Sailing the Whitsundays

Reluctantly leaving the tropical Cairns we travelled to Airlie Beach for our Whitsundays sailing trip and were promptly greeted by rain. Hot rain granted, but rain none-the-less. Additionally, we found ourselves walking into the phenomenon called 'Schoolies Week'. Not the most pleasant Aussie custom when thousands upon thousands of 17-18 year olds descend on the East Coast of Australia for their big holidays...leaving chaos and destruction in their path. The news is full of arrests of drunken teenagers who are very possibly experiencing the first time away from home and more than likely their first alcohol. Oh, the heady days! Unfortunately, backpackers and schoolies do not appear to sit well together and there are uncomfortable stand offs on the streets as scruffy backpackers walk through hordes of teenagers wearing pyjamas. Yes, they have pyjama parties that appear to involve foam also. The mind boggles.

Schoolies aside, Airlie Beach has little to occupy the mind beside sunbathing (and that's hard in the rain) so we were relieved when the date for our Whitsundays sailing trip came round. Boarding the SV Whitehaven sailing boat, it promptly rained again but we soon discovered that we were with a good group of people and the weather didn't seem to matter quite as much anymore. We passed the island that the Beckhams spent their honeymoon on in a haze of rain and Beth actually threw up when we traversed through a channel called 'unsafe passage'. We could see why it got its name! The sun finally came through and we bush walked on one of the islands to see the glorious sunset illuminate the hills of the surrounding islands with a pink light. A big game of 's**thead' - the staple card game for travelers - ensued late into the night until it was time for bed. The crew asked who were couples and only Steve and Beth answered the call. Led away through the group, we envisioned a little cabin with a double bed tucked away into the back of the boat to celebrate our 18 month anniversary. Well, we got the double bed but had to share the room with another 8 people - not quite the romantic night we had envisioned, instead like a massive slumber party!

Despite the weather, we snorkeled the next day and saw what must be the biggest fish in the world - a greasy cod (glamorous) at 2m long. We spent the rest of the morning chilling out on Whitehaven beach - the highlight of the Whitsunday islands. The sand was actually white and felt like icing sugar underfoot as the beautiful turquoise sea lapped the shore. Unfortunately, there are lots of stingers so everyone was forced to wear Lycra catsuits. We certainly gave Halle 'Catwoman' Berry a run for her money...not. A mass celebrity foreheads game ruled the evening although we had no post-it notes to stick the name of the famous person on each others forehead so ended up using whiteboard marker pens. Lucy's idea of course! It was a bleary eyed group that snorkeled at 7.30 the following morning.

Our return to Airlie Beach saw everyone passing out for the afternoon before a big night out in town when everyone got absolutely trashed and made copious amounts of jokes about how we didn't recognise each other after we had showers. The best part of the entire night was when we queued for the club and were asked for ID. Beth made the bouncer repeat the request at regular intervals during the night and was considering recording it to playback on her 30th Birthday which is coming round with disturbing speed.

The old Queensland tourist slogan 'beautiful one day, perfect the next' was probably inspired by the Whitsundays - even if it was blurred by the rain at the time!