The drive to the Whitsundays had a little bit left to be desired as it was filled with barren lands and extremely straight roads. This was slightly discomforting when we were running low on gas, starving for any kind of nourishment and desperately having to use the facilities. After some positive energy that we put out into the world, we finally came to a tiny shack of a restaurant with one gas pump. We were feeling good again. After another long drive, we arrived in Airlie beach, which is the branching point to the Whitsunday islands. We managed to get a deal with our accommodation and boat tour because tourism was low due to cyclone Yasi coming through a couple weeks before.
We realize that Airlie beach is not that big and there are only a few bars that people frequent in the evenings. You either start at Magnums or Beaches, head to Paddys, and then end up at Mama Africa, where you see everyone that you saw the night before and if you want to meet up with someone, you know where they’ll be. Kind of like the Turret or Alfies (for all you Laurier and Queen’s alum out there).
The following day we drove up to Cedar Falls for a swim, which is only about 20 minutes drive from town. As you enter into the parking lot there are signs everywhere showing how jumping off the cliffs is fatal….not dangerous or can be harmful, but fatal. Sure enough, there are a group of guys there who all start climbing up the back end of the rocks and start jumping into water of varying depths. You could be swimming through it thinking you have enough clearance and then all of a sudden you scrape your foot along a rock. My heart sank every time one of the guys jumped it was so scary to watch, however, it was a beautiful waterfall to swim in. Once we finished our dip in the waterfall, we headed back to the lagoon in town to lounge around and enjoy the warm weather. There is a decent beach there, but we noticed that everyone was hanging around the lagoon and we soon realized that it’s due to it being the height of their stinger season which means that you can’t go into the ocean without wearing a full body stinger suit (more to come about that). I’ve heard many stories about the types of jellyfish that breed in the shore during the summer months and the most deadly of them is the box jellyfish which can stop your heart in as little as three minutes with their 80cm tentacles. I can see now why absolutely no one was in the water on a gloriously sunny afternoon.
It’s February 13th and we’re up bright up and early to sail the Whitsundays. Our boat is named the Samurai, which can hold up to 22 passengers, and let me tell you it’s a tight squeeze. I was lucky enough to be the first one onboard to select our bunking quarters and I sadly failed at choosing the best bunks. Theresa and I ended up sharing a twin bed on the bottom bunk, which felt like I was sleeping in a coffin. Oh yeah, and it was a sauna downstairs which made it even more pleasant to sleep in. Some people would start to sleep outside on the top of the boat, but after their back started began to hurt they came back down into the steam room. Now our first day on the boat we sailed to Whitehaven Island where we picked up our stinger suits from the captain and hopped in the boat over to the island. As we walked through the forest, Joanna came across a snake and we saw the biggest spider yet, like the size of your hand, so big. Yuck! The view once we got out to the looking point was breathtaking. A long beach with the whitest sands I’ve ever seen and not a soul around. You can see from the photos, how much fun we had with our stinger suits since we looked so ridiculous you couldn’t help but take photos like ninjas or seals. At least we could go swimming without the fear of being stung by a jellyfish.
During the evenings we would watch the sunset and get to know our new friends from Italy, France, Norway, Switzerland, Brazil, and Germany a little better. The following day we snorkeled and had an introductory scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef. We saw beautifully coloured fish and interesting coral and someone said they spotted Nemo and Theresa claims she saw Dorie. The trip back to the mainland was probably the most adventurous as we got to finally sail and in a pretty nasty rain storm at that. It’s quite tropical up north and storms come and go within minutes and we were having a lovely sunny afternoon of smooth sailing (literally) and we could see the dark clouds approaching so were instructed by captain Rick to sit at the edge of one side of the boat with our feet dangling off the edge and put on your rain slicks. It was similar to the movie Perfect Storm with the boat hanging totally on one side with one edge in the water and water being splattered on both sides. We all got completely drenched, but it was very exciting. Well, okay, it would have seemed a lot more scarier if I wasn’t sitting near the captain and deckie and witnessing them screaming for the storm to bring more because they were having such a great time in it. I did feel the need to have some reassurance so I asked if they had ever fallen into the water and they said never. The whole storm lasted for about 30 minutes and then the clouds parted and we came into shore with the brightest blue skies. It was a great trip and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone….only maybe get a bigger ship or pick the bunk closest to the door on the end of the boat and not the middle section.
A sauna? It was too hot for Mary. Sounds like you’re having a great time.
yes, as surprising as it is….it was boiling…you would have jumped off the boat Wayne
Just catching up on the details of your trip – looks like you ladies are having a fab time! This really brings back memories of when Chris and I went to the Airlie Beach & on a boat trip through Whitsundays a few years ago – I’m jealous!!
I forgot you were recently here. It is pretty beautiful around there.