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On Thursday, we woke up at about 6 am to check out of our hostel, put our luggage in storage, check in for our anticipated sail trip, and walk to the sail boat. We were going on a 3 day 2 night sail trip in the Whitsundays. Sail trips in the Whitsundays are a must do among backpackers and travelers. Almost all the friends I made in Adelaide had gone on a sail trip over the Mid semester break and after hearing so much about it I realized I needed to do it to see the Great Barrier Reef. Our sail boat departed at 9 am and the wind was pretty dead that day so we didn't sail on the first day. But we headed about 2 hours outside of Airlie beach by boat to Luncheon bay where we had lunch and our introductory dive. I chose this sail trip because of a few reasons. One being I had 2 friends go on it and they loved it! And second, it had a free dive and I really wanted to dive. I was in the first group of introductory divers. He showed us the ropes and how to operate the equipment. I was really nervous but it was super easy! We went only about 5 meters under the water (about 15 feet) and there were no problems. I just admired the reef and the many colorful fish and jellies (jellyfish). There were thousands in this bay where they were tiny and would just come up to your mask or scrape by your stinger suit. It was a bit scary as they were just pods of them everywhere! But they were pretty fun to touch on the tops. After the intro dive I knew I wanted to dive again to see more reefs. The intro dive one was many dead reefs so that was quite sad. There were 6 groups of intro divers so being the first I decided to snorkel for the rest of the time. Ariana was in the last group and we both couldn't wait for the dive the next day. After the afternoon of diving and snorkeling all the participants (23 people, all under the age of 25 and most backpackers) we boarded the sail boat again and waited until dinner was to be served. Once dinner came everyone was eating on the deck of the boat and drinking goon/ciders/beer and everyone had a relaxing night just chatting and getting to know one another as it was 3 days we would be on this boat together. There were essentially 2 groups that mainly hung out together. There were the Germans (half the boat) and the French (the other half the boat) and then there was Ariana and I and a girl from England. Everyone on the boat was super friendly and nice. We ended up getting to know most of the German's where they were all backpackers who had campervans and were travelling the east coast of Australia. Since its winter in Australia, the sun sets at 5:30 and its completely dark a little after 6 pm. So the days were early and the nights ended early. We were all in bed by 9 pm. The sleeping quarters… oh the sleeping quarters. This sail boat was tiny! It fit 23 travelers and 3 crew under deck. They asked for couples and others who don't mind sharing a bed to share a bed. Ariana and I were basically sharing a single bed together and there wasn't much wiggle room at all. The boat wasn't too bad to sleep on the waves weren't too heavy to rock the boat aggressively.
On Friday (day two of the sail trip), we woke up early to hike up and see the much anticipated Whitehaven beach. I've wanted to see it since I had so many friends from Adelaide see it and show me pictures. It is voted as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world (and it is the most beautiful I kid you not). It is one of only 5 in the world to have the purest sand of 98% silica (where our dive instructor said it can clean jewelry, your phone scratches, and even whiten your teeth… which he did actually brush his teeth with the sand). We went to the Hill inlet lookout to see the beach from above. It was just amazing! Probably the most beautiful sight of a place I've ever seen. It looks s like you are looking at a picture because it is just that beautiful. We then walked down to Whitehaven beach to walk along the sand and go into the water. It was actually quite cold so we didn't swim. The new Pirates of the Caribbean film is actually filming at this beach. Sadly we couldn't go where they were filming because it would be a 23,000$ fine. After enjoying the beach in the morning it was time to get back to the sail boat to our next destination. We went to Blue Pearl Bay and this is where we did our second dive. This dive was incredible! This time we probably went about 12 meters deep (36 feet). We saw a sea anemone with clown fish popping in and out. We also got to go through Coral! There was a tunnel of coral and we went right through like a little cave so deep under water. It was absolutely amazing to see. I really loved this dive so much I wanted to do one more the next day! After our dive, we went quickly to the bathroom to get dressed as it was super cold and windy that day. Now, the bathroom was interesting. There were two on board the sail boat. With essentially a hose for a shower that you used right above the toilet. No one really took showers because we got 1 minute for water use and after that you couldn't use more. Ariana and I decided to do a rinse off the get some of the salt off our bodies and hair. So we took our less than a minute shower to do so. Then it was back on the boat for socializing, dinner, and drinking as well as relaxing and getting to know the other travelers. After hearing their experiences I really want to do backpacking. I definitely was not a backpacker this trip as I had tons of luggage, ate out, flew to places, and stayed in private rooms in hostels. This was definitely more of upscale traveling for young travelers. But when I went camping to Melbourne and throughout Tasmania. I would have considered myself almost a backpacker. I just felt like after hearing their stories and how long they'd been traveling in a group or alone it just got me to thinking that it's something I would really love to do next.
On Saturday (day three and the last day of the sail trip), we woke up at 6 am to do an early morning dive to catch some sea turtles active in the water. There were only 6 people who signed up for diving on the last day. All German guys and me and Ariana. The skipper said this would be one of the best dives in the entire world. And I definitely think it was! This dive we went probably y 15+ meters down (45+ feet). The reefs were just exquisite and just seemed like stories and stories tall. There were so many spectacular fish swimming around and the coral was beautiful. When we were nearly 45 feet down under we saw the most incredible thing. A huge sea turtle swimming just a few feet away from us. I was able to get right up to it to where I could actually touch the sea turtle. Just swimming next to him and how peaceful it was is an indescribable experience. It truly was just the best dive and the best coral I had ever seen. We were under water for about 40 minutes wandering among the ocean floor. After our dive it was back to the sail boat to join the rest of the travelers and to head on to our last destination. The skipper (sail boat driver) called it sandy spit. It was basically a sand dune out of water with lots of sea turtles in the area. We got to snorkel the area and we spotted 3 sea turtles. The first we were able to get so close to and just follow it while swimming. This one was much smaller but very spectacular to admire. The next one we saw was resting a few meters under the water so we didn't get to close to him. The last turtle we saw, we actually decided to give his shell a little pat and rub. Ariana had an underwater camera and got some really great shots of the sea turtle and how close we were able to get. The coral here was also nice but I was still in awe from the coral from the dive earlier in the morning. Then it was off towards Airlie Beach yet again this time with the sail up. Man oh man was it cold! The wind was blowing so hard and water was splashing and it was just so cold. Once we docked in Airlie beach everyone said their goodbyes for a few hours. Because later that night there was a reunion party with a all the sail boats for the last few days where everyone could see each other and say goodbye with some every cheap but water downed drinks. The club the event was hosted at was not fun. It was just small and people were crazy. We didn't stay long at all just not a good scene. We said goodbye to our new friends. Also, that night I ran into my friend Maria from Adelaide. It was so funny to see someone I knew at the hostel just walking by. She was going on the same sail trip the next day!
On Sunday, it was another travel day back towards Townsville so we could catch a flight back to Sydney. We walked up to the terminal where we would take the bus back to Townsville. Then the funniest thing happened a greyhound bus pulled up and 3 more friends from Adelaide got off! So I headed over there for a chat and to talk and say goodbyes. They were also headed up the east coast by bus stopping along the way at different hot spots to see. Then our bus came and we were on there for another 4 hours. We then arrived back to Townsville where we took a taxi to the airport and waited for our plane back to Sydney to board and take off.
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