supposedly along the south
The Romance.
Our home while traveling the Whitesundays. east side of Australia swimming in the ocean is off limits six months out of the year because of the jelly fish. That might explain why most of the towns along the coast all have very large public swimming pools. Not until you get down past a little town called Noosa Heads can you go into the water without a stinger suit(full body wet suit).
By the way we ate a kangaroo burger and it was mighty "scrummy."
So when an Omen for good times and sweet water, we concluded our Whitsunday Sailin trip.
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Mother-ship
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Words of Wisdom
Have the leachs sucked out your brains? Perhaps the heat has liquefy your brain cells and oozed out your pores. Haggus Black Tongue you will be held accountable for your evil ways...bark juice to rum. Cease before your black tongue falls out of your sun scorched head. Enjoy the beauty of mother nature and beware her crafty coharts that leads down the path of darkness. Forget the ring...beware the "wrath of mom" Abandon the buggy forest, pull off the blood sucking leaches, keep away from the sun, leave the killer jelly fish to hunt some other tourist, and when you have had all the fun you can take........come home mom