Before we reached Airlie Beach, the mainland gateway for the Whitsunday Islands, Oriana steamed for 3 days east across the Timor Sea before heading south into the Coral Sea. En route the Queen Mary 2 sailed past at midnight on the 18/19th and this morning the 20th, Oriana's sister ship the Aurora headed north past us to loud foghorns from both ships. Aurora left Southampton the day before us on its World Voyage heading west, with a slightly different itinerary. We have met one lady who is sailing to Auckland to stay with her son for 3 weeks and then flying to Singapore to board the Aurora back to Southampton - very brave to do such a long trip all by herself.
In Darwin the reef pilot boarded the ship. The Great Barrier Reef Authorities insist that all large ships must have a reef pilot to guide them through the narrow, shallow channels along the reef. This part of our trip was reminiscent of the Norwegian Coastal Voyage in 2004 as we sailed fairly close to the Australian mainland and between the hundreds of tiny islands, most of which are uninhabited and densely forested. The reef pilot was able to give us an interesting background to the reef and pointed out places of interest along the way. In many places the sea depth was a mere 6 metres. Earlier today we listened to his informative talk on the reef, it's formation, some of the history and how it is managed today. Captain Cook was quite a clever chap charting the east coast of Australia along the reef, however he was not the first to reach it. Apparently the Chinese and Spanish also sailed in this area too but it was not recorded in any real detail. More dolphins today, but they keep about 50m from the stern so difficult to photo.
What about Airlie Beach? It's a small town, with a population of around 4000 centred wholly on the tourist industry, particularly catering for those wanting to dive on the reefs and go over to the islands which have developed as inclusive holiday resorts. And it's absolutely beautiful, nestling in a small picturesque bay fringed with palms. The local authority has tastefully built the Bicentennial Boardwalk from the various marinas and round the bay- a slightly raised wooden walkway and path- along to the little town - a 20 minute walk. The town itself is little more than shops catering for diving dudes, travel agents offering trips to the reef(which is a 2 hour catamaran ride away), cafes and bars and the odd fish and chip shop offering barramundi and/or prawns and chips. Yes it smelled and looked delicious and no, we did not cave in and have some. Paul,one of the lads who manages the gym was telling us that the average 'cruiser' can put on 1 - 2 lbs per day!!! Pleased to report we have been virtuous, Ian has lost 1lb and I have lost 3 - he drinks more wine than I do!
As expected it was extremely hot and sunny, and stays pretty much the same all year round, although winter for them is a little cooler at 20 - 25c and much drier. Again it is dangerous to swim in the sea here at this time of year because of the box jellyfish. There are large signs on all the beaches warning of the dangers and what to, do if stung. Attached to the sign is a holder containing a large bottle of vinegar which is the initial treatment before seeking medical attention. One litre poured on the sting.
So, what do you do if you want a swim? Go to the lagoon, a huge outdoor pool with a bridge across the middle, built literally like a real lagoon. The pool slopes gently to various depths depending where you walk in and the sides have been made to look like the beach although it is not loose sand. Lots of shade under the palm trees where, it being Sunday, local families were enjoying the facilities which include changing rooms, showers etc. and, of course, several places to have your barbie! I found it really hard to stop Ian stripping off and leaping into the water, but he saw sense and let me go in instead. Spot the Oriana passengers? - just look for the blue towels!!! It was heaven, well nearly. We pictured Sam,Toby, Jack and Emily in there honing their swimming skills still further. That would have been the icing on the cake for us.
The ship had to anchor a mile or so offshore. You wouldn't want to miss hearing our regular rant about tendering, would you? Yes, we were not disappointed. The tender arrangements lived up to their usual inefficient standards - pants. Despite having 3 X 200 seater catamarans to tender us ashore it still took 1 hour 50 minutes from obtaining a raffle ticket (yes, you read that correctly) to stepping on to the quay. Once you have precious raffle ticket you are then meant to wait for your number to be called - fine if the ship's PA system were to work properly, which it doesn't, so it degenerates into a free for all. Then, of course, despite all the information given to passengers that we must not take ANY food ashore, there are those, e.g. the Dutch who decide they will take a sandwich or two wrapped up in foil, 'cos the beagle will never sniff that out. They have obviously never owned a beagle or three!!! So that holds up the proceedings while everyone's bag is checked.
We would have loved to have gone out to the reef but the price was £145 each and we subsequently heard that the almost 2 hour transfer was VERY choppy - apparently the motion disturbance bags came in very handy for a lot of passengers as did the deck which served as a bed for those who had passed out. We were assured it was well worth it but it wouldn't have been Ian's idea of a good day out - snorkelling from a raft in the middle of the ocean, I don't think so.
So, Brisbane next stop and Wednesday 22 February is the half way point in terms of time, as well as crossing the Tropic of Capricorn this morning, and the captain has just announced that we are to stay 3 hours longer in Brisbane than originally planned; he's a good lad.