I had 2 days to kill in Airlie Beach before my sailing trip, and it was raining both days. It was more like a storm on the first day. There's not a whole lot to do in Airlie. Even if it was sunny, you can't swim in the beaches in Queensland from like November because of stingers. (There is a man made lagoon, or pool, tho for public use.) I had already decided that Australia is not the kind of place I like to sit around and relax. I hate days when I'm just sitting around, but at least in NZ, I was sitting around in nice hostels with nice sceneries. Hostels in Australia are pretty crap. I might have mentioned somewhere before also, but I'm also tired of chatting up with people I may or may not see again so I don't even bother trying to talk to anyone in hostels anymore unless I'm really bored or have a need to.
Sailing on the Siska
I had booked a 3 day/2 night sailing trip on a maxi Apollo III, but I was moved onto another boat at the last minute. The trip was with Southern Cross on their Siska. It was a boat actually recommended in my guide book, so I wasn't too bothered about it. The boat was a proper sailing yacht so it wasn't big, but not so small that it was uncomfortable down below. There were 20 passengers on board and 5 crew. A skipper, crew, cook, and 2 volunteers. The passengers were all different mixes in age and nationality, but everyone was down to earth and pretty nice. I enjoyed everyone's company. One guy, Andy, is planning to go to Japan to teach English in June, so we may try to meet up with each other than.
Around The Whitsunday Islands
I had an absolutely fantastic time sailing around the islands. Fortunately, we had great weather all three days. I know some people who'd gone out before us didn't have as great of a time because it rained a lot. I couldn't see how the trip would've been enjoyable if it rained on us also. It was a bit rough getting out on the first day though and most of us kind of sat still up top trying not to get ill. Once things calmed down a bit I got to take the helm for a bit.
Each day we spent some time snorkelling. It was the best snorkelling I've done. The corals were pretty, and I saw lots of wildlife including clown fish (like Nemo), rays, and a giant turtle. It made me want to do some snorkelling or diving up in the Great Barrier Reef, but I didn't plan on doing it on this trip. Perhaps I'll make another trip to Australia for that. I do have other parts of Australia that I'll need to visit later anyways. Aside from snorkelling, we spent some time on Whitehaven beach and on some short walking tracks to a look out with some stunning views.
On the very last day, we had winds of up to 30 knots and had great sailing!! The boat was keeled over onto its side and a lot of people were nervous, especially when Adrian took the helm. It was lots of fun tho, well, until we ripped a sail about an hour away from the marina. In the evening, we all met up for dinner and drinks, followed by a bit of dancing.
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