From Sydney, we flew up to Hamilton Island, which belongs to the group of the topical Whitsunday Islands. I have been particularly excited about this part of the OZ trip, because the Whitsundays are not only extremely gorgeous, but bordering the famous Great Barrier Reef, and here, in the open turqoise-blue and warm waters of the ocean, I was hoping to get my saltwater swimming and snorkeling fix. The temperature here is a very pleasant 27-28 degrees now, still pretty hot during the day, but pleasant at night.
The Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands are home to a colourful palette of under- and overwater fauna and flora, and also the famous Whitehaven Beach, supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia, and one of the top 10 beaches in the world.
Already on the descent of the plane to Hamilton Island, the 3 main colours of the landscape are striking up a pose: the ocean in every shade of blue that you can imagine, the sparkling white sand and the lush green vegetation. A gorgeous sight.
The best way to enjoy, explore and take in all the beauty of these islands is to go on a sailing cruise. I was very excited because I had never been on a sailing boat before, and here we go - I was going to be stuck on one with 19 other people for the next 2 days and 2 nights! This included Mike, who had only half-heartedly agreed to join me on this little adventure, being mainly concerned about the "standard" of the boat, and the nr of backpackers on it. Well, the standards of the boat were pretty basic, and it was full of backpackers, so you can imagine how much Mike has really enjoyed this trip, bless him.
The boat was a former racing boat called "Freight Train" (sounds more scary than it looks) which was actually replacing a former America's cup winner, "Matador" ,that we were originally booked on. The boat crew consisted of a skipper (the sort of captain), a second skipper, a dive/snorkeling master (and also skipper sometimes), and a cook. The 16 crazy people going on the trip were almost all from Europe, most of them British/Irish, and in their 20s. We were going to spend the days "chillaxing" on the open air deck of the boat, and the nights crammed into little bunks in the galley of the boat, where there was also the "kitchen" and the "bathrooms". Luckily, everyone on the team and crew were pretty laid back, and a nice atmosphere was quicly established.
The first day (1/2 day really, as we left pretty late) was only going to be sailing, in order to get to our destination for the nightstay before sunset. Once we got out of the harbour, and our sails caught some wind, we sailed away into the freedom of the open waters, and you were really better off on the deck, because down in the galley, you would only get seasick!
For a first-time sailor, the actual sailing experience was already quite exciting, particularly when we picked up speed and the boat would tilt to an angle and we all had to sit on one side of the boat to provide some balance to the system.
We arrived at Tongue Bay, set anchor for the night, had dinner prepared by our cook Jodie, and conversations about life & travelling, the moon and the fantastic nightsky, over a glass of lukewarm rhum&coke.
The next morning, we visited Whitehaven Beach. The crew tendered us out to the bay shore and we first walked up to the lookout point. And oh my God, what a heavenly sight! A long stretch of white sand tongueing out into the shallow green waters of the pacific ocean; Whitehaven Beach truly deserves its reputation. As if the sight alone was not enough, once you set your first foot in the fine white silica sand, you notice that it is impossibly soft. Walking barefoot on Whitehaven Beach, whether dry or wet, is not just a visual treat, no, it is a unique and thorough sensual experience. I have never felt sand this soft and I wish I never had to leave that beach. Now I also understand a different meaning in the song "Pure Shores" on The Beach movie soundtrack. "The place where I wanna be, is a place I can call mine". Oh yes, I wouldn't mind to call Whitehaven Beach "a place I can call mine" (although I would be happy with Zahara de los Atunes too...)
The whole group had a little splash around in the shallow water that was filling up with small translucent fish as the tide came in. We spotted several stingrays, with their distinctive shape, as a dark shadow against the bright background of the sand below. And we think we even saw a small reef shark (probably it was just a mackarel though) chasing the tiny little fish (don't worry mum, whatever it was, it was not dangerous!)
I didn't want to leave the beach, but the boat had to move on to our diving site for the afternoon. I didn't dive, but conditions were far better for snorkeling anyway. As soon as we set anchor in the bay, a large swarm of small white fish with yellow tails appeared underneath the boat (I have to get a book and study the names of those fish). They seemed pretty curious, because the same swarm would surround you as soon as you got into the water. That was amazing actually. It was like you were in a fish merry-go-round! Suddenly then, a HUGE fish (about 1 m long) appeared from underneath. I almost forgot to breathe through my snorkel. I have no idea what fish it was, but I have never seen anything this big in front of my eyes! Once I regained my breath and had admmired the beauty of the fish (it was green, but when the sun hit its scales, there was a shiny blue reflection), I caught myself thinking "wow, that is a lot of sashimi!" :-). We snorkelled along the reef that itself was rather pale, but filled with a diversity of mostly small but colourful creatures, ranging from black and white zebra-stripe pattern through to all the colours of the rainbow. Again, I didn't want to get out of the water, but after about 45 min, it was getting rather cold (it is after all Autumn in the Whitsundays, and you don't move very much when snorkeling).
As it was my birthday that day, I felt really happy that evening and thought that this sailing-swimming-snorkeling trip was the best present I have made to myself!
I have to admit that I was feeling a little homesick that day too (apart from also feeling slightly seasick at times) for the first time on my trip. It was weird to be out there on a boat full of strangers (I hadn't told anyone that it was my birthday) and no connection to the rest of the world (no mobile phone coverage) to receive messages from family & friends back home.
In the evening, we set anchor at Hook Island. According to the skipper, no sailing trip in the Whitsundays can happen without an appropriate party. Instantly, we knew that the sailing trip had just turned into a booze cruise. Oh well. This involved drinking your beverage down the snorkel of a snorkeling mask (whilst wearing the mask), Aussie-style drinking games at the Hook Island Resort Bar, and throwing people into the resort swimming pool with all their clothes on. Great Fun. Unfortunately, I was in my not so funny "It's-my-birthday-but-I-don't-want-to-party"-mood, and feeling a little "landsick", so the crew spared me from the swimming pool and I quit after 1 drinking game.
Later that night, back on the boat, I gazed at the night sky. Away from all kinds of lights, you are exposed to the most astonishing nightsky. You could clearly see the milky way and the Southern Cross, the characteristic constellation of the southern hemisphere. And lots of shooting stars! I saw 3 within 1/2 hour, and made 3 wishes...
The next morning, it was already time to sail back to Airlie beach harbour and bid our farewells to the crew and the fellow "sailors". Most people had overall enjoyed the trip, but like me, where perhaps a little disappointed that a second snorkelling/diving session had been replaced by a drinking session.
Nevertheless, for me, the sailing experience alone had already been fantastic, and I am carrying away lots of memorable moments. There was the one where I came on deck the first morning and a massive sea turtle was floating next to the boat. Or the one where a lonley dolphin appeared briefly on the surface as we were cruising at full speed. The way that Tom, our divemaster, thought everything was "amaaaazing". The one where, by miracle, my mobile phone caught a signal for a brief moment, just enought for my mum's traditional birthday message to be delivered to me (I love it). But the best moment has to be the one where I was lying on my back on the deck, underneath the big sail, looking up into the white fabric on the background of the blue sky, with warm sunrays on my skin and the breeze in my hair. I was listening to the Killers on my ipod, and missing home, but then I took a deep breath of the fresh sea air and thought "I'm in a place where I can breathe, I've got so much to see, this is where I wanna be" and just enjoyed the ride...
(Note added in proof: Shooting star wish nr 1 has already come true. But it seems that the tide is turning, and nr 2 and 3 suddenly seem "out of reach" ...("Pure Shores", All Saints).)
