Feb 10th - for Feb 7th / 8th / 9th - Whitsundays Sailing

Well, what can I say, sailing the whitsundays has certainly been an experience but not quite the one i was hoping for or expecting .....

There were 14 people on our boat ' Waltzing Matilda' and a good mix - half the people were at the kroombit cattle station with me! The first day the weather was awful, i didnt think we would still be going, so many boats have been cancelled. It was chucking it down with rain and really strong winds - just perfect for my first sailing experience! We did go out but it meant that we had to stay below decks for most of the day unless we wanted to brave it above with some attractive yellow macs! We sailed to Hook Island and did some snorkelling, depite the weather making teh water a little murky we got to see loads of different fish and the coral was great too, so pretty and diff colours of reds, yellows and gold. The food was great - best part of the trip! At night time thats when it all started to go wrong thanks to bed bugs! The sleeping quarters were tiny and cramped, as u'd expect on a boat. There was a massive storm through the night too making the boat really rocky. In the morning it was clear i'd been eaten alive, covered in big painful itchy bites, and I wasnt the only one!

Day 2 was still rainy but at times got to see the first piece of blue sky for days so actually managed to go up on deck too for a while. We moved to the other side of Hook Island, our Capt didnt wanna move too far cos of the gale warnings. We did more snorkellin which was cool, when i first got in the water i was surrounded bu 3 massive fish bigger than my head, yikes!! The coral was really pretty and saw lots of fish as well as a sea turtle up close (they've got such beautiful markings) and a giant cray fish / lobster! Once back on boards we went back to where we were before as it was a safe place to spend the night sheltered from the wind and rain, but again the weather wasnt the only problem that night. Despite covering myself in repellant the bugs decided to munch on me again, worse this time. I ended up sleeping ( or more sitting ) in the lounge area, not comfy, along with 2 otheres who had also chosen to abandon their bug ridden beds. It was so bad and still is, covered everywhere yuk yuk yuk!!

Day 3 was a total contrast to the previous 2 days, blue sunny skies and lovely and warm - the storm had passed! We set sail early hours to make our way down to the main Whitsunday Island and Whitehaven Beach, the most famous attraction in the Whitsundays. We were all pleased we were actually going to make it there. Whitehaven Beach was lovely, pure white sands that felt like talcum powder and has the highest silicone content in the world (thats why its so so white), just beautiful. Once back on board we started the long sail back to Airlie. After sitting in the sun it was clear i was having a reaction to all my bites so had to be looked after below decks, was so uncomfortable and really ruined the whole trip for me. Visited chemist once back but gunna take a while to clear I think, yay! Last night I had a meal with the others and then headed back early for a much needed bug free nights sleep!

So all in all, pretty disappointing trip unfortunately, but hey it cant be good all the time!

Airlie itself is a cool place, wouldnt wanna be stuck here too long tho. Theres heaps of little shops and loads of bars - pretty much a party town! Theres also a man made lagoon which is pretty cool but if the weathers bad there's not much to do!! Hopefully it'll stay sunny for a while now, leaving tomorrow to go up to Magnetic Island to have some total chill time after my horrible experience!

x