Wednesday 24th, Thursday 25th, Friday 26th, February
Took boat out sailing, no swimming, just chilling
Nachos
Distance:
Total Distance:
For two nights we lived aboard the British Defender, an ex-racing yacht.
We arrived at the quay mid afternoon. Thus our first day was a short one on our yacht. Sails were hoisted up the mast, volunteers helping by manning the winches. Under sail power we steadily moved out into the islands.
The Whitsundays sit at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. They are each green forested islands with coves, beaches, and surrounded by reefs. That night we would be staying in one of the coves. However, as with the following night, no swimming was allowed. The currents can run fast and aren't obvious. Though being swept away turns out to be just one more potentially lethal risk in these waters.
From the galley nachos appeared. We busily put them away as the rain closed in. Once it had fully arrived though canvas had been spread out from the boom (horizontal bit that sticks out of the mast). We were in a giant swag! After last night we made a few jokes as we ate the rest of dinner.
The next morning we set sail for Whitehaven cove. Here the sand is insanely pure. It's perfectly white. It reflects nearly all of the sun's heat, leaving it constantly cool, whilst threatening to tan your chin. This is due in part due to the singular source of the sand. A pure granite under the water that has been eroded away to form all the sand. This has been followed by thousands of years of washing of the sands by the sea removing impurities. The sands are shifted every day- no two trips here are the same.
This is also a sight for juvenile sharks, sting rays, and turtles. We saw one turtle as we moored on the far side of the island. At Whitehaven itself we saw one large sting ray-someone nearly stood on it despite our best efforts to ensure everything heard us coming. There were also a number of lemon sharks- so called due to their yellow colouring. Don't worry, they're less than a metre in length.
We were also, sort of, watching out for jellyfish.
After the mandatory human pyramid, being cleaned with the world's purest sand, and checking out the little hidden beach, we got rain! It didn't last long. Just enough to make us retreat back to our depot of packs and gear. Group photo. Find the two absentees. Back to boat we go.
That afternoon I got to try out something I've been wanting to do for years. Most of the group went out snorkelling. Doing this was cheaper (gear was on our yacht) and gave them more time in the water. But I wanted to try out Scuba diving. An introductory course to try it out is being run by a company in the islands. We took mini British Defender over to their boat. It was filled with tanks and apparatus. Time to become a dolphin.
Jumping in involved standing on a small ledge of steel overhanging the watery abyss. Which worryingly reminded me of Bungy jumping . But without the plummet of 134m into a rocky stream. Which was nice.
Some people struggled with the fact that we had to solely breath through our mouths. It took some getting used to. I'm not sure I was doing it right- slow steady in, slow steady out. Like meditative breathing. However, I did have some buoyancy issues. As in my feet were at a level with everyone else's heads. We sort of solved this by the instructor putting a large camera in my pocket. Wasn't perfect though. I'll ask for more weights next time- I was on +8kg this time.
The visibility here isn't great at this time of year. The currents are wrong and there's lots of plankton in the area. Still it was an opportunity to try it out, whilst seeing the reef. We did see a lot of fish, some less than technicolour coral, but nothing too dangerous. I'd love to do a proper training course and be able to come back and see more of the reef. It gets much better as one travels further into it, apparently. Maybe another year.
That evening we had a costume party. We'd bought lots of fluorescent clothes, glow sticks, and I both a knock off lightsaber. Wonder what e other boats in the bay thought of us? Light show, loud music, some seamanly drinking. We had a great time of it. Then the yoga mats wre brought out and a few of us set up to sleep on the deck under the stars.
In the morning the boat set off, despite a lack of wind, bright and early. It was our last morning. We were set to make it count.
Being at the southern extent of the Great Barrier Reef there's some excellent spots for snorkelling. Having been to just one yesterday it would be a sate not to go to another. Turtles, parrotfish, soft coral, hard coral, and a multitude of tiny fish. All out by a sandy peninsula.
Why did we have to leave for Ailisle Beach???
The afternoon was free. We slept, did laundry, hunted for wifi, and ran between the wonderful cover of air con. It was a humid 38C. What fun we had.
The hostel was an interesting cooperative resort run jointly by two of Austrilasia's largest hostel companies. Base and Nomads run nearly all of the larger hostels I've had to stay at- some are amazing and characterful, some are huge and sterile. In this one there were a number of little houses, seperated into apartments, each with a patio or balcony. There were a number of small pools, birds and flying foxes hanging around, the odd gecko feeding of the insects. If it wasn't for the heat it would be a lovely place.
We left at 4:20am...Day 84 was terrible....
