Airlie Beach/Whitsundays 9th - 13th April

After 4 rainy days in cairns we moved onto Airlie beach and the beautiful Whitsundays. It was a very long night coach ride but after 12hrs we arrived and booked into our hostel which turned out to be really nice. In our room we had 2 other lads who had just finished their sailing around Whitsundays and they got us really excited as they had the best time.

The next day we got up early and walked to the harbour to where we would meet our other deckhands lol. After a short briefing from the captain we boarded our boat, The Condor. This boat had a winning background and had won the Hobart to Sydney yacht race. We set off and immediately were asked to help put up the sails on the 80ft boat, the sails are extremely heavy and needed our muscles to pull them up haha. It was very windy the day we left so the boat was tearing through the water, for most the time the boat was leaning onto one side and all the crew had to sit on the high side to stabilize the boat, it was great fun. After a day of sailing we arrived at our mooring location which turned out to be in a secluded bay with no wind thank god. Dinner was served and the drinking games began J

The next morning we woke up to glorious sunshine and slightly worse for wear heads, but a quick jump into the sea woke you up pretty sharpish. At around 8.30am we headed for the infamous Whitehaven Beach which is world known for its white tropical sand and swimming pool clear seas. We can honestly say it will be the best beach we will ever stand on, it was absolute paradise. It's hard to compare with the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton. After the whole morning spent relaxing and swimming we jumped back onto our boat and headed to a snorkel site well known for turtle sightings. Compared to other snorkelling sites this had nicer, colouriful coral but with less fish. Sooner enough we bumped into 2 turtles just swimming around and enjoying their life as they all do. After an hour of snorkelling we jumped back on the boat and sailed off to our mooring point which was around the corner, once again we lifted the sails and directed the boat in the right direction to get to our point. It was a very hands on deck boat which was nice because I think we would have got bored otherwise. We soon arrived and steak was thrown onto the Barbie at the back of the boat to our delight. This evening turned out to be the same as the previous night J funny. The next morning everyone went for a refreshing dip in the sea and then we started our sail home L. Once back at port we headed straight to our hostel for some earned rest and a good shower. We loved the Whitsundays and didn't want to leave the boat, a bit gutted we had to leave Airlie Beach so soon to be honest but we have to see as much of Australia as possible. We were heading south the next day so took it easy that night and had an early night. The next day our bus was at midnight so we spent the whole day at the fresh water lagoon with a few friends from our boat and just chilled out until our bus arrived that evening.

x