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During our stay in Sydney we booked to go to two of the premier attractions on Australia’s well travelled East Coast, The Whitsunday Islands and Fraser Island. We booked a combined package with Tribal Travel for a very reasonable price and drove our rented spaceship from there all the way up to Airlie Beach, where we boarded our boat.  We spent two nights and three days on The Habibi, and slept on the boat.  There are many tours that offer accommodation on one of the 74 islands that make up the Whitsundays, but we opted for the ‘on the boat’ sleeping arrangements to get the true sailor experience.

Prior to boarding our home for the next three days, we made a brief, but essential, stop off for alcohol.  The Habibi allows you to bring onboard as much alcohol as you wish and so we were a little scared of making the same mistake as many and going a little overboard.  We purchased four boxes of goon and two crates of beer between three of us and this proved to be more than enough.

The boat had a spacious decked area, providing more than enough room to stretch out and soak up some much needed rays, while coasting peacefully along passed some idyllic beaches and spectacular scenery.  On our first day out there wasn’t enough wind to cast the sail but it was still a pleasure to be out on the water.  As we passed certain islands the crew talked a little about them, pointing out one that was owned by George Harrison from the Beatles and many others that he had given ridiculous nicknames due to their shape and appearance.  It was incredible how one did actually resemble Homer Simpson, not short and fat – but in facial construction.

We boarded the boat at midday so we spent the afternoon sailing to a nice spot, where we anchored up and were cooked a fantastic meal.  Being three strapping young lads, we were challenged to finish off all remaining the food, and I can proudly say after a struggle we managed it.  Needless to say, you do not go hungry on the boat. That night we socialised with the other travellers on the boat.  The nights sleep was not ideal for underneath the boat got extremely hot and by morning I found myself, accompanied by the majority of the people on the boat, sprawled out somewhere on the deck.  I woke up and looked around and kept seeing strange objects poking out of the water.  After several minutes of observation I worked out the they were turtles poking their heads out of the water.

We visited the Whitsunday Islands during Stinger season (jellyfish).  We therefore had to wear stinger suits whenever we entered the water.  Some of the jellyfish in the water can cause serious pain and even death in some cases, though it is very rare, so wearing a stinger suit is compulsory even if its not the most attractive of outfits!  That morning we had a lovely breakfast on the deck of the boat and then caught kitted out in our stinger suits.  We were then taken over to a beach in small groups on a little boat.  The beach we were taken to was voted as the world’s most beautiful beach that year, with sand so fine and pure that you can use it to clean jewelry, wash hair and even exfoliate the skin.

Once on the beach, we soaked up the rays of early morning sunshine and tossed around a rugby ball in the sea.  We then gathered everyone together and began an epic game of beach cricket.  We spent all morning on the beach, before returning to the boat for some lunch.  We then raised the anchor and made way to a popular spot for snorkeling.  The crew were really good fun and encouraged everyone to get involved with sailing, by asking for help to raise sails etc.

We sailed for a few hours after lunch and then came to a spot where there were a few other boats anchored up.  We too anchored our boat and got dressed in our stinger suits again to jump into the water for a spot of snorkeling.  It was this that I was most looking forward to about the trip, snorkeling the world’s largest coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef.  The snorkeling was fantastic and I saw numerous beautiful tropical fish.  It was an incredible experience and I could have stayed in the water all day.  I took an underwater camera with me and think I used up all the photos within ten minutes.

We snorkeled late into the afternoon and then returned to the boat for dinner and another restless nights sleep under the deck.  It was unbearably hot underneath the deck, and to make matters worse, it rained through the night so that we couldn’t even sleep out on the deck.  We woke up early the next morning to find it still raining and so our final day was spent in raincoats, sailing on choppy waters back to port.  It was still great fun to be out on the boat, but I was pretty relieved to get back onto solid ground.

So that was my first sailing experience and afterwards I can say it certainly will not be my last!  It was great fun throughout, all be it with a few restless nights sleep on the boat.  The only thing I may change would be to sleep on one of the islands as apposed to underneath the deck of the boat.  The highlight had to be the snorkeling of the great barrier reef, truly incredible!!

August 3rd, 2009 | Tags: Airlie Beach, Sailing, snorkeling, the great barrier reef, The Whitsundays, Tribal Travel, Whitsunday Islands | Category: Australia, Oceania Trips | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL