The Whitsundays

I was doing the Whitsundays through the boat Tongarra, a medium sized Catamaran with 21 guests and 2 crew members. It was supposed to be good for people that get sea sick, it's highlights were the fact that they provided all the extras for free (sleeping bag, sleeping mat, pillow etc.) plus there was more than enough food for everyone (unlike on Fraser). As well as this, there was space enough for everyone to sleep on deck, outside in the open (although under a tent, protected from any rain).

The first day, all we did was get introduced to the boat, the crew (Dave with dreadlocks and Ash the captain) and drove from the harbor to just off of one of the islands. That night was a quiet one where everyone got to know each other with a couple of drinking games before setting up their beds in the open and falling asleep to the sound of the waves.

Sunset over Australia

Pia from Germany

Moritz from Germany

The next day started with an early breakfast (7am) before we all got shipped off to White Haven Beach in groups of 6 on the little speed boat at the back of the boat. Ash took us to the beach (including an in counter with some green-bummed-ants, which if/when you lick their bums, you get a lime explosion in your mouth... yes I was first to do it. Apparently aboriginals used to use them to add flavor to their food.)

Good Morning, Whitsundays!

Dave from the Gold Coast

Tongarra, the speed boat and Ash

Ash and Moritz,
Walking through the bush to get to White Haven Beach

White Haven Beach was very pretty, though the weather wasn't so great, which was a shame, but it was still beautiful and Pia (German, 24, Dortmund fan) and I had fun waiting for the sun to break through the clouds every few minutes to capture the perfect picture!

Tongarra at the Look Out

Hungover Elliot and Dan
(They were on another boat but we saw each other at the Look Out)

Walking through the bush

Entrance to White Haven Beach

Pia and me

"Naked" group photo!

Taking in the view

White sand, YAY!

Tanned Pia in the sunshine!

We went back to the boat around 11.30 and had lunch at 12. Lunch was amazing! Buns and wraps with tuna mix, and ham and salad and beetroot and sweetcorn etc. etc.

Having a go at steering the boat

Later in the afternoon, we went snorkeling and it was wonderful! Although I had to try real hard not to freak out whenever I had my head underwater and was able to breath... At one point I was completely surrounded by fish, like I was part of the school... it was crazy cool. I also touched the MASSIVE fish "George" - I had fish food in my hand, and I looked down and just saw this massive face coming towards me, so I freaked out a little bit and just let go of the food, he turned and I got a full view of the huge body, he was really slimy!

Later on, I found a turtle, so I followed it for a while, watching it eat, I even gave it a little stroke, it continued eating undisturbed! So so cool. I want a turtle. We also found a "Nemo" fish somewhere in the reef and at one point I scraped my foot along a coral reef and got a big scratch (coral reef scratches get infected real easily, so if you get scratched, make sure you put on an antibacterial cream as soon as possible!)

Ash and Dave

My team!

Our enemies!

That night was the last night and Dave and Ash pulled out all the stops by dressing up in ridiculous costumes and getting the whole boat involved in some amusing games! During the games at one point, Pia sneakily ran around the boat naked while no one was expecting it (She'd lost her bet that Dortmund would win, so her forfeit was to run around the boat naked) - clever girl! And by the end of the night, Pia, Charlie (19, Dutch) and I were all dressed up in costumes too. It was a pretty funny night and a great end to the Whitsundays.

Maid, Flamingo dancer, Mermaid and a Genie on a boat.

The next morning started early again, this time we snorkeled in the morning and although the views were less impressive, it was a great way to wake up and I felt more relaxed in the water than before.

The rest of the day was spent getting back to the harbor, I spent my time at the front of the boat, enjoying the roller coaster waves (Mum you would have hated it!) and getting splashed up to the face with salt water.

Then we were back on solid group (though I still felt like I was swaying) and it was time to say goodbye, but not before getting invited to one last after-party in the Phoenix club in Airlie Beach.

I reunited with Rens, Dylan and Stephen in my hostel room from before the Whitsundays, I bumped into Charlie, Buster, Henry and Guy in the corridor and checked my emails, where I then arranged to join Elliot from Agnes Waters in a free Didgeridoo lesson in town. (Pia was also there). It was a pretty cool experience, and the tutor really impressed me with his performance and his offer at the end to create personalized didgeridoos for everyone for a good price and deliver them home (anywhere in the world) for free. I didn't do it, but if I had a bigger budget, I would have. Compared to the other prices I have seen around Australia, this place was REALLY good.

That night I headed out to Phoenix and although most of the people from my boat left pretty early, it felt like I knew almost everybody in the club which was unusual and a first since coming to Australia, but I loved it. One of my top 10 nights in Australia I would say!

The next day, I was up early and off to Townsville to catch a ferry to Magnetic Island!
Lucy xxo

Airlie Beach

I arrived in Airlie Beach at 7.30 am on the 24th of May. Rens, Dylan, Stephan, Rupert and I were all on the same bus so we walked to the hostel "Beaches" together (though Rupert went further to another hostel) and all ended up in the same room, with one new Dutch girl called Kristel.

First thing we did was sleep until 12 noon and then we did the 30 minute scenic walk to Coles, as the only other supermarket in town was ridiculously expensive.

Airlie Beach is my favorite town so far, it's a harbor town and is just so beautiful. It also had really really good weather during my whole stay so that might help...The higher up I go, the more I like Australia and I am starting to really want to come back one day and explore the rest of this vast country.

 

After lunch, we joined Marianne, Mike and Yellen at the Lagoon (you can't swim in the ocean at Airlie because of the dangerous jelly fish), this place was also really pretty but has extremely cold water!

That night we all enjoyed a big BBQ next to the beach before heading to a few of the local bars. Despite it's small size (only one main street) Airlie has quiet a few bars and clubs, most of which have free entry, which of course was a plus ;)

The next day started early for me as I had to check out again. I did some window shopping and around lunch time I bumped into Buster sitting outside of McDonalds and soon enough Charlie, Henry and Guy joined us. I don't think I can go anywhere anymore without seeing them!

Laughing Kookaburra

Half way through their meal, we got attacked twice by local Australian birds (Laughing Kookaburra), one flew out of no where and grabbed Guy's chicken nugget while the other came later on, sat on Henry's table space, looked at him and then stole a couple of chips before flying off again. It was hilarious and scary at the same time.

Charlie tempting fate by placing food on his head

Then it was time for me to go to the harbour and catch my boat tour around the Whitsundays!
Lucy xxo

Agnes Waters

I had a couple of days to relax and regroup in Agnes Waters. I got the bus from Rainbow Beach, and sat next to Marco who was also going to Agnes. It was my first Greyhound that arrived in a new place in the dark (6.30pm) luckily my hostel shuttle bus was already waiting for me. I stayed in Southern Cross Tourist Retreat, which sounds really posh but it's just a normal hostel. However, it does have free internet access, a gnome garden and each hostel room is named after a country - I staying in England.

On my first day in Agnes, I explored the hostel grounds, ate my breakfast next to a little lake and then went to meet Marco at the beach (he was staying at Cool Bananas). At the beach I saw some people I met at the Noosa Everglades and I am starting to think it's now impossible for me to go somewhere and not bump into someone I already know!

On my second day, at 2pm I was picked up at my hostel for the Scooteroo experience. You were given a leather jacket (choice of black or bright pink), given a flaming helmet and allowed to apply water tattoos if you wanted to. So of course I got three!

Getting my tattoo

Once everybody was ready, we were all told to go and pick a bike that we wanted to ride, I chose a shiny blue one and sat down, feeling pretty nervous about it all. You need a drivers license to do this experience, but provisional licenses are also accepted. I have a provisional, but I've never had a driving lesson or anything so this was the first time for me at the wheel of something with an engine, on real roads.

Scooteroo bikes

Posing like a biker chick
(not my bike)

 

Listening to the instructions on how to drive the bike

After a couple of minutes driving around the practice circle, one by one we were lined up facing the road. It is illegal in Australia for two motorbikes to ride side by side, so we were riding single file, in one big line the whole time. Suddenly we were off and I was on the road for the first time. It was incredibly exhilerating, especially when at one point there was a massive gap between me and the bike in front, which meant that I could go extra fast to catch up! Wahoo ;)

After about an hours drive, including several views of wild Kangaroos (which I find are WAY bigger than the zoo ones I have seen!) we stopped for a break. During this break, I was chosen to be the "model" for the photo below, to show everyone how to take a picture, where the bike looks really big. After that we drove for another hour before stopping off by a little restaurant where we got potato wedges with various sauces for $5. Usually this is the point where you ooh and aah at the sunset, however, we had a very grey, cloudy sky that day, so there was no sunset.

Instead we drove back to the Scooteroo headquarters (the drive back was over way too fast in my opinion) and got a good look at the professional photos of us that were taken at one point along the route. The great thing is that one photo is included in your package price, so there's no extra hidden costs for anything!

Again, not my bike

That night, female Sam from Gagaju and Dutch Laura and Stephi arrived at Southern Cross, so that was nice to see them again and to have some company in the evening. We also met two other English guys - Elliot and Dan - who we spent the evening with. Agnes Waters is extremely small, there is no club or bar in town, the only socializing you can do is usually in the actual hostel and the bar closes at 10pm because it doubles up as reception as well.

The next day was my last day, and I had a surfing lesson in the morning. My lesson was with "Reef to Beach" and my instructor was called JD. He was a real cool guy but he said "guys", "love" and "mate" at least once a sentence!

Waiting at the hostel for the surf shuttle bus

I've had one lesson before in my life, but I was 11 and it was in Devon. The waves in Agnes Waters were a hell of a lot calmer than those in Byron Bay, which made it a lot easier to get back out, if you caught a wave. Overall, I had a much better time surfing here than I did in Byron Bay.

I actually managed to catch quiet a few waves, probably because of JD's helpful hand and the use of the easy-boards.

I even managed to catch a wave from the beginning, right to the shore, so I am really proud of myself for that! The lesson was 3 hours long, and after it finished, I lazed around on the beach with Laura, Stephi, Rens and Dylan.

That night I got the 10 hour night bus from Agnes Waters to Airlie Beach. I was on the same bus as Rens and Dylan, and we were even staying in the same hostel (Beaches) and hostel room in Airlie.

More information on my stay in Airlie will be on my next blog post,
Till next time - Lucy xxo