WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS, QUEENSLAND
Last Monday, we caught a flight from Sydney to Brisbane to Proserpine to taxi to Airlie Beach on the Whitsunday Coast. Whew! What an adventure getting there was - 3 1/2 hours of total flight time plus an hour layover plus a near death cab van ride from the airport to our hostel...it made for a long morning. Stepping off the nice cool airplane in Queensland we were greeted with a nice warm slap in the face by a warm 30 degrees (86 F) and very very humid air. Talk about sticky! Turns out our hostel was more like a hotel with some permanent residents...we had a great studio room with an unbelievable ocean view :) Talk about lucky! Straight away we booked our excursions that would carry us on our adventures for the next few days...and then made our way in the heat down to the main street to check out the shops of course! After we'd gone through every shop on the street - and pretty much seen most of the town (as it's not very big) we stopped for a quick fish n chips and then settled in for an early evening - after thorough inspection of the sheets/bed/room for bugs etc.
Tuesday we woke bright and early and headed our for our FantaSea Excursion to the Great Barrier Reef! Once again, getting there was an adventure in itself...picked up early by bus to get us to Shute Harbour to catch our ferry, which stopped at both Daydream and Hamilton Islands (2 of the 74 Whitsunday Islands) to pick up/drop off passengers, to arrive at the Natural Wonder of the World, the Great Barrier Reef a quick 3 hours later! I cannot describe in words and pictures cannot do justice to the beautiful blues of the water, the greens of the reef seen from the boat, the colors of the fish and coral, the awe and excitement of seeing, swimming, and splashing with the fish...all just so AMAZING - - - I mean, I remember in the sixth grade when I studied the Wonders of the World, and I had to keep pinching myself the entire day while trying to just absorb as much of my surroundings as possible, that I was there - I am here at one of the most wondrous places in the world!
Our boat docked at the FantaSea ReefWorld Pontoon and Katie and I quickly disembarked and made our way up to the sun tanning top deck to claim some very nice chase lounges! First things first, right?!? Then we headed down to grab our snorkel gear and stinger suits before joining up with the marine biologist for our guided snorkel tour of the reef. The stinger suits were not by any means a fashion statement, but a necessity, as they would prevent stings from the deadly jellies that can be in the water - - - I was all for it, even if I did look like the blue teletubby!
Looking fine in that turqoise suit! Oooh la la!!
The guided snorkel was so worth it! It was only Katie and I along with a couple from England that swam with Jenita (our guide) in areas away from the crowd and felt very safe entering such open water for the first time. I was caught off guard when initially getting in the water because I wasn't expecting to be literally surrounded by fish! But I was...and I was literally swimming with them, as these bright fish that were at least the size of my hand were right below my snorkel goggles; talk about getting up close and personal - thank goodness none of them took any nibbles :) The guided snorkel was also fun because Jenita was able to point out fish, tell us the names and some information on them...among the many creatures, we saw butterfly fish (bright yellow with black stripes), lizard fish (white fish with stripes as to blend in with the sand), damsel fish, a HUGE sea turtle and best of all George the Groper Fish who was 1.5m in length - thats 5 feet!!! Now that's a BIG fish! Jenita showed us how the damsel fish is very good at housekeeping...she grabbed a shell and placed it on the coral the damsel fish was swimming over, and before we knew it, the fishy picked up the shell, removed it from his coral home, and returned it to the sand where it was found! How crazy is that! After snorkeling with our guide for about 45 minutes, Katie and I continued for a little while longer on our own before hopping our for a lunch break and short sun tan sesh...and then the stinger suits went back on and we were back in the water! Before hopping out, I made sure to give a big wave to California a short 7,000 miles to the east across the big pond, the Pacific Ocean! Still can't get over the fact that this is the same ocean as home, just the other side of it...so weird and strange...Then it was back on the boat for the 3 hour ride back to Shute Harbour. What an amazing day that was! Nothing like being waaaaaaay out in the ocean seeing nothing but the great big blue sea!
Great day on the reef!
Wednesday morning was another early morning, but well worth it of course! Picked up and headed to the marina to climb aboard the Camira Catamaran sail boat...we were lathered up with 30+ sunscreen and ready for another full day in the sun! [the sunblock here is made based on a different rating scale than the spf at home...so a 30+ here is like an spf 90 - crazy!] Like Tuesday's reef adventure, it was an all-inclusive day of sailing which made it really easy and convenient. It was so relaxing to be on a sail boat all day; we began with a sail through the islands and then stopped for a snorkel...we again wore stinger suits, but today rather than swimming off a pontoon to snorkel, a small boat took us from the sail boat and dropped us off near the snorkel point - meaning, we had to jump into 12-20 ft deep water and then very quickly swim toward the coral that was off the shore of one of the islands. Snorkeling wasn't anything compared to that of the Great Barrier Reef, and because there were SO many people in such a small area, it was quite murky...still managed to see some rather large fish, but we were not in the water for long :) Our sail continued around Whitsunday Island, the largest of the 74 islands, with our next stop at Whitehaven Beach, a 7km long beach of white silica sand (next time I'll have to bring along my jewelry because the sand supposedly cleans the silver really well). We got off the boat and went for a nice long walk on the beach before laying out in the warm afternoon sun - always having to squeeze in time to tan, no matter how brief ;)
Enjoying an afternoon of sailing
The rest of the afternoon was spent sailing all through the Whitsunday Passage and around the islands…by this point we made friends and sat with them on one of the nets above the water at the front of the sail boat – 4 guys traveling from NYC (and gave us a great recommendation for a hostel in Queenstown, New Zealand), 2 German-speaking girls (one Austrian, one Hungarian) rv-ing their way through the east coast of Australia, and a couple from Germany. Katie was able to put her years of studying German to good use. But lucky for me, everyone spoke English and it was a great time learning about the others’ travels and experiences…plus, there was enough wine and beer to last the afternoon – yes that was part of the all-inclusive deal! It was a long day of sunning and drinking, not returning to the dock until at least 6 that evening! After a quick bite to eat and briefly meeting up with our new friends in town, Katie and I turned in for the night…
Our flight on Thursday didn’t leave until early afternoon, so we had the bright idea of walking along the beach pathway – a short 3 mile walk – thinking it’d be nice to get some exercise. WRONG! It was a warm 35 degrees (95 F) and what felt like 100% humidity when we left the hostel!!!!! I was so sweaty that my feet were slipping off my sandals – or as Aussies call them, thongs – and I was getting blisters, so I ended up walking barefoot for some of the way (which I’m finding it’s not unusual to find an Aussie walking barefoot down the street, in stores, etc…dirty!). By the time we made it our three miles, and found a chemist to buy some bandaids, we were both all for grabbing a cab back to our air-conditioned hostel until the taxi picked us up for the airport :) It was a wonderful trip to the reef and the Whitsundays, but being in Queensland where it is so close to the equator, it was very tropical, very hot, and very humid! It felt VERY good to step onto that cool air-conditioned airplane and head back to what has been home for the last 2 weeks…the Murriott.
Btw…we had the most interesting, or rather unfortunate, airplane buddies for all 4 legs of the journey getting us to and from Sydney…on each of the flights, Katie and I had the center and window seats, so one of us sat next to a stranger, and we must have had the most unlucky seats of the plane. Leg 1 - Sydney to Brisbane: Stinky Man. This person was the worst repulsive smelling person I’ve ever smelled in my life…lucky for me, he was next to me and I just about suffocated! I was leaning toward Katie the entire time, toward the window, fanning myself with my boarding pass for fresh air the entire time; even checked his seat after he stood up fearing for the worst! Needless to say we had the giggles for most of that 2 hour flight. Leg 2 – Brisbane to Proserpine/Whitsunday Coast: Sweaty Man. Katie had the honors of sitting next to a very nice Australian man, but after take off he was dripping sweat and radiating millions degrees of heat. Our airplane air was turned on full force that flight. Leg 3 – Proserpine to Brisbane: Nail Polish Lady. Finally, a petite lady to sit next to, great – or so we thought! About half way through the flight, after she’s been pulling out the laptop, fidgeting with her carry-ons nonstop, she decides to bring out the nail polish and paint her nails! Um, talk about strong smells and not enough air to diminish it! Leg 4 – Brisbane to Sydney: Cheese Man. Final leg of the journey and the man seated next to me decides to order the red wine with cheese plate – wow, that must have been some aged cheese because the smell reached my nose in a second, and once again I was working on getting some fresh air.
It was so GREAT to land in Sydney, not only to breathe fresh air FINALLY, but Adam and Emma picked us up and big plans awaited us…time to try some kangaroo! Yes, as in the jumping animal! We drove through the city to Surrey Hill to a restaurant that is known for their Kangaroo Pizza and ordered away…I had no idea what to expect, but it was yummy! To me, it tasted like beef jerky – softer, but still tough in its own way. I don’t know if that makes it a very appealing description, but I thought it tasted great and definitely went for seconds :) After dinner, we got a taste of Kings Cross (the Red Light District of Sydney) and went to the Sapphire Lounge for some drinks.
Yummmmy! Kangaroo pizza!
Me, Emma, and Katie out in Kings Cross
BOOMERANG BEACH AND FISHY FISHY
Friday morning it was a great feeling to wake up at our home away from home in Curly Beach. The Murrays decided to take us to their beach home at Boomerang Beach (aka Fishy Fishy as named by David) 4 hours north of North Curl Curl, so David, Louise, Erik, Katie, and I packed and got in the car for a drive into the bush. Lots of eucalypts and palms along the way, but still a very hot and dry terrain. A great drive up the Australian Pacific Highway, over Mooney Mooney Bridge (gotta love the names of things here!) and under the animal crossings that are nets that run above the highway for the koalas and wombats. The first thing we did upon arrival was walk across the street to check out the surf (the boys were very ancy to catch some good waves), but it wasn’t any good according to David so we headed back to the unit and enjoyed our regular cocktail hour before dinner. Saturday, the we girls enjoyed the day poolside – it was SO nice just to sit by the pool and not go anywhere, as lazy as it sounds, but that’s what a holiday is for, right? We took a drive into the nearest town, Forster (pronounced Foster, as Australians do not say their “r’s”) for a brief walk around the small main street and an ice cream treat. After the day of sunning and swimming, we got ready for (once again) cocktail hour and dinner. Both nights, we successfully were the last ones in the restaurant and made very good friends with the staff, of course! At dinner we drank a delicious Chardonnay from the Petersons Winery, a vineyard that Katie, Caitlyn, and I visited in the Hunter Valley, which was really neat (considering all of the wines from the small, family-owned wineries we went to are not sold at supa markets or bottle shops). On our way back from dinner last night, we saw a kookaburra sitting in the tree – the shadow looked like a large squirrel to me – but when we learned it was a kookaburra, Katie and I started singing “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree…..” Also, being in the bush and in a more tropical climate, we were sure to spray ourselves to keep the mozzies (mosquitoes) away! Luckily, I only came home with one small bite :)
photo op at Fishy Fishy
This morning we had a nice morning on the patio and then returned to Curly for a great refreshing swim in the ocean! Later this afternoon, Erik drove Katie and I to the grocery store so we could buy food for dinner – Katie and I cooked for the family tonight, our treat, which was a fun thing to do…on the menu: chicken enchiladas and cowboy cavier. They LOVED it :) Yay! I was glad I remembered the enchilada recipe off the top of my head, for the most part (thanks Mom!) Yum yum, it was also nice for me to have a taste of home too…
This week: New Zealand!!!! Tomorrow we leave BRIGHT and EARLY to catch a 9am flight to Christchurch, which is on the South Island. Ian and Susan Thompson and their family will be picking us up at the airport [I sent them a picture of Katie and I so they know what we look like =), as Susan had sent me a photo of the family] and driving us to the holiday home in Akaroa for Monday night. Tuesday we will return to their home in Christchurch to explore the city before leaving by bus for Queenstown Wednesday morning. We’ve booked the hostel recommended by our NY friends for 3 nights, which then brings us to Saturday, when we’ll return to Sydney for our last few days…it is going by so fast!
Sending my love to all xoxoox Miss you and wishing that you could be here with me!!!
Cheers!
I laughed out loud when I read the part about you checking the stinky man's seat. You would! Glad to hear you're having a great time! Miss you :) xoxo
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