Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We were up early, eager to get ton the road.The Whitsunday's had been a long awaited destination that we were both looking forward to (we had succumb to the power of the glossy magazines).The drive was essentially the same, along the coast with the peaks of the Great Dividing Range scraping clouds off to the west and an unseen ocean somewhere to the east, it was picturesque.
Our campsite turned out to be on the far side of town.We had to drive through Airlie Beach.It was a very pretty setting, a little commercialised seeming to cater especially to the backpacker. It took on a young, vibrant if a little tacky air.The camp was settled in a small piece of rainforest near the airport for the small pleasure flight planes.
From reception on check-in we'd grabbed a mountain of brochures, all offering their respective tours.Once set up we worked our way through making a shortlist of the things we wanted to do in order of preference (Gem's very organised).We went back to reception armed with these (reception being also a tour booking office) and got talking to the agent (sound very James Bond).We tried to book a night on a tall ship made in the 180's but it was in for refurbishment so we had to take a rain check on the whole boating thing for a while.Also, we wanted to book a scenic.Our agent said that there was a flight leaving in 20 mins and advised us to go then, the weather forecast didn't look good for any of the following days (I bet he says that to all the boys!)So before we knew it we were headed to the airport.
We arrived at a rather plush looking corrugated iron hut and an airstrip that looked like some Japanese bombers had just been through.The plane was sitting outside the hut and looked a little cumbersome with the floats instead of standard under carriage, looking like a child on it's first trip to the pool with a paranoid mother.A quick brief and we boarded the plane, strapped ourselves in and as the pilot started the engine I looked over to Gem.She gave me the 'get me the f*** off this thing' look and appeared generally terrified.I told her to relax, wishing I'd paid more attention to Star Trek and Spocks Vulcan death grip in order to subdue Gem.
Moments later we were air borne and after a few belly bouncers she seemed to thoroughly enjoy the whole affair.We flew over a few islands looking at the 5* resorts nestled into the hillsides and the inner reefs.After a quick hop over the Coral Sea, where there steamed the massive oil tankers, we reached the Barrier reef and from the air it looked nothing short of spectacular.There was a small part of the reef that had, by pure coincidence, formed in the shape of a heart, imaginatively called 'heart reef'.Probably the most photographed section in the area.The highlight was a' touch and go' sea landing on a small calm channel in the reef.From there we flew over White haven beach with its silica white sands and very impressive winding estuary making it memorable.We made our back thrilled by the whole experience even if Captain Chunder did try to make an appearance (now I'm not sure but, I think, in my sleep I may have had my stomach swapped with that of a ten year old girls, destined to be taking travel sickness tablets for the rest of my life).We walked all smiles from the aircraft back to the van and about half way we saw some skydivers, parachutes deployed, coming in to land.Gem turned to me and said, " Wanna do it?" I smiled and said "one day" hoping the question won't come up again for a while.
The evening past in it's usual relaxing demeanour of eating, reading and sleeping with a beer or two thrown in for good measure.We had no plans for the following day only to book a sailing trip around the islands for a bit of snorkelling, a touch of sight seeing and possibly a spot of vomiting for good measure.
We found our way to the town and booked a trip through flight centre using a gift card bought for Gem by her work colleagues, for which we are immeasurably grateful.So a big THANK YOU to you all, you know who you are.
We then stumbled in to the weekend markets, which, honestly, are all starting to look the same.The town was full of people; seemingly the place was at full capacity.It dawned on me it was Easter and the worlds backpackers had not just all congregated on the Whitsunday's to hopefully meet the self proclaimed 'best blog writers on the net'! (and most modest, naturally).
Once finished at the markets part of the afternoon was spent working our way to all the lookouts, taking in an especially disappointing view at loins point.I fear nothing will now live up to the whole scenic flight experience.We got back to camp and lounged by the pool.I tried catching a little sun, as I seemed to have developed a permanently whiter vest/singlet/wife beater shape on my torso, which would confirm a tendency to wear such attire and could cause embarrassment when we reached a state of relative normality back in Sydney.
The next day was an allocated rest day.We did little but read, the highlight of my day was writing the blog and laughing at my jokes from a few weeks back.The following day was what we'd been waiting for.The sailing trip around the Whitsunday islands on a catamaran.The day started with a bus trip to the harbour.We checked in and had to wait on the dock before boarding.Our boat was the most conspicuous in the bay, being fashioned in a shade of retina singeing purple that made it look like a giant floating condom commercial.We boarded and after a cup of tea (I think only the British get genuinely excited by the prospect of a hot beverage) we were hoisting the main sail like the scurvy sea dogs we were.The scenery was again amazing; the Whitsunday's (forgot my Capt Cook trivia. they're called so simply because as he sailed past them, it was Whitsunday) are a collection of 74 islands just off the coast at Airlie beach.They are for the best part untouched by heavy development, just a few 5* eco resorts here and there.
First stop was whitehaven beach where the afore mentioned white silica sands was the barrier between the dense undergrowth of the islands rainforest and the gentle blue sea.It was a magnificent location (looks even better from the sky) marred only slightly by the fact the heavens opened on our visit to the beach.Back aboard the Durex II we had a BBQ lunch and a free bar, the water was flat and I felt ok so I chanced a beer or seven (it was free!).What a setting it was, the sun returned, the islands amazing, the sea blue, life doesn't get much better.Only the colour of the boat enough to induce vomiting at a glance.We had a snorkel on a piece of fringing reef between two islands.Visibility was poor and it compared little to the outer reef at Cairns so I was on the first dingy back.WE had the pleasure of watching the crew trying out a new sail for the front.It was massive and looked a little tricky to set up.Getting back into the harbour, feeling like I really had made the most of the free bar swaying as if in a 10ft swell, we saw signs of the recent bad weather they've been subject to, most notably a boat perched up on the rocks at an awkward angle.
The evening passed in a bit of a blur and your better off asking Gem if anything interesting happened, although I do remember chasing a gecko around the van, spectacularly unsuccessful in my mission to get rid of it.
- comments