Whitsunday Islands, Airlie Beach & Rockhampton

Sunday, October 11. After a lazy start and a late check-out, Keith and I headed back into town. We shopped a bit, picking up a few last minute items before heading out on the boat. After lunch we headed down to the marina to meet the crew and the other couples we would be sailing with around the Whitsunday Islands. In addition to Keith and I, there was a couple from England, a couple from Holland, a couple from Germany (who currently live in Singapore), Marie (from Denmark) – our cook, crew and dive master, and Fernando (from Australia) – our captain. All and all it was a great group of people. Our boat was a 52 ft catamaran named Whitsunday Getaway. The boat was quite nice and, though our cabin was small, we had our own bathroom. Marie and Fernando briefed us about the boat and then we were off to sail the Whitsunday Islands! There are 74 islands that make up the Whitsunday Islands and they are part of the Great Barrier Reef. There was a fruit platter for us when we boarded the boat and while under sail we had appetizers – all you could eat prawns. We sailed to Hook Island, the second largest of the Whitsunday Islands and anchored in a little cove for the night. Dinner was delicious with chicken, corn, potatoes, salad and rolls being served. Dessert was cheesecake. Conversation flowed easily among all of us. The stars were incredible. Fernando, having an interest in astronomy, was able to point out a number of constellations. Most amazingly we could see the Milky Way – one of best sights I've ever seen!! We laid for a bit on the net in the bow of the boat looking for shooting stars and then called it a night.

Monday, October 12. Keith's Birthday!! Breakfast consisted of cereal, pancakes and fruit salad. As a side note, all of the food was pretty much all you could eat and if it didn't get eaten, it would get thrown away, so Keith and I left the trip at least 5 pounds heavier than when we started! We sailed up to another cove off of Hook Island where we would be snorkeling/diving. Keith and I were the only ones on the boat who were diving – which was fabulous because we essentially got a private scuba lesson. I was a little nervous about scuba diving as I had never done it before. Sadly some of the equipment they had was a little big, so that made things a tad more difficult for me. And oh boy was all that equipment heavy! I thought I was going to tip over!! After getting geared up and going through our “skills” we were off! Scuba diving was very cool and we saw some beautiful reefs (sadly the fish weren't as good as Cairns). I didn't have as much trouble as I thought I would and it's definitely something I would like to do again. Keith had scuba dived before, so of course it was no trouble for him. After diving, Keith and I did a bit of snorkeling then back on the boat we went to sail to Whitsunday – the largest of the Whitsunday Islands. On the way we had lunch – two different salads and a meat and vegetable platter for sandwiches. We anchored in a cove off Whitsunday and were shuttled into the Island. From there, we climbed to the top where we could see all of Whitehaven Beach -by FAR the most beautiful beach Keith and I have ever seen. Keith and I both rate Meghan's Bay in St. Thomas a distant second. Sadly I don't think words or pictures can adequately describe the beauty of it. My Let's Go book describes it as follows: “The most renowned destination in the Whitsundays is Whitehaven Beach, a 7km strip along the western rim of the island. Sand swirls like fine snow from one edge of the island to the other; at low tide you can practically walk across the inlet...” We were fortunate that we got to see the beach at low tide and the most beautiful white sand went on for miles and miles. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the beach. Marie had packed us a snack of cookies and fruit. After the beach back on the boat we went. More food -an appetizer of nachos with lots of melted cheese, salsa, beans, etc. We then sailed back to Hook Island, to a different cove, where we would be spending the night. After anchoring for the night, we had another great dinner of steak, sweat potatoes, steamed vegetables and rolls. Dessert was a delicious chocolate cake where we all sung Keith happy birthday. As an aside, in Australia it's bad luck if you hit the plate while cutting the first piece of cake. Fernando pointed out a satellite to us – it was blinking and moving across the sky very very far away. Keith and I looked for (and saw) some more shooting stars and then called it a night.

Tuesday, October 13. Eating again - cereal, warm croissants and fruit salad. Next we had the choice of going snorkeling or diving again. Since the equipment hadn't fit me that well, we opted just to go snorkeling. More food after snorkeling, a pecan cinnamon danish. Sadly then it was time to head back to Airlie Beach (roughly a 2 ½ -3 hour sail from where we were). On the way back more food for lunch – another kind of salad, cheeses, bread, crackers, carrot and celery sticks with four different kinds of dips and some meat. We arrived back in Airlie Beach around 1:00 pm and bit farewell to everyone. Sailing was FABULOUS and we both agreed that two days/nights was the perfect amount of time. We had decided to stay at the same place we had stayed a few days before though we opted to go for the “luxury” suite. It was nice to have such a spacious room with a full kitchen, laundry, etc. Both Keith and I took long hot showers (our showers on the boat was supposed to be limited to 1 minute per day and for anyone who has sailed, knows how small the bathrooms are!). We headed back to town to cruise around and then grabbed some dinner. We had dinner at a place called Fish Divine. Though it was essentially part of a food court it had the most delicious fish (apparently it won the award for the second best seafood restaurant in all of Australia). Keith got the tuna and I tried the barrmudi (the local white fish). We were beat from the sun and sailing so we headed back to the hotel where we did laundry and caught up on some emails.

Wednesday, October 14. On the road again.... We were on the road by 10:00 am with both Keith and I VERY sad to leave Airlie Beach. It was the perfect mix for us. A beach town with enough going on to make it not boring but not enough to make it seem like a busy tourist trap. We were in route to a town called Rockhampton, the half-way point between Airlie Beach and Hervey Bay (where we'll be heading off to Fraser Island). It was a long drive (approximately 450 km) without too much to see. We stopped in a town called Mackay where we picked up an ipod adopter at Target – so at least we were able to listen to some good tunes. There also was a bad accident along the way which caused quite a long back-up. We actually turned off the car at one point. We arrived in Rockhampton, the “beef capital of Australia,” around 5:00 pm. After checking into our hostel we checked out the town – not much to see. We had dinner at the restaurant below the hostel – again not much to see, but big pieces of raw meat are brought out to you on hot slabs of stone, which allows you to cook the meat exactly to your liking. Keith hit the penny slots (in the restaurant below the hostel) for a bit, while I called it a night.