Australia Part 17 - Whitsundays 2

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Blue steel, eating ant bums and night fishing

Next morning we all sat down to another big breakfast of fried food, fruit, cereal and juice etc it was like the best hotel breakfast ever, but being as Brian was always up at dawn (normally peeing over the side of the boat!) you had to be up early too to enjoy it. The smell of bacon was hard to ignore anyway but knowing Dan might beat you there was motivation enough! Brian also had a fabulous coffee grinder that he let you use as long as you went on the health and safety induction course he ran every morning and were supervised on your first few brews! It was nice coffee and really did give you a boost but he was way over protective of that machine – and he was right to be as after a few days on the boat one morning Paulo nearly broke the blasted thing, so none of us were allowed anymore –honestly it was like being at school.

Anyway back to the shenanigans of this breakfast -although it was easy to see that Dan and Emma were a good match, we were all quite surprised that he hadn’t chosen to bat for the other side given his banana eating ability – it was amazing, I’ve never seen so much banana disappear in one bite! After the initial hilarity had worn off Dan became a little self conscious of his talents and no more were we honoured by his gullet abilities. Anyway after breakfast I had one of my first showers of the trip, not only because you could never get in the bathroom but mainly because with all the getting in and out of the water it seemed a bit stupid to have a shower.

It wasn’t long before we were at our first spot for the day (with our surprise coming in the afternoon apparently) just off of the coast of Hook Island for more snorkelling. Those that had gone without on our first snorkel suddenly decided it was a good time to join us in our “wimpy standards” and wear a stinger/wet suit. This time with the sun actually shining we felt even colder, or maybe being further out the water was actually colder, but it didn’t feel like the stinger suits did very much, and it took Amy and I quite a while to venture in. Yet again the coral was quite close to us in parts so we had to make sure we weren’t on top of it. We had given up with the waterproof camera as we couldn’t really keep still again, so this time we were all free to enjoy the fish and surrounding area. There are 2 things you can hear when you are snorkelling, one is your own breathing which at first is quite laboured as you worry about the water but then becomes much calmer without you even noticing, but the other thing that will always remind me of snorkelling is the munching (clicking) noise of the Parrot fish as they eat the surrounding coral.

Unlike last time when the water got really deep without us noticing, we kept quite close to the boat to start with. Which meant Brian had to bring the fish to us by throwing left overs into the water surrounding us. Suddenly we were surrounded by loads of fish, some of which mistook our fingers for food and actually nipped us. It was like a really lame piranha movie, where no one dies but everyone complains they have grazes!! At one point a fish bit Dan who suddenly grabbed his leg and acted like he had been fouled in a football match, which made Emma panic and check what was wrong. Needless to say he was fine, but they did seem to favour him over the rest of us, probably because he tasted of bananas, given how many of them he ate! After we had all gained a bit more confidence we swan further out and soon were face to face with some massive fish. Now I’m not scared of fish but it is a little unnerving when you realise just how big they do get. These were the size of dogs and were so close, so of course Dan wanted to get near enough to touch one, at which point Pablo who couldn’t be out done in the manly stakes also tried to do this. It was just brilliant and we hardly noticed this time that we were cold and that we had been out there a long time. Before long though our stomachs were telling us it was lunch time so we all clambered back on board to dry off in the sun. The water was still so inviting and with our new sense of confidence in this part of the water Amy and I decided to join the lads jumping off the roof of the boat and did our own safer version of just jumping off the back of the boat. It was pretty scary as you jump into dark water, in a place renowned for jelly fish and sharks but it is funny how blasé you become about it all. You can still see we were nervous though from the video attached to this blog but it was also exhilarating and we couldn’t get enough of it!!

Now the funny thing about the boat was, it had never before had a full amount of people in it, so the water that Brian had brought with us, had after 3 days run out, and he had to desalinate some more so we could drink it. Along side this the water we used in the shower and toilet was low, which meant we couldn’t really flush unless necessary and showering well that was a no no, so you can image the echoing noooooooooooooooooo coming form Paulo when he heard that! With knowing all this, when it came each evening to do the washing up, and there were always certain people that were suddenly absent when this was required “cough –Spaniards cough” we always felt quite nervous that we would have turned the tap the wrong way and washed up with fresh water instead of the salt water or something and Brian would tell us off. It was a bit like being back at school again, and he started to show his dad like tendencies as the days went on. I think we were pissing him off a little bit as well because someone would always forget which way to turn the taps or not use the coffee machine correctly (sorry Brian). Anyway what all this water saving meant was that we wouldn’t be showering until we got to Hamilton island in a few days time, which wasn’t really a problem as we went swimming at least once a day and as for Nath, well I don’t remember him ever using the shower!


After our lunch of salad and nachos etc we finally headed off to our surprise that Brian had been bragging about for so long, all with different ideas of what it could be. We arrived at yet another little sandy beach cove area and Border Island, much the same as the rest and we all got into the tender and headed for the shore. Once there, Brian still wasn’t saying anything, but rather than then head back to the boat like always, he found a big stick on the beach and told us to follow him into the bush. Now I must admit ashamedly I had a brief moment of hesitance and suddenly thought about how trusting we had been of finding this man on Couch surfing and that we were now out in the middle of nowhere with him. But I followed anyway choosing to ignore the jokes form Nath and Dan about him having a group of friends waiting for us all in the bushes with even bigger sticks. Now I had been pretty good with the whole spider thing till now, if anything I think I’ve got better, but pushing through the bush with nothing but cobwebs all over the place was making me uneasy. Little did I know though it wasn't the spiders I needed to be worried about but the giant ants on the floor that bite!! I just couldn’t keep still jumping up and down so they couldn’t get me. These weren’t like normal ants either in that when you try to shake them off they hold on, they don’t go anywhere!! They had massive green bums that were filled with liquid that apparently tasted like lime, of course I wasn’t keen on trying out that theory but Dan, so of course then Pablo both had a go! Luckily for me, when I saw an ant on my foot, as the little sods were also dropping from the trees, it didn’t do anything. I think this may have had something to do with the amount of DEET I was warring on every part of my body every day!!

Anyway we were all beginning to think, if this was our surprise, limey ant bums then I‘m pretty disappointed, when the big stick that Brian had been carrying came into use. He asked us to keep still and be very quiet, which was hard to do with ants crawling everywhere, but I’m glad we did. He then walked around us all bashing the trees and bushes and out of nowhere, hundreds and hundreds of butterflies came out from their resting places- I mean so many of them you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. It was one of the most beautiful things we’ve scene on our trip – we just stood there amazed, trying to capture the beauty of it on camera. I think they were called blue admirals (have a look at the video) and they flew so graciously it was like we had wandered into a magical garden, I think in awe of it all I even commented it must be what heaven is like – sounds a bit soppy now writing it but it was just overwhelming. Apparently, Brian’s kids had found this when they were out on the boat once, they had moored up and the kids were off exploring when they disturbed the butterflies. If it hadn’t been for the ants biting people and spoiling standing still to admire them, we would have stayed a lot longer than we did.


Once out on the beach again, we then headed up a steep cliff walk to the top of the island to get a view out over the bay. This must have been the sunniest day so far so walking up a hill in flip flops made me even hotter. There were a few butterflies feeding from what can only be described as large reeds growing out the top of the island so Nath took time to take photos of this which Carlos was very quick to copy and the boys both got into a photograph war, showing each other what they had taken. Even given the huge lenses and massive bag of bits Carlos had to bring round with him, our shots were still much better (hehehe). Because by now we were all very hot, we headed back down the hill which was even harder to descend, especially in flip flops. And as if it wasn’t hard enough already half way down my second pair of flip flops broke at the toes, so there was now no way I could wear them back down. This was kind of helpful as the bottoms of them were so smooth I was slipping all over the place. Anyway, whilst the Spaniards had every right to spend their time on the trip heading off on their own etc this was one incident that really pissed me off. As I was going slowly down the hill trying not to trip and die without flip flops on, Irmina and Pablo asked me to get out of the way as “some of them were hot and wanted to get down” – “ok you horse faced foreigner, I’m hot too and am going as quick as I can” is what I should have said but instead I was just in shock as they pushed past me!! What a bitch!!

Although pissed off and hot now, my mood was soon elevated after we heard a crash and tumble in front of us, only to be confronted with Carlos on his arse and the camera on the floor. He really was like a Spanish Mr Bean!! And all Irmina could ask was was the camera ok? Kick them donkey boy, don’t put up with that! Luckily both donkey and camera were fine but we did have to laugh and so did he eventually. We weren’t ready to go back to the boat yet, so whilst Brian swam his way back out to the boat, leaving us with the tender (god we’re all so unfit compared with him) we all enjoyed frolicking in the shallow waters of the bay. Well I say we all, carols and Irmina who was acing like she was dying in the heat of the day just sat on the beach- you come from Spain, surely you have more sunny hot days than we can ever dream of! Anyway we were loving the warm waters and tranquillity of the area, but this was soon ruined by the screeching of Irmina and Carlos trying to drag the tender back into the water as they wanted to go back to the boat. Of course we rushed to help them-not and just swam there watching them try to move the boat on their own. In the end they were off and we suggested that not everyone wanted to leave yet so they needed to find a way of bringing the boat back. This did not go down well with an already hot and pissy Irmina, so Dan offered to go back with them and bring the boat back again!!

Whilst we were all swimming around, and Nath was off looking at fish again, which was becoming a bit of a joke around the rest of us as when ever we passed a bit of water Nath would be looking in to see if there were any fish. This time he was right and he was busy following a small school (around 250+) of fish that were hanging around in the shallows. The scene was lovely until that small school of fish, now being chased by a larger fish swam round by Emma causing a fish to leap out of the water over her head, causing her quite rightly to scream out loud. If I could have fallen over with laughter I would have done, but being as I was already floating in the water I couldn’t go any further. Anyway following Brian’s led Amy decided she also wanted to swim back to the boat, so was immediately joined by Paulo who didn’t want to be outdone by a woman. Needless to say neither of them made it all that way back, and luckily Dan was passing in the tender at the time so managed to drag Paulo back to the boat and bring Amy back to us. With the 5 of us now alone, we all started chatting and discussing the strange habits of our fellow couch surfers. I had noticed having seen some pictures and also watched Pablo have his photo taken, that every time he did he had to pose and pull a moody looking face, literally no matter what he is doing at the time and thus the nickname of “blue steel” was born. This was to cause much hilarity for us 5 in all the pictures from then on, hoping that the film Zoolander had not been a success in Spain.

We all had a practice a the “blue steel” pose in the water which made us laugh even more, and Dan of course was very good at pulling faces, and even managed to make it look a little more gay than Pablo managed. This now meant that when ever you would be talking to Dan he would at random times just pull the face which meant you couldn't concentrate on what you had been talking about. So funny though and worth the feeling of guilt at the Spaniards expense! Eventually though we all had to stop laughing and head back to the boat for more sundowners. We decided we would stay in this bay for the evening as it was so nice and tranquil and there were no other boats at the time. As it was our last night together (as the Spaniards were leaving the next night) we all had some cheap fizz that Emma had brought along, that was actually really addictive! Whilst having dinner we decided we would all have a group photo taken, so as Brian stood up to take the shot with our camera, we all yelled “blue steel” and tried not to laugh out loud. If you look closely at the photo you’ll see the face of Paulo’s we were talking about and our impressions of it!

Almost as funny as out new nickname code word, was the fact that at one point Pablo managed to bang his head on the doorway of the boat, even though he wasn’t tall enough to reach it?! That night, with the boys fishing trip the night before a bit of a let down they convinced Brian to let them have another go. Now I don’t think we were supposed to fish in this area but as it was pitch black and Brian said we could as long as we kept the noise down as other boats had pulled up in the bay.

The boys seemed to be there all night, whilst the rest of us played shit head on the table. Poor Nath was not having much luck, with every attempt he either lost the hook and weights, got the hook back bent or one time even when he had a fish on the end the only thing left was the head by the time he pulled it up. Dan on the other hand was doing really well and catching all sorts. I couldn’t actually watch as the ones that were big enough we were going eat so Brian was smacking them to kill them. Anyway remembering what Brian had said about keeping it quiet when we were fishing, well this kind of went to shit when Nath, who was about to give up managed to catch a black tipped reef shark! I thought they were kidding when I heard Dan start shouting “he’s caught a bloody shark” sssshhhhhhh Dan!!! Nath’s face was beaming bless him, but then of course the reality set in that we needed to put it back before it died. It was a tense time as the hook had gone right through so it was hard to remove and the shark was of course thrashing around, and then when we finally got it free the shark stopped moving. We all went silent, as Brian wiggled it around in the water and we all hoped we weren’t too late. If felt like waiting ages before the shark eventually came round and swam off like a rocket–phew!

With our last night out in the islands before heading to Hamilton island tomorrow, I decided that I was finally going to sleep outside and watch the sun rise. I’d been saying I was going to do this all week and never made it out so really wanted to make the most of it. The outside sofa bed thing was unfortunately just above Brian’s room, so when he realised I wasn’t kidding he warned me he could hear every movement so I was to keep still. I think he was implying that if Nath was to come outside with me then he would know what we were doing!! Sleeping outside was actually boiling but I had to have a sheet over me because of the dam buzzing of the sand flies trying to get to me in the night. I didn’t sleep very well as I was worried that every movement I made I was waking Brain. I had set an alarm to make sure I was up but managed to wake just before it to see a fuzzy image of Nath already up and filming the surroundings tranquillity. It was so nice just sat there in complete silence watching the sun come up, and although I was going to be tired it was so worth it. In the end no one believed we’d slept outside because I’d been saying I was going to do it all week!

With another great breakfast over with we started the long journey to Hamilton Island, which was actually through some rough sea, but I think after a few days at sea my sea legs had finally arrived so I was able to sit and sunbath at the front of the boat with everyone else. However none of us stayed long as the rough sea sprayed up under the strapping and soaked us all through. Now Hamilton Island, where we had to return to because the Spaniards were getting their flight that afternoon, was an absolute let down. It was basically a resort island where all the local Aussies had time share apartments and there was nothing but man made beaches and hotels. As we arrived we passed loads of massive millionaire boats, I mean these things were like cities in themselves, and made the very nice Drumbeat look like a gypsy caravan!! Anyway you could go round the island on golfing buggies or the free bus, so whilst the Spaniards decide to hire the really expensive buggy we got on the free bus after buying an ice-cream. We went all over the place, looking at some of the buildings that Brian had helped design –very impressive-you can see how he could easily afford a yacht as a hobby!

Anyway we travelled round on the resort bus passing mini bus stops at places that looked no more interested than the previous and got a bit sick of the holiday makers getting on and off the bus and eyeing us like they knew we didn’t belong there. We decided to go to the main hotel resort as you were allowed to use the facilities as long as you didn’t get caught. So the 5 of us walked around the resort, found the pool that was so covered in shade there was no way we were going to go swimming in it, so we just sat by the edge and pretended to be rich like everyone else. We then tried a walk along the beach to see if that was more interesting, but no-the whole beach was man made and you could see the concrete slabs where they had tried to mould the landscape, all uncovered and crappy looking- I think if I’d paid full price for a resort like this I’d have been well miffed! So with the excitement getting too much to bear we decided to make our way back to bus and complete the loop in case just round the corner was all the fun stuff.

As we sat waiting in the shiny marble reception for the next bus, admiring the lilies and other exotic flowers they’d got in to decorate and illustrate affluence, Nath and I remembered how very similar it was to other holidays we had had previous to this big trip. A big hotel, usually full board, massive extravagant reception and us waiting for a little bus to take us on an outing. Suddenly the thought of that sort of holiday from now on just made our stomachs turn. I’m sure I may feel differently when we get home and that’s the only sort of holiday that we can afford, but I really do feel like we’ll never travel the same way again, there is so much more you can do in all these places and for much less money if you’re prepared to do it yourself. So eventually to rescue us from our shiny reception was the bus that was to take us to the highlight of the island- the top of it!! Yeah that’s about as exciting as it got. The whole place past the hotel was just house upon house full of rich people enjoying their Jacuzzi.

At the top I must admit, being that things high up generally have something therefore below them, there was a pretty nice view, it was a shame most of it was more houses being built for the next summer season. But hey at least it was in keeping with the view the hotel guests were getting of the beach. Our bus left very soon after dropping us off so we had to wait for the next one, and with it being late in the afternoon this was the last one we could get so we had to make sure we didn’t miss it, as although it was down hill to the marina I really didn’t fancy walking it. Typically we waited and waited and just as we were busy taking group photos, utilising the time to take more “blue steel” shots, like bloody buses, two buses turned up! What excitement, we were all quite giggly on the way back to the boat, probably because we knew it would be more exciting there than on the island!!

Now considering it had been days since our last shower with soap and fresh water –we’d all been in and out of the ocean and used the cold water shower on the decking but it wasn’t great on the smelly areas. We all enjoyed the warmth of the complimentary showers in the marina. I don’t think I’ve had such a long shower in ages it was heaven, its funny the small details you miss about life when you don’t have them anymore. I think we were there so long that we came out looking 20 years older from wrinkling up! Having a shower also highlighted something else to us all, standing in the cubicals had made it more obvious, we all felt a bit wobbly on our legs and it wasn’t because the showers were too hot. We had all got our sea legs on still and not our land legs back yet!! Man it was a little trippy in that shower!

So with our last “sun downers” from Brian and a farewell drink under way, whilst we waited for dinner Dan, Amy and I went to the onsite off license in the tender to get some last drinks. We should have known really that given the type of complex this place was they had a captive audience and this would be super expensive alcohol. Australia in general has been expensive when it comes to booze except for goon. However there was no goon here for us to buy so in the end we settled for some coke and a bottle of wine to share between all of us. In order to try and make the evening more interesting, the place where we had brought ice-cream form earlier had an inflatable 7 foot dinosaur out font that we had thought would make a great beer trophy to come back for. However with only one bottle to drink and noticing in the sober light of day that the dinosaur was indeed padlocked to the floor and would look a little obvious strapped to Drumbeats stern, we gave up on the idea and had to think of something lese that would amuse us –Paulo!!


That evening when we got back to the boat with our shed load of alcohol we had the fish that Dan and Nath had caught the night before, beer battered. Now this must have been, next to the super soft cod I’d had in Iceland the nicest fish ever- it was so tender and flavoursome, I forgot to feel sorry for the little fishes that had died for us to enjoy them. There was also so much of it that our starter turned very much into a main, and we barely had the room to eat the massive lasagne that Brain had hand made-we did obviously because we still had Dan with us. That evening was a lot of fun in the end, the Spaniards were really laid back, and I wish they’d been like that for the whole trip but I guess the thought of leaving us cockney southern geezers behind was enough to make them feel elated. Anyway all the excitement form the island of fun was too much for me and I went to bed early to read a book and ended up falling fast asleep on Amy’s bed. So when I woke the next morning, late, and having missed the Spaniards leaving (oh well) I was given the nickname of goldilocks. Now I was impressed with this at first thinking that the sun had bleached my hair so much it was now glistening gold in the sun, however it turns out it was because of all my bed hopping!

With the Spaniards checking in for their flight we finally set sail back to Airlie beach, and as this trip had made me quite sick on the way out I was really pleased that I was fine on the way back.. I was so good in fact that I helped Amy with the traditional British scones that she had decided to make to show brain that we weren’t all incompetent cooks. What with all the great food we had had on drumbeat the scones really did finish the trip nicely, and with the over priced cream and jam we had got from the shop before we left I think Brian was convinced that the rainy isle we call home may be worth a visit one day – he’d probably pass on snorkelling in the Thames but the scones would be enjoyed!


So after we were back and the boys helped anchor the boat it was a couple of trips in the tender to get us and our stuff back to shore. Here we said our fair wells to Brain and thanked him for what had been such a fantastic trip and one that we would never forget. Walking back to the hostel we all chatted on how amazing the trip had been, how lovely Drumbeat is and how great Brain was to have taken us. We also decided that after spending the last few days with Brian our first impression that he was only taking us to make some money was very very wrong. Brian loved sailing and swimming and knew what an amazing place the Whitsundays are, he just needed an excuse to get away from his desk…… the lucky bugger!

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Photos

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Trying to make our wet suits look sexier- and failing

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Oh dear.....

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Nath -you've got something in your teeth

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Another tea break

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Moored up near Border Island

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Larking around in the water whilst hoping there was nothing dangerous swimming below us!

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Following a strange man into the bush-what a great idea.....

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Blue Admiral butterflies everywhere

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Ouch bloody green ants eating us all

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A long trek up a hill...in flip flops, not the smartest thing

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Our addition to the "stone" man -naths rock right at the top

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What more can I say!

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10 Months in and still our tan hasn't spread from our arms!

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The laying down game doesn't work everywhere

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The walk back that broke my thong! (flip flop)

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Nath getting very good with the old camera shots -nice!

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If you look carefully you can see Drumbeat in the distance

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Another fab breakfast

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Sundowners!!

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The result of Sundowners

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Blue steel!!!

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Wow what an en-suite

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Night fishing

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Poor Nath (poor fish, hook in the mouth and eaten from below by something)