Ahoy their Maties!...

I've pretty much just got back from my sailing...and i still feel like im on the boat! Every time i lean forward to type i sway a little too much...is a very surreal feeling! Am missing sea life already! Had an excellent 3 days! Was well worth the money and definitely something that i will remember for a long time to come!

So Tuesday arvo, me and my backpack mosied on down to the marina where i met the rest of the guys on the trip. There were 25 of us in total, and i ended up getting on really well with a group of 4 girls, all nurses... 2 irish (Michelle and Trudy) and 2 english (Vicky and Hannah), who were a real laugh! . I had originally booked the British Defender but it was out of action so we were on the Boomerang instead. Im really glad about that as it was the same boat that Jen and John had been on and recommended to me (but i'd lost their note with places to go and things to do on!). The boat was unlike a lot of other boat trips you can do out here in that its a proper sailing boat, built to race, it also carried less people. I wasnt sure if i was going to like the experience to be honest and bought a pletherer of seasickness tablets - but turns out i loved it! Once the sails on the boat were up, the boat would lean clear to one side and we would all sit at the other side staring pretty much straight down at the water.... was a fantastic feeling!

Day 1 was short but sweet really... we boarded the boat at about 2pm and whilst we waited for the tide to rise we were given our brief by 'Captain Kane' ... who we all thought wasnt bad looking for 'pushing 40'...turns out he was only 27 - we couldnt believe it! Anyway - brief over and done and bunk beds allocated, we went back up on deck were we spent the next 4 hours sailing until it was dark stopping in our overnight mooring destination - Whitehaven beach. It was really surreal sailing along in the dark with the waves crashing against the side of the boat!

After a lovely dinner we all went back up on deck for a few drinking games. I was fairly shattered though so ended up heading to bed about 10:30. I remember waking up in the middle of the night having forgotten where i was and feeling the rocking sensation of the boat. All of a sudden i thought i was going to be ill and then i started panicking where i was going to go if i was going to be ill. Luckily i wasnt!! I must have fallen back to sleep as the next thing i knew it was 6:30am and I felt fine.

Wednesday morning, Greg took us all over to Whitehaven beach at about 8am in the little motorised dingy boat. We stayed there for the next 3 hrs. It was idyllic! Apparently it is frequently listed as one of the worlds most beautiful beaches and most recently has been 3rd and 4th. The sand is made of 99.9% silica which is why it is so white. It was great chilling out on the beach ( a tad nippy!) - but we entertained ourselves chatting, going for walks and for those who were brave... actually swimming in the rather 'refreshing' water!

Once we were collected we got back on board the Boomerang and had lunch before setting sail for our snorkelling site. The first site we went to didnt have great visibility and i didnt get great pictures so havent bothered to upload them on here, but the 2nd dive site of the afternoon - Manta ray bay was lovely and got some good piccies there...especially one of the blue spotted manta ray.

After our second snorkel we relaxed on the boat whilst we motored off to our mooring site. We were sooo fortunate to see Whales on the trip and that afternoon there was a mummy whale and baby whale off to the left of the boat slapping the water with their fins and tails.... it was beautiful! We sat and watched them play for about 20minutes and it was one of the most amazing things ive seen.

That evening after Spag bol, we once again went up on deck and cracked into the good ol' goon again! Started to play a few drinking games but it all got a little political after a while though with all the different languages (and subsequent language barriers!) involved! There were French, German, Israeli, Swiss, Dutch, Canadian and English on board! Was rather entertaining though!! Trudy was absolutely trollied, it was hysterical! The stories she was coming out with! She had everyone doubled over with laughter. Ended up in bed about 12 / 12:30ish. Apparently about an hour later there was a loud alarm and the captain had to get up and fix something on the boat... but me - apparently i was oblivious to it all and slept like a baby!! like to think someone would have woken me if there had been a life or death emergency though!!

This morning (thursday) got up at about 6:30 and went and sat on deck to watch the morning sun with a cuppa....lovely! Its sooo quiet out at sea. Once everyone was up, packed and ready we set sail for home and spent the next few hours out on the sea. At one point dolphins started chasing along side the boat...it was fantastic! But unfortunately they were too quick for my camera . Moored the boat at about 11am and i hitched a lift back with the girls in their camper to my hostel. Went for lunch with them as Michelle is off home today. Tonight we are all going out for a 'post boomerang' party! Should be a laugh!! Hopefully will have some stories from that!

Will update you all again soon!
Much love as always! Han xx