Day Thirty Two - August 7th, 2013
Sailing the Whitsunday Islands
Our last day on the boat. Another 6.30 wake up call by the extremely loud toilet, and three people braved the early morning cold for a snorkel. We were not among them! I know sharks are most active at dawn and dusk. You couldn't have paid me to get in.
The morning was taken up by sailing back to Airlie Beach, so after brekkie (I must have been feeling a lot better as I managed three slices of peanut butter and jelly toast) we all relaxed on deck in the sun with books. We got the sails up (Elly helping as always) and had a wonderfully calm morning. As we got closer to land, the engine was suddenly shut off. More whales! SUPER close to the boat, we just hadn't seen them. It turned out to be a mother feeding her calf. She was completely still on the surface, and we thought she was probably sleeping. The baby was thrashing around and having a play! Cam let us know she was feeding, and we must have disturbed her as they both quickly sank beneath the surface, only to pop up again far away from the boat. I can't believe how lucky we were with the wildlife. Superb!
All too soon, we had docked, and were saying our goodbyes. It was a trip of a lifetime, and one that I can't see being topped. Elly had a grin on his face the whole time - I fear I may be a captain's girlfriend.
We walked halfway back to the campsite in the hot hot sun before admitting defeat and catching the bus. After re-checking in for our free night, we retrieved the car and set up our single skin tent. We're only here for one night and want to get an early start in tomorrow morning to cover as much distance as we can towards Cairns so didn't bother with the big tent. Hopefully it doesn't rain tonight, or we'll be getting wet! Ben and Megan were just about to leave so we had a quick catch up. We'll see them in Cairns. After a much needed shower (neither of us had properly cleaned ourselves in three days - gross), we had a little snack and skyped my mum. So wonderful to touch base and fill each other in via a medium other than text. I can't wait for her and Angus to arrive in a month so we can have some Outback adventures together!
We decided the day was too good to waste, so packed up and headed to the man-made lagoon in town. We were both pretty exhausted due to all the excitement and lack of sleep and truly needed the rest. Funny how you can get tired on holiday! I finally persuaded Elly to buy a book and I was left undisturbed for a whole hour! Unfortunately, the book is a true story of a man who kayaked the whole way around Australia. I can already see the cogs in motion in his mind. With a little more colour on our skin (sadly not my face where I have the most awful panda marks) we headed to Wooly's and got some supplies. Back at the campsite, we cooked our jacket potatoes and had a nice chilled evening. Tomorrow, we leave the paradise of the Whitsundays behind and head for Cairns. I am so sad to leave the most beautiful place I've visited so far.