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Published: November 15th 2013
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A very excited sailor
Shame the winds were too light so went under motor all day. Boo Hoo So today we are up at 6.15. My lovely cooked breakfast has been replaced with the standard 'hotel packed breakfast' as we had to be on a bus by 7.15. One of the things we had planned was a short time in the Whitsundays but it was all booked up so hence the stay at Airlie Beach. And to at least get a look, we booked a day out on a tall ship, called the Derwent Hunter, sailing around the islands instead. Which also was nice for sailor Ian.
Unfortunately it was still cloudy today but at least the prediction of storms had disappeared. And it was also very still which was going to be good for the snorkelling which was a key part of the trip but not so brilliant for the sailing.
We are getting well used to the runaround pickup so having done a tour of the Airlie beach hotels we headed out to the ship. It's very hilly everywhere not just our hotel. Quick cast around on the bus and it appeared to be 90% fit looking 20somethings. I started to panic about what type of snorkelling this might be and whether it was suitable
School time
Lesson how to do the sails. Ian was first to volunteer for a pathetic middle aged (I am still middle aged aren't I?) woman like me.
Once we were on the boat my concerns were heightened when they started to talk about jumping off the boat!!! For me that would have been the end of any snorkelling!! Jump in - no way!
As it turned out it wasn't bad at all. Steps off and on the ships to a little 8 man tender. Landing on and off a sand bank so my biggest issue was the walking in my fins, even when Ian advised me to walk backwards.
Anyway getting ahead of myself... First we had a two hour 'sail' out to the Whitsunday Islands. Unfortunately 'sail' is a bit of a misnomer as, although the sails were up, the motor was on as well. Ian was first to volunteer to help rig the sails! I have a video but can't post it😞 so you can't see what a pro he is. Scenery was amazing. The islands look like no one has ever stepped foot on them. There are 64 in total and I think only about 7 have anything on them. I know there are only 15
Getting ready to haul up the sail
Ian's not the cool Italian! The video we can't load was much more fun hotels-wish I had checked earlier in our planning!!!
Our first stop was an island called 'black island'.We had had to say what level of swimmer we were on the way out and as I had guessed not many poor among the rest of the people. Stinger suits were compulsory on this trip. These were more lightweight wet suits. We were very cool and declined the separate hoods that this trip provided, mainly as the crew properly made you feel that you would be a wuss if you took one!
Ian was keen to get going, probably as he could see the panic beginning to set in my face so we were off on the first tender. At least this time I felt a bit more confident as I had already had a go. So just relied on the noodle this time and once I had my normal mask/snorkel panic I was on my way. The crew were pretty good and kept asking me to confirm I was ok. I'm an expert in that sign now. Not sure if that's cos they had noted the poor swimmer from my form or because I was looking like a poor swimmer!
You had to get about100foot from the shore to get to the reef and once you were there there was loads to see. All sorts of coral, much more than when we were on the platform and so many fish!!! Big shoals of all types. Suddenly one of our group shouted 'Turtle' and we swam over and there he was sitting on the bottom.... A beautiful green turtle about 4 foot long, seemingly unperturbed by the snorkelers.
Eventually we moved away to give other people an opportunity to get close. About 5 mins later he suddenly appeared swimming below us. In fact we almost bumped into him as he swam by. Amazing. If only we'd had an underwater camera!
After about an hour we were picked up and taken over to another sandbank called
Fingal spit, the setting for the Australia tourism ad about 6 years ago. I've added the piccy in case you can't remember it ' the line that goes with the picture was "where the bloody hell are you?".
Again beautiful coral and beautiful fish. And even closer to it as it was low tide. In fact a bit too close as
Pro
Wet suited up and ready to go. As long as I don't need to jump in. some one of our party got a nasty gash even through the suit. But for us it was a once in a lifetime sight.
Our only disappointment on both sites was probably that it was a bit murky, murkier than at the pontoon. Think this was because we were snorkelling just off the beach so there was a fair bit of precipitation in the water. It was sand or the algae, not sure which. Also it was overcast and sunlight makes such a difference. However there was so much to see and so many more varieties of a fish (and we saw a turtle) we had no complaints. And, with the trip to the pontoon a few days before, we really feel we had done two very complementary trips.
So back on the boat for lunch and the trip home. Suddenly someone shouted 'Dolphin!'and pointed - the benefit of being with a lot of 20somethings is they've got good eyesight- and there was a pod of dolphins swimming alongside. Still no camera to hand!
So we saw turtles, dolphins and sharks on our trips so pretty impressive. Still no sight of any land mammals but think that
It was this big!
But no idea what or what he is doing will come later in the trip.
Another motor home rather than sailing unfortunately, although super keen Ian volunteered for sails again.
Back to the hotel and after a swim in the pool and a much needed beer, a decision that room service was the best option that night so curry, wine and tv was the order of the day. I watched a brilliant Aussie comedian called Kitty Flanagan who I hadn't seen before. Ian saw a bit before the snoring set in.
As an aside, when we got back to the room I went for a shower while Ian sat on the balcony and read his kindle. Suddenly he shouted "Cockatoo". Apparently a cockatoo had landed right next to him on the balcony railings. However I didn't see it so the rules are if no one can confirm it didn't happen!
So travels again tomorrow.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Sailing
We loved our time in Airlie Beach. Thanks for the memories.