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Published: September 9th 2007
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When you say you're going to be sailing around the Whitsunday Islands for a few days, it all sounds rather grand doesn't it? Images of lounging around on deck with the sun bouncing off your shoulders, and a boat made of varnished wood spring to mind. You can imagine our surprise then, when we were shown to our sleeping quarters onboard our "Yacht" - quarters is probably a bit of an exaggeration, and you certainly couldn't have called it a cabin. No no. And our hopes had been so high when the woman who booked the trip nodded encouragingly when we said we'd like a triple room if at all possilbe. Our 'room' turned out to be a corridor, a very narrow corridor, with three units about the width of a cot and the depth of something very very shallow. These were our beds apparently. There were no doors, just two entrances, through which everyone else on the boat (all 20 of them) had to walk through the get to the toilet at any hour of the day or night. I tell ya, that trip around Halong Bay in Vietnam was the ruining of us. We have tasted luxury people, and
it's hard accepting anything else! Oh, and did I mention there was no shower on the boat? None, nada, nothing. The only fresh water available was the kitchen tap. Two day and a half days, two nights, no shower. Lovely.
So just as well the trip was so good then, cos the conditions definitely weren't the best!! We had a great two days, thanks in part to the four Irish girls who we met on the trip. Seven Irish girls, a bunch of Europeans, and one boat - god it sounds like a new series on Sky... Our skipper (why are skippers always a bit mental? All that sea air mustn't be good for you) was possibly the MOST Australian Australian I've ever met. Ah he was harmless really, but a bit of a cranky git at the same time. We didn't do much on the first day, which wasn't great cos it was very crowded on deck (not surprisingly we spent the bare minimum of time in our "rooms") and not very comfy. But luckily we had all been instructed to bring our own booze on board (and everyone had done, except for one lanky German bloke who was
stealing booze for the entire trip!), so we had a great knees up while watching the stunning sunset.
We didn't really take crazy skipper seriously when he told us breakfast was at 6.30am, but reality came crashing down on us all the next morning when right on schedule he started blaring the soundtrack from Good Morning Vietnam. Imagine waking up, in a coffin, to the roar of Robbin William's "GOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!!!!!" Oh god. Huge amounts of cereal, toast and coffee did help, but god it was still harsh. At about 8am they dropped us off on one of the islands (there are 75 in total), with vague instructions as to how to get to the look out and the beach. The look out was only about ten minutes through some bush, and it really was truely awe inspiring, as I think the pictures show on some level. I really didn't think sea could be that blue. It was shocking, the beauty of it all, it really was. Because as lovely as it was sailing around the islands, the rest of the area really didn't compare to that beach. The beach, as it happens, was a bit of a challenge
to reach for some of us. Most people seemed to find the actual path to the beach, but a certain three Irish gobshites instead decided to find there own way down, which basically meant we got some free rock climbing included in the trip. And nearly got attacked by a rather territorial seagull on the way down. But it was worth it when we got to the bottom! And the best thing was, and this was true for the whole trip - it was completely desserted except for us. Amazing. So we had an hour or so to soak it all in (and take about a million photos), before we had to head back to the other side of the island and were picked back up by the boat.
That afternoon, or maybe it was the morning, who knows (our day did start very early), we went snorkelling. I just wish I had an underwater camera - it was amazing, so much better than the scuba diving on the coral reef in Cairns. The water was just so so so clear, and it was a really sunny day so we could literally see everything - coral of orange, pink, green
and blue, and lots and lots of fish. Ah, it was amazing. That afternoon we were brought to another area where we were able to go onto this sandbar, which disappears when the tide comes in. Me and Claud braved the cold water to do more snorkelling, mainly because we were promised we'd see some turtles, but there was none! We had another great night that night on the boat (we were even invaded by pirates from another ship. No kidding, they were actually dressed as pirates. Never really got a proper explanation for that one), and I should add that the food on the boat was bleedin' DELISH. Absolutely gorgeous, and there was lots of it, freshly prepared in the "kitchen" which was really just a sink, a chopping board, and an oven.
So, a great trip, although we were all glad to get OFF the boat, and have a shower by the end of it all! Airlie Beach, which is the town you stay in to do the Whitsundays, is a gorgeous little place; I really really fell in love with it, and it seems to be a real little party town - we'd love to stay a
few extra days, but we just don't have time, and Madge is awaiting! We had been planning to do Fraser Island next, but there have been storms over the last week, so we're going to just head straight past it and do it later in the trip. So come on Madge, get that motor running!
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Crikey
Hey girls yee look fab. Great tans. Cant wait to see all those places. 6 weeks to go :)