Hey everyone! I just got back from my two day/two night sail on the Whitsundays and I'm absolutely high on the salt water, fresh air, hot sun, and good times. Just had a shower, drank some water, and am feeling human (an incredibly exhausted human) after two days of salt water and air.
The 14th was spent in Airlie Beach, walking the length of this one street town about 20 times. The reason for my exercise was my bank card and job situation. I couldn't take money out through my access card and didn't know why. No ATM would work and I was getting quite worried as cash was needed at my hostel and for my Whitsundays trip. Luckily my parents helped me out on the home front and, after several hours, I finally got my access card to work.
For the rest of the day, I printed out resumes and asked around for jobs. I had three places tell me they were interested in hiring and would like to talk when I return from Cairns. So, that's three potential jobs in paradisical Airlie Beach!
I don't want to spend too long on the 14th because it was uneventful; just a day in a town, waiting to leave on my next adventure.
SO! The 15th. I hung out with friends in the morning, messed around on the internet, and met my boat on the dock at 1:45pm. There were 27 people and four crew aboard the sailing vessel Boomerang. We loaded up the boat, removed our shoes, donned bathing suits, and set sail for the Whitsunday Islands. The weather forecast predicted a sunny day that day with rain coming the next. With that in mind, we soaked up as much sun as we could on the 1.5hour crossing to Hook Island. We put down anchor in a wide bay and immediately jumped overboard. The water was a gorgeous turquoise, though it was too deep to see the bottom. We flipped, dived, and twisted off the side of the boat until it was time for dinner. We ate green curried chicken over rice, then brought out some drinks and sat around on deck laughing over our perfect day. At 10:00, the rain started coming down and we packed it in for the night.
On the morning of the 16th, we woke up at 6:15, had peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, and raised anchor to go to our next bay. It was just a short sail over there and the sky showed none of the day's predicted rain. It was sunny, hot, windy, and cloud-free. We put down anchor at Tongue Bay and did a short bushwalk over to Whitehaven Bay. Picture paradise. White sand and clear blue water as far as the eye can see; palm trees and jungle birds, coconuts and colourful flowers, stingrays and wild turtles. This was Whitehaven Beach. We spent the next 2.5hours here, frolicking in the purest sand in the world, taking crazy pictures, trying to play frisbee in the strong wind, and swimming in the warm ocean. We had an amazing time. True to my clumsy self, I sliced my toe open on an oyster and left bloody footprints in the sand for the rest of the day.
We walked back to Tongue Bay at 11:00am and moved over to Luncheon Bay (Hook Island) for a snorkel just after lunch. We all looked ridiculous in much-loved stinger suits and mix-and-match snorkel/masks but the water was warm, clear, tropical, and fishy. It was a great snorkel and I'm glad I bought an underwater camera to record the lovely coral reef fish. We even saw Nemo! One shocking fact about the movie is that, under the circumstances of Nemo's mom and siblings being wiped out in one go, Nemo's dad would have become the alpha male and Nemo would have changed into his female partner! How disturbing is that? Just a piece of daily trivia for you ; )
After snorkeling in Luncheon Bay, we cooked our bodies on deck some more as Captain Kane moved us over to Black Island to snorkel with wild turtles and watch the sunset while eating cheese and crackers on the beach. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. We had nothing but amazing weather and all of us were quite a bit darker (or more red) as a result. During one of the crossings, Jordan (snorkel master and crewhand extraordinaire) took out pink, green, and white zinc sticks and my friend Laura and I went crazy drawing on everyone : D I have a tan tattoo of an anchor and flower on my back!
Our sleep on the 16th was at Stone Haven, just a short motor away from Black Island.
The 17th took us to Caves Cove (a wonderful sail away) for one last snorkel before we set sail for Airlie Beach. The wind was gusting 30kts and we had an incredible sail home. The main and mizzen were up, the boat heeled over right to the railings, and us 27 had our feet dangling over the high side as we clung onto the railing and shrieked each time a wave broke over the bow. It was amazing!
Tonight we have a pub crawl, but I'm catching an 8:30 Greyhound up to Mission Beach so I can skydive 14,000ft. tomorrow morning! Wish me luck! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow : )
Can't wait to post pictures!
xoxo - Katrina
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