Ay ay Captain

(Posted by Amy actually!)

On Friday night we spent a lovely evening catching up with V (who we met on our Fraser Island trip) and watching fireworks that were put on for the "schoolies".  Then after a thoroughly air conditioned nights sleep we were up preparing to board Eureka II, our home for the next three days.  Eureka II is an ex-racing yacht and despite looking small from the outside was surprisingly spacious and really nicely decorated inside and out.  There were 15 of us on the trip and two crew looking after us.  Mark the Skipper was a 40 year old Californian "dude" who seemed to have spent most of his in and around water in some manner and Martin was his glamorous young dutch male assistant who was the skivvy really (i.e. chef, cleaner, boat hand etc).

We immediately hit it off with everyone on the boat; a different crowd to the Fraser island lot but in a way that suited sailing and relaxing around the Whitsundays.  But then we had chosen a chilled out, relaxed boat so it makes sense that it would attract some like minded people.  There was a Irish couple, a couple from London, us, an older Dutch couple, three young Germans, a Californian and a barrister from Derby. 

The fifteenth member of the group was quite a surprise.  As we got down to Abel Point Marina Rob thought he saw someone he recognised from the past and sure enough it was Leanne, Adam's old best mate from school!  So this was someone Rob also saw a lot of when he was younger, though apparently normally in a rather comatose state after she and Adam had had a heavy night out.  So, it's a small world really and was great to get to hear what she has been up to and her plans for the future.

Once we were all boarded and introduced there was no mucking about and we got straight on our way and sailed over to Langford Island which was nearby the exclusive Hayman island (where a night can run you AUS$16,000) Langford Island is basically a sand dune and so it got smaller and smaller as the tide came in but they picked us up in the dingy just in time.  We saw lots of amazing fishes and I had a snooze on the beach (which resulted in one pink ear).  As a precaution, we had to wear these "stinger" suits to protect us from Jelly fish (of which some in Oz have a deadly sting).  They were also quite handy to protect you from burning (except for ears).  At first we were all really paranoid as we thought we were seeing loads of jelly fish all over the place but these turned out to be fish eggs and we all looked a bit stupid!





Back on the boat we had lunch and then headed off again over to a pass of Hook Island where we were to spend the night.  The sail that afternoon was particularly relaxing as everyone had now settled in, was snoozy after lunch and I think we were all stunned by the views.  When we were moored off Hook Island we were each allowed a 1 minute shower and the beers and snacks were brought out as the sun was setting.  I felt bad for poor old Martin as we all sat on our arses and chatted and got drunk and he had to cook for 15 of us, but despite my offers he wouldn't let me help.  He cooked chicken curry for us all and then we stayed up on deck until about 11pm getting to know each other before we all passed out, nothing like a day of sun, snorkling and fresh air to make you sleepy (and a bit of wine probably helps too).  Rob stayed up on deck under the stars which meant I got our double bunk to myself.

As always with camping or sailing everyone was up nice and early and after a quick brek we motored down to near Whitehaven beach.  This beach has the finest sand in the world which was used to make the lense for the hubble telescope!  It was still really early at this point and it was amazing to climb to the look out and look down on the beach just as the day was waking up.  We spent a good few hours down there which was brilliant.  I spent a luxurious hour reading in the shallows and then put on my sexy stinger suit to go looking for wildlife and successfully sighted a stingray and a baby reef shark which I was very pleased about. Back on board we were fed again and then raced another boat over to Makeral bay for today's snorkling.  Here we were even luckier and saw a huge turtle that had come up for air.

The sailing today was much more exciting as it was much windier than on Saturday.  We had to tack to get to Makeral Bay and the boat was so tipped that all of us had to line up on the high side with our legs over and then clamber over really quickly each time was tacked.  It was loads of fun despite resulting in a number of bruises and sun burn (not me though, I've learnt my lesson from surfing in Byron and kept covered).  Our  final stop on Sunday and base for the night was ... which was another stunning location.  We were fed Nachos with our beers and then spag bol and garlic bread and then drank too much wine in the breeze up on deck.  It was another perfect day.

Monday was the windiest yet.   We started the day by heading up to another look out where you can look down on the boat and also learn about the history of the Islands and their original inhabitants.  This was great except for the fact that we were sieged by March flies (horse flies) that ate us alive.  So once back on board we sped off to leave them behind and headed to Raven's Cove (a nice piratey name). We jumped off the boat and swam over to the snorkling this time although as there wasn't loads to see I had a swim about instead. 

We stayed moored here for a bit until everyone was done snorkling, to wait for the two people who had gone diving and to give Martin time to get sorted.  The only prob with this was that it was windy and we span around lots on our mooring and Rob got greener and greener.  He thinks it was after a rocky night sleeping on deck, and I think perhaps him helping me finish the (box of) wine the night before might have also been a contributer.  But he wasn't actually sick and eventually we had lunch and headed off for our final sail.  This time we seemed to be racing back against another boat which raced for Australia in America!  We went really fast on the way back and the waves were huge and we crashed through them.  It was brilliant and beautiful and totally exhilarating and one of those moments when you don't want to be anywhere else.  I stored the feeling and the memory to return to in my mind when back at work to make me feel happy and smug. 

 

Back on dry land we took a cheesy group photo and then some of us went to the lagoon to cool down (and finish the last of the wine) before having showers and sorting out our packing.  Lots of us were getting the bus out of Airlie that eve so we agreed to meet for dinner at the Mexican near the bus stop.   It was a great end to a brilliant three days and happy hour priced mojitos sealed the deal.  Drunk and full we boarded the bus to head North, so from boat to bus in just a few hours and preparing to awake the next day in another new location....