Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
The 'Clipper' is pretty similar to 'Ocean Breeze' (the boat we went to the barier reef on) in the sense that it is a sail boat with an engine. The 'Clipper' was bigger though, holding and sleeping 50 passengers (not including crew) with three different levels. The bottom deck was where the bedrooms were, middle the dining area and kitchen and topdeck for sun bathing and relaxing on. The 'Clipper' also came complete with a waterslide (off the side of the boat), hot tub / jacuzzi and diving board off the very top of the boat. Hopefully that boring bit of text should give you an idea of what the boat was like.?..
At about 1:00pm on a beautiful winters afternoon (sunhine and blue skies) we left Airlie Beach Marina and headed out to sea and towards the Whitsunday's. Due to the levels of the tides we had left earlier than normal (normally about 3:00pm) so after crew introductions, we reached our first over night stop (a sheltered bay) in late afternoon and the crew suggested the 'Clipper Olympics'.
The 'Clipper Olympics' is a team event (three people to a team) and involves the following:
Team member one jumps of the top of the boat into the sea, swims a lap of the boat, gets back on the boat, climbs up to the top deck, recieves a 'wheelbarrow' across the top deck from a team mate, goes down the water slide back into the water, swims another half of the boat and then back up to the top deck to tag another team member in. This is repeated for each member of the team.
Now this sounded like fun, Joe and Andy were very keen on the idea staraight away, as was I for a split second. As I have mentioned the 'Clipper' is pretty big and the thought of swimming round that 1 and a half times, plus up and down decks did not appeal. I had swam quite alot on the WWOOFing farm and it was there I realised how much hard work swimming is. With this in mind I decleared myself out of the team.
Luckily a brave Irish girl stepped up to the plate and 'Team Canada' was born (there were already two Irish teams and one English). The games begun and after about 15 minutes of what all the participants described (roughly) as 'hell' the olympics were over, with 'Team Canada' picking up first place. At this point I must point out that Canada's glory was mainly down to Joe having a blinding first leg and opening up a handsome gap between him and the other teams (so really it was victory for England in Australia...again!).
After the excitment of the Olympics it was time for a nice hearty dinner before heading up to the top deck, glass of goon in hand, reflecting on the Olympics with participates and spectators alike. It is not an exaggeration to say that some of the participants had only just recovered towards the back end of dinner. I think I made a wise decision!
Watching the sun go down on the top deck of a boat, secluded bay / island to one side and open sea to the other, glass of cold drink in hand (goon, although we wished it was beer or cider) it really did hit home that we were in Australia and the other side of the world. Things like this is why we wanted to travel Australia.
The next morning we were woken up early by one of the crew members singing a nice maori number. It was definitely a nicer wake up than from an alarm clock. A relatively early and reserved night of drinking ensured we all had clear heads, we ate breakfast and then set sail again, this time for Whithaven Beach.
With the 'Clipper' dropping anchor we jumped into a small tender boat which took us over to Whithaven beach. Before we headed to the beach itself we were told to walk up to a view point over the whole beach and surrounding area. We reached the top, embarrassingly out of breath, but the view we saw more than made up for it! It was stunning, it was a picture straight out of a book or off a postcard. White sand and turquoise water, which varied in shade (depending on the depth), in a full panaramic view from left to right. I honestly think you could spend a long time just looking out from the view point, however we had a set time to be back at the pick up point. So with pictures taken, we headed back down the hill and onto Whithaven Beach itself.
The sand and water were just as good up close. The sand is pure white in colour and is 98% (?) silica and supposedly can help to whiten your teeth, this is what the crew told us anyway. We needed a real idiot to step forward and test this theory...step forward Joe. We still dont know if it is true, but Joe's teeth were still the same colour, the only difference was he had sand in his mouth.
More pictures taken by ourselves and by Dimitri (the trip photographer), which included two different types of 'human pyramid', both a good idea at first, (but being the bottom layer each time really took its toll) then it was time to head back to the Clipper.
On our first day we were asked if we wanted to go scuba diving on the trip. Myself and Joe both decided to give it a go, with Belle and Koo opting to go snorkelling. After some lunch, a scuba talk (hand signals etc.) it was time for me and Joe to head out to the dive spot. As it was only an intro dive we would be diving close to the shore, in this case another secluded cove. The dive consisted of 4 people, Canadian Andy was in our group, joined by a fellow Canadian called James. Together we stood in waist deep water going through our basic instructions, then it was time to dive for real. It was awesome! Not only for the lots of different fish that we saw but for the fact that you are underwater and able to breathe (the whole idea I know), a sureal and brilliant feeling.
Belle here... Now I am going to tell you about my second and bit more sucessful snorkelling attempt. I expect you all thought I was pretty lame after the first go at it but I think the fact Matt and Joe both said how petrified I looked the first time gives you some indication as to how scared of water I am. As Koo has poorly ears after all her recent flying she very kindly said she would spend some time with me and not go diving. We got wet suited up and headed over to the beach. We sat in very shallow (and freezing) water to begin with. I was sat between her legs like a child being introduced to water, we did get some funny looks. We sat there for what seemed like ages while I was trying to work up the courage to put my face under. I couldn't grasp the fact that with a snorkel you can actually breath with your face under the water. After many failed attempts and Koo having a bit of a chuckle at me I finally did it. I also got up the courage to go for a little swim and then introduced a little more face in water time. I saw fish, swimming under water!! It may seem like a very small victory but I was very proud of myself and we stayed in the water for a little longer, at least until I could no longer feel my toes. The crew from the boat were throwing food into the water so the fish would all swarm at once, this was pretty cool as it was my first time and we saw quite a lot. Although watch out for the coral, it hurts!! I would like to thank Koo for taking the time to make me do this, I am sure it was a little frustrating at times :-)
After some dinner and a nice warm shower it was again up to the top deck. As if the trip wasn't already brilliant we got a very rare treat when standing on the top deck looking out to sea. About 30 ft from the boat a whale came up to the surface to breathe as she was passing by. This was amazing to see and just when we thought it couldnt get any better a whale calf swam through one of the boats side spot lights all of a bout 10 ft from the boat. It was definitely a day of firsts for us. I must also mention that due to Belle feeling the cold at the wrong time (and going to get a hoody from the room) she actually only got to see the mother as she was swimming away, she was warm but a little disappointed.
Our third and final day had come around and we only had the morning before we had to start sailing back to dry land. Belle made the most of the sun and topped up her tan, Koo went snoreklling while me and Joe spent 3 hours swimming around the boat and jumping off the top deck. All too quickly it was time to set sail and head back to Airlie Beach, everyone of the boat seemed to get along really well and we rounded off three brillaint days with an after party, this time steering clear of goon and enjoying some ice cold beer and cider.
After being recommended by lots of different people, the 'Clipper' had a lot to live up to...it didn't disappoint. The Whitsundays is a beautiful place and definitely one of the reasons that we came to Australia. Our tour guide told us that eventually the stunning white sand of Whithaven Beach would one day disappear (not for years but disappear none the less), we had seen it and some of us even tatsed it.
A couple more nights in Airlie beach followed, which were spent doing absolutley nothing and taking advatage of the free BBQ sites down by the lagoon. A trip to the supermarket (this time by bus) and we knocked up some cheap and very tasty (even if I do say so myself) steak sandwiches, joined by Jonas (who was going on the 'clipper' the next day), a good way to round off our stay in Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday's.
- comments
del brilliant belle! a great blog - i can almost feel the sun and the sand
lethal Excellent stuff! Sounds like another lot of things I would enjoy. XXXXXX