Next day I walked across town to register for my sailing trip and made a booking to fill my newest addiction, scuba diving. I killed a couple of hours by walking around town and grabbing something to eat before boarding my boat, “The British Defender”. Walking onto the boat the crew of three, Captain Chris, or Chris-o as he was called, Clint, his first mate, and Melissa, or Mel, the cook and deckhand quickly greeted us with smiles and handshakes, asking each and every one of us our names and knowing them shortly thereafter. Also on board was a volunteer, Jodene, or Jo, who I soon found out had the best deal in the Whitsundays . To volunteer on the boat you only had to pay seven dollars for a t-shirt, so some cooking, some dishes and about three hours of cleaning at the end of the trip. I, on the other hand, paid over three hundred dollars! Anyway, back to the sailing adventure. We were informed that our boat, The British Defender was the not only the best boat in the Whitsundays, but that it was also the fastest and sexiest boat as well. An 84 foot maxi racing sailboat, it had toured the world in many different races. After cruising out past the harbor and heading into the passage, we found out why we had the best boat.
After volunteering to jump on the grinders and hoist the sails I was sitting on the high side of the boat at a 45 degree angle from the water, with my feet hanging over the edge, as the low side of the boat was completely in the water. What a feeling. After sailing around for a couple of hours Chris-o took us to the spot that we would anchor and spend the night. Everyone opened a few drinks and began to mingle as we waited for dinner to be served.
A few beers later and having made a small group of friends, we had dinner followed by a session of drinking games and an attempt to sleep on the deck. Shortly after getting settled in on the deck it began to pour rain. In a rush all of us who had decided to sleep on the deck were running for cover carrying our sheets, pillows, and yoga mats. Now into my bunk for the remainder of the night I battled the heat as I tried to get comfortable and fall asleep. Once asleep, I did get a great night’s sleep, rocked gently by the roll of the boat on the water. Up at six the next morning as we headed to the third most photographed place in Australia, Whitehaven Beach. Upon arriving at our mooring we suited up with stinger suits to protect us from the deadly jellyfish and took our dingy to the shore. I’ve never liked jellyfish, but now I for sure don’t. The jellyfish you have to lookout for in the Whitsundays are as big as your little finger’s fingernail and will kill you within hours if not treated. Not thinking about that though. Once onshore we began a short walk to the lookout point for Whitehaven beach, where we spent some time of snapping pictures of the Brilliant white sand beach and sweeping bay that lay below.
The sand at this beach is 99% pure silica, and is what NASA actually used to make the mirror for the Hubble Telescope. From there we started out on another walk down to the beach itself. Such a beautiful place.
Two different bays on each side. One that was cooler and fed from a river, and on the other a small beach break. A few of us made a trek over some rock and reef to a somewhat secluded beach, stretching at best forty yards. Again, the most pure white sand, crystal clear water, rock outcroppings, all backed by lush greenery.
Staying here for thirty minutes or so it was time to make the walk back to our drop off point and get back in the dingy to head back to the defender for lunch. After lunch, as we headed to our next destination, I volunteered to hoist the sails again, and sailed to our next little cove to snorkel, and for me and Martin, a friend I had made from England, to head out on another scuba. This scuba, though not comparable to The Great Barrier Reef was also pretty amazing. We actually swam through small passageways at around 15-20 meters; saw a few corals, and a ton of fish. We actually had one school of about thirty fish that followed us on our entire dive. I again jumped back in the water for another snorkel before heading back to the boat to relax and have a beer. After everyone had returned from snorkeling we headed to yet another beautiful secluded cove. Once we anchored at this cove I climbed to the deck to find the start of a gorgeous sunset off the stern of the boat.
After taking a few pictures of both the sky and the people we settled in for a few more drinks and eventually dinner. After dinner it was party time. The night before everyone was a bit reserved and just getting to know each other, not tonight. Being that this was our last night on the boat, everyone decided to let loose, even the crew. Once they had finished their duties Clint and Melissa joined in on the activities which included Goon Chugs, night snorkels, dancing, and my little piggy. Let me explain.
Goon is what the Aussies refer to boxed wine as. So, naturally, a goon chug is when you lie on your back, someone places the goon tap in your mouth, and you chug.
A night snorkel is a contraption that Clint made for us that allows you to pour a beer, or other beverage of choice, into a bottle fashioned on top of a snorkel that funnels into your mouth. “My Little Piggie” is a game that was new to everyone on the boat. Clint told us all to sit in a circle, boy girl, boy girl, as he introduced us to our little piggie; a bottle that had the face, body and tail of a pig drawn onto it. The rules: when the piggie reaches you, you say, “This is my little piggie, and I love my little piggie so much that I am going to kiss it on its (fill in body part of choice).”
Then you pass the piggie to your left and so and so forth. Once the piggie got back to Clint he modified the rules. This time you had to pick a body part that was above the knees and below the shoulders.
Once this round was completed and the piggie made it back to Clint again, he asked if we all remembered which body part we had said. As everyone responded yes, he informed us that we were to know turn to the person to our left and kiss them where we said we would kiss the little piggie.
After that round was finished it was more dancing and partying till we had drank the boat dry. A few of us again made an attempt to sleep on the deck, but were once again chased off by the nighttime/morning downpour. Almost everyone on the boat, including the crew, woke the next morning with a head from the night before, as we slowly and painfully made our way to yet another cove for our last snorkel. Once here, most of us jumped in the water to try to straighten out our hangovers. After that it was the girls turns to turn the grinders and hoist the sails as we headed back to port.
Getting off the boat we all exchanged contact details and Melissa invited those of us that had become the closest on the boat to come to her house for a BBQ. So there we were, Will, Fotine, Garreth, Jo, Saschia, Melissa, and I heading to the store to grab some meat, chicken, sausages, salads, chips, and a case of beer and making the trek up a giant hill to Melissa’s house. Though the hill was exhausting the view from the top was worth it. After the BBQ we headed into town to see Fotime and Will off before heading out for the night. Next morning I woke to have a relaxing day by the lagoon with Martin and Luise, a couple from England, who were also on the boat, and Anita from Switzerland. After a long day lounging at the lagoon it was time to get ready to board my 13 hour overnight bus to Hervey Bay. Good thing I can sleep on Busses!
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