I love Australia, plain and simple! COVID-19 hasn't exactly wrecked all of my travel plans; it's just placed them on the back burner. If things were normal, I'd be in Russia or somewhere in Europe at the moment. Despite the disaster of a year 2020 has been, I'm managing to keep up my tradition of doing something extraordinary for my birthday. Sailing in the Whitsundays would be my shout to myself for making it to 36. First off, I'll recap the past few months. I returned from Thailand during the second week of March, with the plan of collecting my gear from Jo's place and heading to Melbourne. However, due to the lockdown, two days at Aunty Jo's turned into nearly six months. Jo gets a huge shout-out from me for her excellent cooking and hospitality. I spent a few days in Mackay, where there is very little to see or do. Before long I ended up in Airlie Beach. Australia's borders are sealed tight; nobody can enter or leave. All of the state borders are closed at the moment, therefore I'm confined to Queensland. Before the start of this journey I'd never hitchhiked north of Maryborough.
Yesterday morning we set sail for the Whitsundays aboard Habibi, which means "my love" in Arabic. Travelling with me are a group of students from Korea, a few Argentines, a Spanish couple, a Kiwi couple living in Mackay, and an Italian lady. Ed is the skipper and Tina is the assistant and cook. My sea legs didn't immediately sprout so I had a nap in my bunk after Ed and Tina talked to us about safety and where we'll be going. Tina woke me when lunch of chicken and salad was ready. I was still not feeling my best, therefore I didn't eat much. Our first stop was aptly named Whitsunday Island. It felt great to be off the boat, as my seasickness went away.
Whitehaven Beach is utterly spectacular!
What surprised me was the sheer number of people at the lookout. Often I aim to do trips like this on a Monday when fewer people are around. In a huff, I walked away quickly. It has nothing to do with COVID-19 but I just don't really like sharing these sights with a million other people. Eventually I'd unfold Juliett and soar her into the sky. The end result was, unsurprisingly, some spectacular photos.
We had three hours on at Whitehaven Beach. It's always nice to go for a swim as, according to Tina, it's the first warm day in awhile. I've had a few nights in Airlie Beach already where I've had to slip on a jumper. It sure feels great to be travelling again. Weeks ago I was thinking of doing my eight trip to Norfolk Island for my birthday, but I just couldn't afford it. The Whitsundays so far haven't disappointed.
Back on the boat, we would eventually moor near Hayman Island, which is home to the most exclusive resort in the southern hemisphere. Celebrities like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have stayed there. The island is privately owned and nobody is allowed to land there unless they're staying a minimum of three nights at the resort. The sunset tonight was magical. Another one for my collection.
As we watched the sunset, Tina cooked up a delicious tea of salad, sausages, and steak. Habibi is by no means the MV Sea Spirit (the ship I travelled on to Antarctica), so expectations must be managed accordingly. After our excellent barbeque dinner, we all sat around and chatted whilst drinking beer and wine. Yesterday was our beach day, but today our snorkelling day. I must've whacked my knee pretty bad last night because I had a large bruise. Breakfast was a simple one of cereal and toast. It turns out Ed the skipper also has Asperger's, so he and I stayed up late and chatted last night. The coolest thing that's happened to me in 2020 is that I found out recently I have a younger brother named Dave who is 15 months younger than me. Our mother placed him up for adoption in 1986, but given the circumstances she was in at the time, he nor I hold any grudge at all against her. I was raised as one of six children, but always I've included my sister, Sonya, in the count meaning I'm one of seven children. With Dave in the picture, I'm proud to say I'm one of EIGHT children. As a boy I always felt there was a lack of a male presence in our home. Our Mom stayed home with us whilst our Dad was constantly working. There was a succession of women in our family, as I grew up with four sisters and we were close with our grandmother, aunt, and our cousin NicCole. I never had a male figure whilst young who introduced me to sports, or took me camping, fishing, or sailing.
Our first snorkelling spot of the day was nothing spectacular, so we motored to our second snorkelling locale. Some of fish were half the size of me! The coral reef in the area was badly damaged by the cyclone three years ago, therefore the coral is nothing to write home about. When I went snorkelling off Cape Trib back in '07, the coral was among the most spectacular I've ever seen! However, what the Whitsundays lack in coral make up for in colourful fish. The most spectacular fish today was a humphead maori wrasse.
After getting all wet in the sea, I was ready to take to the air with Juliett. Today was by far my most challenging flight with her due to the configuration of the Habibi and very little flat space on the boat.
Unlike the Phantom, it's not easy to hand catch the Mavic Pro. Taking off was difficult but landing was even more so. After lunch of wraps and salad, and one final snorkelling excursion, Ed took me in the dinghy to get a nice photo of Habibi.
What a great journey! I feel so alive once again!
