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Airlie Beach
Arriving early on Sunday morning after yet another Greyhound overnight trip, we were desperate for a proper lie down in a bed. This hadn't happened for 5 days now as the past 4 nights had been spent either camping or propped up in a bus seat. The exhaustion was now becoming a bit overwhelming.
We managed to get a double room at Koalas, in part due to the vouchers we won at the quiz in Hervey Bay a couple of nights before. The room was pretty cool as it had an ensuite and even a kitchen. A bit posher than what we were used to, but certainly a welcome treat. We slept as soon as we were able to check into our room at midday.
After getting up, we confirmed our trip with the sailing company and explored the town. It's quite a nice place and the sun was definitely up for it here so it was quite pleasant to walk about. It's definitely a tourist town (much like most of the East Coast) but not as in-your-face as a lot of other places and a bit classier than Hervey Bay. We had dinner and had an
early night after sorting our our bags for leaving the next day. For some reason, we weren't allowed bags with zips, which we had thought was odd at the time. We later found out on the boat that this was to prevent bed bugs infesting, a creature we didn't have any desire to see more of.
Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away
We were given Stinger suits just before boarding Prima, the sail boat that was to be our home for the next couple of days. It was a small group of 10 on the boat as well as a skipper and a "decky", who did the cooking, cleaning etc. It seemed like a good group and we were allocated our sleeping spaces, which unfortunately for us, was right next to the communal toilet. The group itself consisted of us, 3 English girls, a Swedish couple, a German couple and a Dutch guy, who seemed a bit strange to be honest.
We set off in ideal conditions for sunbathing, although not much wind for sailing. The boat had a motor though and it was an amazing trip out. It reminded us of Halong Bay in Vietnam, but
the weather was much nicer and the water much clearer. It was going to be a good trip. We stopped off at a spot to do some snorkelling, which in comparison to Thailand, had way more organisation and safety talks. The reef we saw here wasn't that spectacular though as it wasn't as bright as we had hoped, although still had a fair bit of marine life to gawk at. It was fun to snorkel again and it certainly whetted our appetites for some proper diving. Roll on Great Barrier Reef!
After we got back in, we sailed a bit longer and dropped anchor. The dinner we sat down to was amazing and it was great to have some roast chicken again as well as a lot of other tasty food. Afterwards, we sat up on deck and got to know each other a bit more and played a bizarre game called "The Moon In The Spoon". As it got a bit colder with the darkening sky (it is winter here after all), we headed inside and sat around talking and drinking some alcohol. We were the only proper cheapskates with the Goon though so it was a bit
embarrassing. Because the crew sleep in the main quarters, we headed to bed early-ish and it wasn't long before we were sleeping in our little berth with the gentle motion of the boat rocking us to sleep.
Whitehaven Beach
Early start the next day. The boat's next stop was the famous Whitehaven Beach; a landmark of the Whitsunday Islands. Again, it was a hot day and we could see the white sands of the 7km beach in the distance from the deck. As we approached, we all got a bit excited seeing that the beach was pearly white and pretty much empty. On top of that, the water looked brilliantly blue and extremely clear. This was going to be a good 4 hour stop.
After arriving, we soaked in the amazing views and took some pictures while the beach was still quiet. The water proved to be warm enough to swim around in without getting chilly and you could see the marine life from the shore itself. We splashed about for a while having great fun before going to sunbathe/read books on the beach. The beach itself is around 90%!s(MISSING)ilica, which meant the sand itself was
Abel Point
Just before setting off, some of the sail boats waiting about. very fine white powder. It was unbelievably soft and coupling it with the ocean, meant you could exfoliate your skin and it would even clean jewellry to a sparkle. This was definitely going to be in the top 5 of our trip so far.
As the morning drew on, more boats arrived but this didn't really spoil anything. We had a great time relaxing and we could have stayed there all day. Our stomachs wouldn't have liked that though and by the time we left, we were all pretty hungry so we gobbled down a tasty lunch upon our return to the boat.
We sailed further away to another island for some more snorkelling. The reef here was a lot better than the previous day and we put the disposable underwater camera we had bought for the trip to good use. The coral was extremely close to the surface and swimming about it was so much fun, particularly following the herds of Parrotfish who nibbled away at the rock.
The next stop was actually a resort that the infamous party boat The Pride Of Airlie were using for their trip. Instead of sleeping on the boat, the
Onboard Prima
And we're off! nights are spent at an island for them. We didn't really go to the same part as them but the place we arrived at had a spa so we jumped in and warmed ourselves up before having a well needed shower. It had a nice swimming pool too, although it was only one of the Swedish who took a dip. Afterwards, we retired to the bar for some overpriced drinks but it was nice to chill out. It was dark when we returned to the boat for another great lasagne dinner.
Again, it was another night of some Goon and beers up on the deck and it didn't seem as cold as the previous night. Everyone exchanged interesting travel stories as most of us were on similar itineraries. It wasn't a really late one though and we drifted off to sleep with a little help from our Goon.
The Journey Back
Another early start and the boat was off again. For the third time on the trip, the boat managed to sail a bit with the winds and it was good to see the sails up. We were to do some more snorkelling but I pulled out
at the last minute as didn't feel too good. I guess the fish and egg extracts in the goon really do have a bad effect and hearing stories from Hayley & Georgie (English girls on the trip) about the way they made Goon in the wineries didn't put us as ease. Emma went snorkelling though but the visibility in the water wasn't great so everyone came out early. The water was very refreshing though and it's always good to take an early morning dip in the ocean.
After snorkelling, the boat leisurely sailed back to Airlie Beach. We were given cake as a farewell from Jesse and told about the pub gathering at Magnums later on in the evening. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it as we had yet another overnight Greyhound bus journey to Cairns at 8pm that night. We relaxed on the deck again in the sun on the way back and read some of our books. It had been a fun 3 days and we didn't really want it to end. It felt weird to get back on dry land after we docked and we said our goodbyes to the rest of the group.
It had
Whitsunday Islands
One of the many, our stinger suits out to dry too. probably been the best of the 3 trips we had done over the last 2 weeks and it was great that the weather peformed for us too as people we had met at Fraser Island hadn't enjoyed their trip too much as it had rained the full 3 days.
We ended up having about 9 hours to kill at Airlie Beach so we had a wander about the lagoon area andended up settling down at Magnums for a couple of cold beers to cool off before catching the Greyhound to Cairns.
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