Airlie Beach Lagoon
Some Words for The Class of '09
14 years ago
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Long Island - Day 3
My final day at sea and we had all decided to spend it at a resort on Long Island so we could take advantage of their facilities. There was a pool with a vollyball net, a jacuzzi, sauna, table tennis, and hammocks! We had a good hour or so sail to get there which was good fun and I also got to do some steering which is a lot more difficult than it looks, as the wheel looks really light from watching other people steer.
When we got to the resort everyone layed out there towels on the sun loungers and I jumped in the jacuzzi!! After I gotbored of the jacuzziI went for a dip in the pool which was super cold in comparison but once you were in it felt quite nice. Some other people got in after a while and we got a bit of volleyball on the go which was a good laugh. Me and Alan also had a game of headers over the net, though its a lot harder in water and we only managed to get 7 headers in a row between us. I went for a dry off in the sauna which had only just been turned and wasnt that hot so decided to come back later and go find the hammocks!!
The hammocks were super nice and hung in between two palm trees overlooking the beach it felt like paradise! I got a good dry off there and then went back to the sauna where it had got a lot hotter. We had to get back on the boat for 3 so I had a quick game of table tennis and then got back on the boat for our short sail to Shute Harbour where our trip was ending.
Everyone had a really good time and we all met up again at the bar in Beaches as Prosail had a table reserved and we were getting free jugs of beer! I really did end up drinking too much as they must have brought over about 20 jugs between us plus we had bought some jugs between some of us earlier haha. I impressed everyone with a few of my tricks which was really funny as no-one could work out how they were done and I didnt divulge any information. After Beaches we all headed to a club across the road called Mama's Africa and spent a few hours there. I had a good sleep in this morning and didnt rise until 1pm, Im just planning on chilling out today and have a mooch about Airlie to see whats about. Ive got my next bus in the morning which Is going to Magnetic Island where I will be spending a night before going up to Mission Beach.
When we got to the resort everyone layed out there towels on the sun loungers and I jumped in the jacuzzi!! After I gotbored of the jacuzziI went for a dip in the pool which was super cold in comparison but once you were in it felt quite nice. Some other people got in after a while and we got a bit of volleyball on the go which was a good laugh. Me and Alan also had a game of headers over the net, though its a lot harder in water and we only managed to get 7 headers in a row between us. I went for a dry off in the sauna which had only just been turned and wasnt that hot so decided to come back later and go find the hammocks!!
The hammocks were super nice and hung in between two palm trees overlooking the beach it felt like paradise! I got a good dry off there and then went back to the sauna where it had got a lot hotter. We had to get back on the boat for 3 so I had a quick game of table tennis and then got back on the boat for our short sail to Shute Harbour where our trip was ending.
Everyone had a really good time and we all met up again at the bar in Beaches as Prosail had a table reserved and we were getting free jugs of beer! I really did end up drinking too much as they must have brought over about 20 jugs between us plus we had bought some jugs between some of us earlier haha. I impressed everyone with a few of my tricks which was really funny as no-one could work out how they were done and I didnt divulge any information. After Beaches we all headed to a club across the road called Mama's Africa and spent a few hours there. I had a good sleep in this morning and didnt rise until 1pm, Im just planning on chilling out today and have a mooch about Airlie to see whats about. Ive got my next bus in the morning which Is going to Magnetic Island where I will be spending a night before going up to Mission Beach.
Whitehaven Beach - Day 2
We got up had breakfast and then got in the motor boat which was attached to the back of ther Matador so we could be taken to shore. The crew had a volleyball net so set that up on the beach for us to take advantage of though no-one really seemed that interested and we only had a 2 on 2 game which you cant really do.
Whitehaven Beach was so nice, the sand was so fine and white and the sea was crystal clear. We messed around with a frizbee and some balls for a while and then someone spotted a huge starfish in the shallow water which was really kool. I then went and sat down in the shade on a table with Alan and we spotted one of those big Iguana type reptiles again which decided to head straight for us and came right up to where we were sitting! I managed to get a really good video of it walking along and a couple of photos. When I went to the toilet I also had the nice surprise of spotting three lizard on the wall, so It was quick in and out situation.
We spent quite a while on the beach and then got back on the boat to go to another snorkelling spot which was at Cataran Bay. I got geared up again and did one of those backwards drops off the boat that you always see people doing in the movies. As soon as I was in the water there were just loads of fish everywhere it was awesome and the water was so clear you could see them perfectly. I had a nice long snorkel around that area observing the coral and all the different fish doing there own thing it was awesome, I managed to finish off my camera here so hopefully the pictures will come out well.
We then got back on the boat for another sail to our overnight spot which was at Nara Inlet where we dropped the anchor and then tucked in to a steak dinner. The crew got out the disco ball and put on some music while everyone lounged about on the deck. The front sail was really comfortable to lye on so I spent most of my time relaxing on that drinking a beer. The girls wanted to play a game which was boys vs girls where the object was to think of 10 questions that we didmnt think the other team would know the answer to. The team who got the most answers correct won and gave a forfeit to the other team. We all agreed the losing team would be slaves for the other team for the following day.
We came up with some really good general knowledge questions that they didnt have a clue about. All of there questions were girl related and I managed to secure out win by knowing what a GHD was woohhooo!!!!! If anyone doesnt know there hair straightners :) So that was us sorted for the rest of our washing and making tea etc haha, we all made the most of it anyway.
Whitehaven Beach was so nice, the sand was so fine and white and the sea was crystal clear. We messed around with a frizbee and some balls for a while and then someone spotted a huge starfish in the shallow water which was really kool. I then went and sat down in the shade on a table with Alan and we spotted one of those big Iguana type reptiles again which decided to head straight for us and came right up to where we were sitting! I managed to get a really good video of it walking along and a couple of photos. When I went to the toilet I also had the nice surprise of spotting three lizard on the wall, so It was quick in and out situation.
We spent quite a while on the beach and then got back on the boat to go to another snorkelling spot which was at Cataran Bay. I got geared up again and did one of those backwards drops off the boat that you always see people doing in the movies. As soon as I was in the water there were just loads of fish everywhere it was awesome and the water was so clear you could see them perfectly. I had a nice long snorkel around that area observing the coral and all the different fish doing there own thing it was awesome, I managed to finish off my camera here so hopefully the pictures will come out well.
We then got back on the boat for another sail to our overnight spot which was at Nara Inlet where we dropped the anchor and then tucked in to a steak dinner. The crew got out the disco ball and put on some music while everyone lounged about on the deck. The front sail was really comfortable to lye on so I spent most of my time relaxing on that drinking a beer. The girls wanted to play a game which was boys vs girls where the object was to think of 10 questions that we didmnt think the other team would know the answer to. The team who got the most answers correct won and gave a forfeit to the other team. We all agreed the losing team would be slaves for the other team for the following day.
We came up with some really good general knowledge questions that they didnt have a clue about. All of there questions were girl related and I managed to secure out win by knowing what a GHD was woohhooo!!!!! If anyone doesnt know there hair straightners :) So that was us sorted for the rest of our washing and making tea etc haha, we all made the most of it anyway.
The Whitsundays - Day 1
Today was the first day of my 3 day 2 night sailing trip to the Whitsundays. I stored my big backpack at the hostel and managed to squeeze in everything I needed to a small daypack. I then went to check-in at the Prosail office and get my Stinger suit for when I went snorkelling. It is at the end of the stinger season now but I didnt want to take any chances, plus someone had been stung the week before. I then went to wait for the bus down to Shute Harbour where we were departing. I met up with Alan and Lucas again who were both co-incidently on the same boat as me, these were two guys that I had done Fraser Island with.
When we got down to the harbour we gathered our stuff and went to board the boat. I got a waterproof camera at the last minute so I could take some underwater shots when I went snorkelling. The boat definately looked bigger in the photos as It was a lot smaller then I was expecting, though once I was on It felt big enough. There were quite a lot of Germans on the boat along with a couple of Canadians and the rest were English. This was going to be the only day that we had the opportunity to do a dive and I was really looking forward to it!!
There was a dive instructor on board who went through what we would be doing etc.. then we were each given a form to fill out which had lots of questions on about health and stuff. There was one question asking if you had ever had any chest surgery so I asked if having a chest drain in counted. This was when I was told "yes" and that I wouldnt be able to do the dive :( nooooooo!!!!!
Apparently I needed a medical certificate to show that I was able to dive due to the fact that scar tissue is weaker and there is a possibilty that my lung could explode or something even though Im pretty sure I would be fine so that really sucked!! At leastI saved myself $75 and could at least go snorkelling.
I put on my stinger suit and then equipped myself with some flippers and a snorkel mask. The Great Barrier Reef comes down as far as The Whitsundays so there was coral and loads of fish to look at. When you had your ears submerged in the water you could hear the fish making crunching sounds as they fed off the coral which was quite kool. There were loads of different fish around it was awesome, and my favourite moment was when I swam in a huge shoal of those small silver fish (like the ones on finding nemo). I was just completelty surrounded in these fish and thats all I could see in every direction, they were just so fast that any movement I made they got out of the way and didnt touch me once. When I was right in the middle of them It took me a while to be able to swim out of them and find clear water.
Everyone then got back on the boat ready for some high speed sailing. Everyone took it in turns to help put up the sails by turning these winches. When we got going the boat was at a 45 degree + angle so everyone had to sit up on the igh side or else they would get soaked. We also did a few taks which Is when we needed to change direction and move the sail onto the other side of the boat. This meant everyone had to dash to the other side of the boat as this now became the high side and vice versa.
When we got to our destination Whitehaven Beach It was pitch black so we dropped the anchor for the night and had some dinner.
When we got down to the harbour we gathered our stuff and went to board the boat. I got a waterproof camera at the last minute so I could take some underwater shots when I went snorkelling. The boat definately looked bigger in the photos as It was a lot smaller then I was expecting, though once I was on It felt big enough. There were quite a lot of Germans on the boat along with a couple of Canadians and the rest were English. This was going to be the only day that we had the opportunity to do a dive and I was really looking forward to it!!
There was a dive instructor on board who went through what we would be doing etc.. then we were each given a form to fill out which had lots of questions on about health and stuff. There was one question asking if you had ever had any chest surgery so I asked if having a chest drain in counted. This was when I was told "yes" and that I wouldnt be able to do the dive :( nooooooo!!!!!
Apparently I needed a medical certificate to show that I was able to dive due to the fact that scar tissue is weaker and there is a possibilty that my lung could explode or something even though Im pretty sure I would be fine so that really sucked!! At leastI saved myself $75 and could at least go snorkelling.
I put on my stinger suit and then equipped myself with some flippers and a snorkel mask. The Great Barrier Reef comes down as far as The Whitsundays so there was coral and loads of fish to look at. When you had your ears submerged in the water you could hear the fish making crunching sounds as they fed off the coral which was quite kool. There were loads of different fish around it was awesome, and my favourite moment was when I swam in a huge shoal of those small silver fish (like the ones on finding nemo). I was just completelty surrounded in these fish and thats all I could see in every direction, they were just so fast that any movement I made they got out of the way and didnt touch me once. When I was right in the middle of them It took me a while to be able to swim out of them and find clear water.
Everyone then got back on the boat ready for some high speed sailing. Everyone took it in turns to help put up the sails by turning these winches. When we got going the boat was at a 45 degree + angle so everyone had to sit up on the igh side or else they would get soaked. We also did a few taks which Is when we needed to change direction and move the sail onto the other side of the boat. This meant everyone had to dash to the other side of the boat as this now became the high side and vice versa.
When we got to our destination Whitehaven Beach It was pitch black so we dropped the anchor for the night and had some dinner.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Kroombit
Kroombit is a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere in between Hervey Bay and Airlie Beach. I had a load of new people to meet which was kool but its just feels so weird getting to know one group of people really well and then for them all to go their seperate ways and be replaced with strangers. Before hitting Kroombit we stopped off about halfway to do a Skooter-roo. This was basically a tour near the area of 1770 where everyone was on skooters and you went to go and spot some kangeroos!
As I had ridden one before I got to have one of the better bikes but I also aquired another passenger as there were some people who didnt have a license. We all had to follow one another and were led around by the tour leader who forget to keep cancelling her indicators which got quite annoying. We had a good ride and I managed to get about 80kph out of it (havn't got a clue what that is in mph?). We were taken to this spot where there were some skippys and we all got of our bikes to go get some close up shots with our cameras. They look quite small so I guess they must have only been young ones. There were three of them in total and we managed to get fairly close before they hopped off (I got a good video of there hopping action). Up until now I hadn't seen any kangeroos so was really pleased to have been able to, I really want to see a koala too but so far no luck with that!
It was then onto Kroombit, when we got there it actually looked quite good to what I was expecting though the dorm rooms were the smallest rooms on earth and looked like they could be the home to spiders and other creepy crawlies. They had a volleyball court so some of us had a few games before it got too dark, by which time the dinner was ready so it worked out quite well. For dinner we had soup for starters and then beef with potatoes and veg which was really nice, I even went back for seconds.
After dinner they had a few activites going on like whip cracking which I managed to do a few times but I kept catching my arm so decided to stop. Everyone put in a $1 to enter the mechanical bull competition and whoever won got the lot. I managed to stay on for 9 seconds but it hurt so much that I couldnt hang on for any longer. The girl who won managed to stay on for 68 and no-one else even came close haha. Pretty much everyone went to bed fairly early as It was going to be a really long bus ride in the morning.
We got up for breakfast at 6.30 and then loaded our stuff back in the bus for our marathon journey. Im not sure how far it was to Airlie beach but I didnt arrive until 7ish. We were supposed to be going bowling but the driver took a wrong road and we went miles off route so we ended up not having enough time. At least there was a tv and dvd player on this bus so a few films passed the time.
Im off on a 3 day 2 night Whitsundays sailing trip tomorrow so I wont be updating my blog again for a few days. Im hoping the weather will be good and Im looking forward to doing some snorkelling and diving.
As I had ridden one before I got to have one of the better bikes but I also aquired another passenger as there were some people who didnt have a license. We all had to follow one another and were led around by the tour leader who forget to keep cancelling her indicators which got quite annoying. We had a good ride and I managed to get about 80kph out of it (havn't got a clue what that is in mph?). We were taken to this spot where there were some skippys and we all got of our bikes to go get some close up shots with our cameras. They look quite small so I guess they must have only been young ones. There were three of them in total and we managed to get fairly close before they hopped off (I got a good video of there hopping action). Up until now I hadn't seen any kangeroos so was really pleased to have been able to, I really want to see a koala too but so far no luck with that!
It was then onto Kroombit, when we got there it actually looked quite good to what I was expecting though the dorm rooms were the smallest rooms on earth and looked like they could be the home to spiders and other creepy crawlies. They had a volleyball court so some of us had a few games before it got too dark, by which time the dinner was ready so it worked out quite well. For dinner we had soup for starters and then beef with potatoes and veg which was really nice, I even went back for seconds.
After dinner they had a few activites going on like whip cracking which I managed to do a few times but I kept catching my arm so decided to stop. Everyone put in a $1 to enter the mechanical bull competition and whoever won got the lot. I managed to stay on for 9 seconds but it hurt so much that I couldnt hang on for any longer. The girl who won managed to stay on for 68 and no-one else even came close haha. Pretty much everyone went to bed fairly early as It was going to be a really long bus ride in the morning.
We got up for breakfast at 6.30 and then loaded our stuff back in the bus for our marathon journey. Im not sure how far it was to Airlie beach but I didnt arrive until 7ish. We were supposed to be going bowling but the driver took a wrong road and we went miles off route so we ended up not having enough time. At least there was a tv and dvd player on this bus so a few films passed the time.
Im off on a 3 day 2 night Whitsundays sailing trip tomorrow so I wont be updating my blog again for a few days. Im hoping the weather will be good and Im looking forward to doing some snorkelling and diving.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Last Day On Fraser
Surprisingly we all got up fairly early again seeing as everyone had a late night. Got some brekkie, packed away the tents and all our other stuff. We had heard about a lake where there are loads of turtles so we thought we would check that out before finishing off our day at Lake McKenzie. The Lake with the turtles was called Lake Allom as was only about a 45min drive from camp. When we got there we found the lake and saw an incredibly sum of 5 turles!! They were still really kool but we had hoped for some mass turtle action. Someone spotted a snake but it had dissapeared before I got there :( The next sighting made up for it though as it was a huge iguana type reptile which was up a tree next to where we had parked.
After messing around there for a while we went to Lake McKenzie which is one of the Top 10 beaches in the world! The sand is pure silica and pure white it was awesome and the water was crystal clear. We all stayed there for a few hours before having to get back to the ferry port as our ferry was leaving at 4. I got so many bites at the ferry port as there were hundreds of little midges everywhere. I sprayed myself with some bug spray but it didnt seem to do much good. When we got back to the 4x4 hire place everything had to be checked to make sure it was there and still in the same condition. We somehow were missing a some cutlery but managed to talk ourselves out of a fine.
We got back to the hostel, collected our bags and checked in again. We were all put in the same dorm which was kool and then went to the bar for the rest of the night where we got food and had lots of cocktails! There was some really drunk guy who though he would try and do a hand stand on one of the tables haha, that ended up with him falling flat on his face and im surprised he didnt break his neck or something. We managed to blag a jug of cocktail from him as he had knocked over a few of our bottles even though they were pretty much empty. Michael was leaving to get his bus at 12 and got so drunk he was absolutely hilarious and had everyone in crying their eyes out. A few of us stayed in the bar until about 2 and then called it a night.
Ive got 2 nights in Hervey now until I can get my next bus. Theres not much to do here so just gonna relax, do my laundry and update my blog! My bus is on Tuesday which is going to a place called Kroombit where I will be staying at a cattle ranch so should be fun. Im then heading up tp Airlie Beach the day after as my Whitsundays sailing cruise departs on Thursday so there may be another few days before I can update my blog again!
After messing around there for a while we went to Lake McKenzie which is one of the Top 10 beaches in the world! The sand is pure silica and pure white it was awesome and the water was crystal clear. We all stayed there for a few hours before having to get back to the ferry port as our ferry was leaving at 4. I got so many bites at the ferry port as there were hundreds of little midges everywhere. I sprayed myself with some bug spray but it didnt seem to do much good. When we got back to the 4x4 hire place everything had to be checked to make sure it was there and still in the same condition. We somehow were missing a some cutlery but managed to talk ourselves out of a fine.
We got back to the hostel, collected our bags and checked in again. We were all put in the same dorm which was kool and then went to the bar for the rest of the night where we got food and had lots of cocktails! There was some really drunk guy who though he would try and do a hand stand on one of the tables haha, that ended up with him falling flat on his face and im surprised he didnt break his neck or something. We managed to blag a jug of cocktail from him as he had knocked over a few of our bottles even though they were pretty much empty. Michael was leaving to get his bus at 12 and got so drunk he was absolutely hilarious and had everyone in crying their eyes out. A few of us stayed in the bar until about 2 and then called it a night.
Ive got 2 nights in Hervey now until I can get my next bus. Theres not much to do here so just gonna relax, do my laundry and update my blog! My bus is on Tuesday which is going to a place called Kroombit where I will be staying at a cattle ranch so should be fun. Im then heading up tp Airlie Beach the day after as my Whitsundays sailing cruise departs on Thursday so there may be another few days before I can update my blog again!
Home of the Dingoes
Everyone got up fairly early and got breakfast which was cereal and toast before getting all our stuff sorted for the day ahead. Indian Head is the most northern part of the island so we though we would start there and make our way down the Island. You had to climb up Indian Head which gave an awesome view, you could spot a few tiger sharks and rays swimming about below but there wasnt really that many about. Another group had seen a whale there and some bigger sharks, I guess we just went at the wrong time.
Lake Wobby looked so nice when looking at it from the view point the day before so we decided to go back and actually get to the lake. On the way we stopped off at The Pinnacles which was a sand formation and looked pretty spectacular. We also stopped off at Eli Creek which was awesome, I had put my swimming shorts on so had to walk through the creek holding my shorts up. Luckily my legs were just long enough to stop me getting my shorts wet at it was quite deep in parts. After walking down the creek we went and found the entrance on the Beach for the walk to Lake Wobby. This was a nice 800km walk, but it was definately worth it as Lake Wobby was so nice. It was stuated at the bottom of a huge sand dune and had cat fish swimming in it. Everyone lay in the sun and had a swim in the lake, time was pushing on again though so we had to start making our way back to the 4x4. Instead of taking the path we went over the sand dune and just head in the direction of the beach. It wasn't any quicker but it was kool just walking over all the virgin looking sand. By the time we got back to the 4x4 the sun was nearly dowm and the tide was pretty far in. I was doing most of the driving as I was the best :D
The drive back was amazing, I had to drive fairly fast to get back to camp before it got dark and also before the tide came in any further. There were a couple of times when the sea caught me out and water sprayed everywhere but it was really good fun. There were also a couple of little rivines where there was a drop in the sand on the beach that were full of water so had to be careful crossing them as by this time they had got really deep in parts. On parts of the beach there were rocks which prevented you from driving on the beach so there were detours which were a bit of a battle to get over as there were loads of huge holes in the track. I think everyone was relieved when we finally made it back to camp, and I was congratulated on my driving as no-one else would have could have done it :)
It was now time for a beer so we sat and had a few cans. Bolognese Pasta was on the menu tonight but Michael (Irish guy 1) had gone and bought some sausages and baps so had one of those first. After dinner we gotthe drinking games going again and ended up heading down to the beach as they turned the lights out at the camp around 10.30. The beach was pretty funny and I endwed up staying there till about 1am. When I got back to camp I saw Michael and we decided to go Dingo hunting as we had not seen one yet. Michael walked off and then like magic I see a dingo walk straight past our tent. I tried to get my camera out as fast as I could but only magaed to get a picture just as It was heading back into the trees. I was pleased I got to see one though as I didnt want to go back not having seen one.
Lake Wobby looked so nice when looking at it from the view point the day before so we decided to go back and actually get to the lake. On the way we stopped off at The Pinnacles which was a sand formation and looked pretty spectacular. We also stopped off at Eli Creek which was awesome, I had put my swimming shorts on so had to walk through the creek holding my shorts up. Luckily my legs were just long enough to stop me getting my shorts wet at it was quite deep in parts. After walking down the creek we went and found the entrance on the Beach for the walk to Lake Wobby. This was a nice 800km walk, but it was definately worth it as Lake Wobby was so nice. It was stuated at the bottom of a huge sand dune and had cat fish swimming in it. Everyone lay in the sun and had a swim in the lake, time was pushing on again though so we had to start making our way back to the 4x4. Instead of taking the path we went over the sand dune and just head in the direction of the beach. It wasn't any quicker but it was kool just walking over all the virgin looking sand. By the time we got back to the 4x4 the sun was nearly dowm and the tide was pretty far in. I was doing most of the driving as I was the best :D
The drive back was amazing, I had to drive fairly fast to get back to camp before it got dark and also before the tide came in any further. There were a couple of times when the sea caught me out and water sprayed everywhere but it was really good fun. There were also a couple of little rivines where there was a drop in the sand on the beach that were full of water so had to be careful crossing them as by this time they had got really deep in parts. On parts of the beach there were rocks which prevented you from driving on the beach so there were detours which were a bit of a battle to get over as there were loads of huge holes in the track. I think everyone was relieved when we finally made it back to camp, and I was congratulated on my driving as no-one else would have could have done it :)
It was now time for a beer so we sat and had a few cans. Bolognese Pasta was on the menu tonight but Michael (Irish guy 1) had gone and bought some sausages and baps so had one of those first. After dinner we gotthe drinking games going again and ended up heading down to the beach as they turned the lights out at the camp around 10.30. The beach was pretty funny and I endwed up staying there till about 1am. When I got back to camp I saw Michael and we decided to go Dingo hunting as we had not seen one yet. Michael walked off and then like magic I see a dingo walk straight past our tent. I tried to get my camera out as fast as I could but only magaed to get a picture just as It was heading back into the trees. I was pleased I got to see one though as I didnt want to go back not having seen one.
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