17 | Whitsundays

We arrived at Airlie Beach after another long train journey. On the way one of the group made a joke so funny that I snotted all down myself… lovely. BASE hostel was one of the nicest so far on the trip with open spaces between building, swimming pools and hammocks. We ventured out into town which sits in the foothills of a national park and is hugged by the coastline and white sandy beaches on the side. This was definitely one of the prettiest areas I had been so far. After chilling by the lagoon all day and enduring the 25 degrees winter heat we stopped back at the hostel.

We decided to get an early night because we were up at 5am to go on our boat trip to the Whitsunday Islands. In the middle of the night we were woken up by the girls staying in the room next door to us having a full blown argument. I quote “for fuck sake can you stop showing us your vagina” and that was not all they bickered between themselves for a good 15 minutes about one of them driving home drunk and the others threatening to call the police on them. At that moment Liam decided to sleep walk to the front door, open it and stare out for 2 minutes before closing the door and going to stand in the bathroom. I thought I was living in the circus momentarily. After the chaos I managed to cram in another 2 hours sleep before the early rise.

We set off on our boat the Condor at 7:30. The boat was once the fastest sailing boat in the World. It was clear to see when we experienced the full lean angle of the boat when turning at a quick pace. I went down stairs to grab my towel and was thrown from one side of the boat to another helplessly. I felt sick pretty quickly and managed somehow to go to the toilet and climb back onto the top deck unscathed.

The sleeping arrangements on the boat were pretty interesting to say the least. Getting to know your fellow crewmates up close and personal is no understatement. Matt and myself were sharing one bed and everyone else had to buddy up too. Thankfully no one was in the hammock above our heads because some people were happy to sleep on the top deck which looked back breaking as it was solid material.

We made our way to the first diving spot on day one and were told there were no large predators on these reefs. I am still not sure if they were calling a bluff but it put me at ease anyway. The coral was fantastic and the fish were used to humans snorkeling around the reef so they were very curious and came right up to your face to check you out. One of the lads got a sea sausage (inflatable) to keep him going for the time we were out there. I am not the best swimmer by all means but I thought I would not need one. We were out on the water for over an hour and 15 minutes so a couple of times sought refuge on the sausage to get my breath back. This was the first time I also tried my action camera in the water which worked pretty well to my relief, however a Red Filter would have improved the image quality. We were pulled back onto the boat to a feast of nachos and dips which were devoured within minutes.

Day two, we headed off early around 6am to Whitsundays beach. The silica in the sand has properties which are really unique. Apparently NASA pay the Australian government a lot of money a year to carry out research and experiments with the sand in space. It was breathtaking when we arrived; we had the entire beach to ourselves. It was like looking at a poster it was that untouched.

We set off exploring down the beach and went waist deep in the water trying to cross a stretch to a secluded bay. We were lucky enough to see sting rays glide past us in the shallows heading up the estuary. It was a perfect experience seeing them so close for the first time. They looked un-phased by us and even allowed me to get close enough to grab a couple of camera shots.

After our allotted hour at the beach we went to the lookout point which was a 15 minute walk. Now normally it would have been a lovely view, take a few photos then move on scenario; not this time! As a approached the platform I got my flip flop stuck in one of the gaps in the steps and down I went in slow motion down two flights. I landed heavy on one knee and landed with a thud. I managed to let out an ‘oh shit’ whilst falling but that didn’t help me at all. A few of the lads burst out laughing with only Rick asking if I was ok, cheers guys! Bloodied but not out I was not going to let this spoil my day. After hobbling on the way back down, I cleaned my wounds before entering the sea again. The last thing I wanted was to attract a decent sized fish in the area to become dinner.

The next dive site was voted the National Geographic’s best diving spot on the Great Barrier Reef. You could see why. There were large green fish, shoal fish and many other varieties. The coral was full of life with the smaller fish taking shelter amongst reeds. We had again an hour there to enjoy the water before docking for the night.

On the final day we dived early again at 7am at a bay notorious for turtles. As soon as I hit the water I headed off alone in pursuit of the money shot. Unfortunately I swam too far and the group saw a smaller turtle for a brief moment. After an hour my time was running out so again I swam off solo into deeper water about 70m away. I was scanning the sea bottom when I saw a large turtle resting below on the reef. What a feeling! I signaled for the rest of the group to come over as we watched him relax on the bottom. After a while he slowly moved off but I managed to follow and get some great shots. I have never got so close to one before and it was in touching distance. I pursued as long as I could before he decided to shake me off and glide away. CRIKEY MATE what a day. On the voyage back we saw hump back whales get 20m from the boat and eagles swooping near to grab a snack from the crew throwing bait up for them. Overall it was a fantastic few days and the crew also allowed us to raise the masts and help operate the boat with them. Great experience!

We returned to Airlie to find the Welsh couple staying in our room who we met at Noosa were staying in the same room again. It really is a small World. A girl from Belgium also joined us who's family owned an Ice Cream Restaurant just outside Brussels. The pictures she showed me of what they could make were enough to make any food lover druel. Although she was only in our room for one night, she fitted right into our group and it was a shame she left traveling in the opposite direction to us down the east coast. Next stop Magnetic Island…

#Nature #Snorkelling #Tour #Hiking