No Pockets in Shrouds #11: Monday, November 8th

Monday, November 8th

After completing my tour of Fraser Island it was back to Hervey Bay to pick up the bulk of my luggage which I had left at the YHA. I was catching the 9:55pm Greyhound bus to Airlie Beach and I was not looking forward to my 12 hour journey. My sister had suggested that I take a blow up pillow with me and I’m glad I did as it stopped my head banging all over the place during the night.

On arrival at Airlie Beach I headed straight for the YHA which is about 200 yards from the bus station. I had actually managed to get some sleep on the bus so I thought I would try and stay awake and just have an early night. The main attraction of Airlie Beach is the Whitsundays, which are a group of islands whose beauty is quite breathtaking. Most people visiting Airlie Beach take a 3-day sailing trip out to the Whitsundays but as I was planning to do some sailing up in Cairns I didn’t want to duplicate any experiences. I decided to do two one-day trips.

The first trip was to Reef World which is a pontoon permanently moored on the reef. It was a two-hour journey by catamaran to get there but was well worth it. I did my first-ever dive as a certified diver and it felt so different from when you are doing your Open Water Course. The fish were fantastic and there were that many it was difficult to take it all in. There is a very large Maori Wrasse near the pontoon and it is very tame. It comes up to you and lets you stroke it. I later found out that a lot of diving sites on the reef have one of these fish hanging around. They are all quite tame and they are nicknamed “Wallies”.

I enjoyed the dive so much that I booked another one for the afternoon and again I loved it. This time I did a drift dive which means that they took us out in a small boat and dropped us over the side and we drifted back to the pontoon with the tidal current. As a member of the YHA I received a substantial discount for my trip to ReefWorld. It is worth joining the YHA just to get your discount for this trip but make sure you book the trip at the YHA Hostel.

The next day I went Ocean Rafting and this was great fun. Ocean Rafting run trips to the North Islands and the South Islands. I decided to go on the South Islands trip as my trip to ReefWorld the previous day covered a lot of the north islands. The boat is an inflatable-hull “raft” and is so fast that they skim across the waves. The captain was insane and kept swerving the boat to make it more “enjoyable” for everybody. Our first stop was to an island, which had a lookout over Whitehaven Beach. We had a short walk through a wood and when you get to the actual lookout there is nothing that can prepare you for the view. If there is one single image of my trip to Australia that will stay with me for the rest of my life then this was it. Words, unfortunately, cannot describe it but I hope to publish a photograph on this site when I return to the UK.

Then it was on to Whitehaven Beach for lunch, where the sand is pure silica and when you walk on it it squeaks. Whilst lunch was being prepared it gave the novices a chance to have a try at snorkeling before we got to the reef in the afternoon. I helped an English girl called Emma while her boyfriend, Alan, recovered from a serious hangover. After about 10 minutes she was really confident and then there was no stopping her.

Lunch was excellent and plentiful. It was then on to snorkel on the reef. I thought that after scuba diving, snorkeling would be a poor substitute but I was pleasantly surprised how enjoyable it was. We arrived back in Airlie Beach at approx. 4:30pm after a thoroughly enjoyable day. I think it cost me $A65 which is very good value for money. I would definitely recommend both of the trips that I did.

It came out in conversation that the Whitsundays were so named as Captain Cook came upon them on Whit Sunday. When his log was read many years later it was discovered that he had in fact been a couple of days out. The Whitfridays or Whittuesdays don’t have the same romantic ring to them as Whitsunday so I suppose it was good that Captain Cook got it wrong.

If you are thinking of taking a 3-day cruise then ask around and find out which ones are the best. Some boats are fast, some slow. Some expect the passengers to join in the running of the ship whilst others just leave you to relax. It all depends on what you want. I have found the best source of information are the travellers themselves. When you are in the pub and get talking to people then just ask and you will be surprised how helpful they will be.

There are a number of pubs in Airlie Beach and they all seem to serve cheap, good food. I went to “Beaches” most nights as there was a good party atmosphere there. You good get a good steak and chips for $A10 which is very good value. I met up with a load of people that I got to know at Fraser Island and we had a few good nights together. The Danes have a tradition that on the 25th birthday of anybody who is unmarried they can pour cinnamon over them. Michael, one of the Danes that I met, was 25 whilst I was in Airlie Beach and the poor lad was covered in cinnamon. He didn’t seem to mind and just kept drinking his beer.

I had fantastic weather whilst I was in Airlie Beach – blue skies and red hot every day. I was sad when the time came to leave as I had had a wonderful time and made a lot of friends.

Airlie Beach

Thanks to the people that have e-mailed me at golf.diving4fun at virgin dot net.

Please keep sending messages.

Did you like this article?

    

 

Share it

 

Place a comment