Day Thirty - August 5th, 2013
Sailing the Whitsunday Islands
The camping ground had been fantastic and given us a late check out as we had booked our sailing tour through them, so we woke up and could pack the tent and eat breakfast leisurely. We chatted with Ben whilst he made scrambled eggs, and then packed our zip-less bags we had been provided by the sailing company. Of course, I took far too much and my bag was pretty heavy, but you never know what you might need on these adventures!
We set off for the 4km walk to south Able Point marina in the blazing hot sun. We had to stop a couple of times in the shade to gulp down squash in a bid to ward off dehydration before even setting foot on the boat! In our excitement, we arrived at the meeting point 45 minutes before our 1.30 deadline, and settled in to Paddon's Cafe (after spotting our boat - Silent Night) over looking the harbour for a packet of crisps and a slice of pineapple cake. This was a good vantage point to people watch, and quite honestly, ruthlessly judge all the other arriving passengers and speculating if they'd be on our boat. We knew everyone would have the same bags as we did, and were glad to see the more 'rough and ready' crowd did not have them. Sure enough, they piled onto another boat - The Broom Stick. Phew. A few other boats were called before we saw a man wearing a Silent Night t-shirt coming up he gangway towards us. Sure enough, we were called over to sign a disclaimer stating we knew the risks of jellyfish (despite it being low-risk season) and that we would strongly consider wearing stinger suits. Eek - scary. The man introduced himself as Elliot - spelt the same was as my Elly! We later found out he was also 24, and named thus because of the popularity of E.T. and the main character - another connection with Elly.
We met our fellow sailors and were ushered onto our boat where we met Cameron (easy names for me to remember), our skipper. We were allocated our sleeping quarters and I was so happy we'd paid the extra $20 for a private cabin. We had the one at the back of the boat on the starboard side, an Irish couple took the one on the port side, and a Dutch couple took the one at the front. The remaining passengers had to sleep in the galley with no privacy! There were two more couples, all medical students from Germany and a mother-daughter team from the Netherlands. Everyone around the same age; a fun group! We had a demonstration of the one on-board toilet. Only three things are allowed down it - the all begin with a 'P'. I'll let you imagine what they might be.
After we had run trough the protocols of the boat and watched the safety demonstration, we set sail for our first snorkel! There wasn't much wind, but we got the sails up and had a go. It wasn't bad going, and really lovely to sit on the side of the boat in peace without the roar of the engine. Of course Elly got stuck in helping to hoist the sails as I sat back and relaxed. The water was just so blue and inviting. The scenery couldn't have been better! As he sat back down, he spotted a couple of dolphins playing by the side of the boat, practically on top of us! This miraculous sight was trumped almost immediately however, by Cam calling out 'whales!' and pointing straight ahead. Two adults and a baby, who was extremely playful and launched himself completely out of the water three times! It looked like a dolphin manoeuvre and was amazing to see so close. This had all happened within the first 90 minutes of the tour: we felt extremely lucky.
Once at the snorkelling spot, we donned the dreaded stinger suits (like a onsie made out of rash guard material) and were taken out to the reef six at a time in the tender. We were first out. I was feeling a mixture of excitement and pure terror! I was about to tick a major box on my bucket list - snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef but I had read too much about stingers and sharks to feel truly comfortable. We plunged into the freezing water which literally took my breath away! I braved it and stuck my head under to see the vast amount of coral beneath. Truly amazing! The fish were out in full force, and it only took a little while to feel a bit more comfortable. We were having an amazing time, but it was about to get SO much better. I head a cry of excitement - 'TURTLE!'. I've never moved so fast. There he was, relaxing on the coral about 2 metres below us. I guess we disturbed him, as he slowly and gracefully eased himself up, and gradually came towards the surface. I managed I swim directly above him and even touch his shell before he surfaced. He popped his head up for a big gulp of air and dove back below. All I wanted before the trip was to see a turtle. My wish was granted in the best possible way. I felt like the rest of the trip could be cancelled then and there and I wouldn't care. I can't believe how lucky we were!
After a quick rinse off with the shower at the back of the boat and a warming cup of tea, we settled in to watch the sun sinking into the horizon. Of course, I was panicking that I'd been stung by a jelly (I'd read that often it takes 30 to 45 minutes for symptoms to present themselves) and was experiencing the numbness and pins and needless in my hands which is associated with a sting. Obviously it was just the cold water. We had a snack of nachos and got to know everyone a little better.
The sun set and we got to see some amazing colours in the sky. Once dark, the sensational stars came out, and with no light pollution, was crystal clear. Cam pointed out Venus (the brightest star) and the Southern Cross (the constellation seen on the Aussie flag. The Milky Way was incredible and we were lucky enough to see three shooing stars. The trip was certainly going well!
After dinner (chicken, potatoes and a large salad with veggie patties for me), we had tea and biscuits and a good chat. We were told our alarm clock would be the flush of the toilet when the first person woke up which disturbs the whole boat, and we'd have brekkie at 7am. Elliot and I headed to our little cabin where he promptly fell asleep. I was awake a little longer...