So we left Perth on our anniversary of our first date (we haven't got a "been together" date as we never discussed it, just fell into place together), on a Jetstar flight which I was thoroughly impressed with as it's so cheap, and yet my knees weren't forced up around my ears!
We landed very early on 22nd in Cairns (about 5am), and as we didn't want to fork out for a cab, we waited til 7 when the free shuttle from our hostel ran. We stayed at a place called JJ's which Howie recommended to us. Was $22 pppn, but that included brekkie and dinner, so we went for it.
As soon as we dumped our bags in our 3 bed dorm (why 3 bed I haven't a clue - bloody stupid, but oh well, was basically a private room for us!) we headed out to socialise in the hostel, have a cup of tea and plan exactly what we were going to do in Oz as it's so bloody expensive, we can't afford doss-days like in SA. We tried to plan, but we were both shattered and dirty, and very quickly were getting really shitty with each other (perilously close to having our first fight!), but we knew we were just tired, so we had a power-nap for and hour and a half. We then wandered along the esplanade into the tourist places, playing one off against the other until we had a deal that seemed to be impossible to top (the last lady tried, but was over our best offer by $40, and had missed one of the trips).
Our plan was mapped as follows:
- use the Greyhound buses for our whole trip from Cairns to Melbourne
- go on a dive boat on the Great Barrier Reef (me diving, Jo snorkelling)
- go on a Whitsundays boat trip for 2 nights
- go on a Fraser Island 4x4 tour for 2 nights
- plus a shedload of nights accom around all the tours to keep daily spend down (and easy to haggle people to "throwing an extra night" in here and there)
We landed very early on 22nd in Cairns (about 5am), and as we didn't want to fork out for a cab, we waited til 7 when the free shuttle from our hostel ran. We stayed at a place called JJ's which Howie recommended to us. Was $22 pppn, but that included brekkie and dinner, so we went for it.
As soon as we dumped our bags in our 3 bed dorm (why 3 bed I haven't a clue - bloody stupid, but oh well, was basically a private room for us!) we headed out to socialise in the hostel, have a cup of tea and plan exactly what we were going to do in Oz as it's so bloody expensive, we can't afford doss-days like in SA. We tried to plan, but we were both shattered and dirty, and very quickly were getting really shitty with each other (perilously close to having our first fight!), but we knew we were just tired, so we had a power-nap for and hour and a half. We then wandered along the esplanade into the tourist places, playing one off against the other until we had a deal that seemed to be impossible to top (the last lady tried, but was over our best offer by $40, and had missed one of the trips).
Our plan was mapped as follows:
- use the Greyhound buses for our whole trip from Cairns to Melbourne
- go on a dive boat on the Great Barrier Reef (me diving, Jo snorkelling)
- go on a Whitsundays boat trip for 2 nights
- go on a Fraser Island 4x4 tour for 2 nights
- plus a shedload of nights accom around all the tours to keep daily spend down (and easy to haggle people to "throwing an extra night" in here and there)
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| Post dive/snorkel |
As mentioned above, we realised that we had to keep our spend down, so everything was to be squeezed into a tight timeframe. This meant that, after dinner of practically vegetarian chilli from the pub where our meals for the hostel were included, the following day, we were up at 6am, to check out of our room, stash the bags, and head to the marina for the boat trip.
Whilst haggling, we'd managed to get our trips bumped up in class each time, and our boat was a brand new cat, with a lovely crew, including a huge Fijian who kept telling me he had the best job in the world undressing women (of their stinger suits after swimming), a fellow brit who was handling us cert divers, and the person in charge of it all; a malay woman about 4'10", and about 25 years old!
We had about an hour and a half trip out to the first dive site, with tea, coffee and biscuits, then dive briefing, then we kitted up and away we went! There were about 6 of us on the guided dive, and it was amazing. We saw a sleeping white tipped reef shark, about 4 1/2ft long, asleep, as soon as we got down! We then bimbled about and saw millions of fish you only see in tanks in posh restaurants, another reef shark with a bright blue pilot fish cleaning it's nosh, and lots of beautiful coral. Whilst haggling, we'd managed to get our trips bumped up in class each time, and our boat was a brand new cat, with a lovely crew, including a huge Fijian who kept telling me he had the best job in the world undressing women (of their stinger suits after swimming), a fellow brit who was handling us cert divers, and the person in charge of it all; a malay woman about 4'10", and about 25 years old!
We went up, changed tanks, and went back in, along another route, where we saw about 30 batfish, which are huge, about the size of a dustbin lid, lots more tropical fish, a massive Napoleon Wrasse (a local celebrity and on a lot of postcards; about the size of a small sofa, bloody massive!), and then we stumbled across a green turtle, who let us watch him ponder around and then feed for a bit!
Third dive was after lunch, and on a different reef. We saw plenty of fish and coral again, but nothing new this time, but was still so nice down there. Visablilty was about 18m, which is pretty impressive when the last dive I did was between 5 and 8 in Cape Town!
We got back on the boat, and as I hadn't seen a single jellyfish all day, I took off the stinger suit and fins, grabbed a snorkel and mask, and jumped back in for a swim for another 20 mins. Found Jo snorkelling whilst I was duck diving and coming back up, and she waved at me with about 6 inches of stinger suit flapping beyond her fingertips. She looked really "special".
When we got back in, a load of dolphins swam past, quite near some of the last snorkellers coming in. Everyone was jealous that they'd seen them swimming, but I think they were too far away, and no-one talked about it when they got back on, so I think it was rubbish.
We had more tea, coffee and cake on the way back, debriefed, updated my dive log, then and sunbathed on the deck! End of a very long and tiring, but great day! We then went and showered at the hostel, got the bags, got some dinner, then sat outside McDonalds nursing diet cokes and coffees for 3 hours waiting for our bus to whisk us off to Airlie Beach!
We arrived in Airlie Beach at about 11 the next morning, and immediately checked in for our Whitsundays boat trip the following day. Then we dropped off our bags (but couldn't check-in yet) to the backpackers, and wandered off in search of breakfast. In our search for a bargain, we walked about 5 miles, and viewed every menu and shop in town, and when we finally settled on somewhere, a storm had moved in, we were drenched, and it was more like a late lunch than brekkie!
Bit of a boring day after that, just wandered around sorting ourselves out for the next day, and planning the rest of Oz.
Next morning we checked out, ate brekkie, bought goon, and stored our bags for the few days we were on the boat. You weren't allowed zips, as bed-bugs live in them and they didn't want to spread them onto the boat.
At midday we made our way to the marina where we were to meet the crew. A short, feisty kiwi called Liv came and met us, she was the deck-hand. She really reminded me of my old boss Fiona (if you're reading this Fi, look out the photos on FB and see if you agree!). Liv took us to the boat, which was the British Defender. It is an 83ft yacht, which was sailed in competition in 89, 90 and 91.
Bit of a boring day after that, just wandered around sorting ourselves out for the next day, and planning the rest of Oz.
Next morning we checked out, ate brekkie, bought goon, and stored our bags for the few days we were on the boat. You weren't allowed zips, as bed-bugs live in them and they didn't want to spread them onto the boat.
At midday we made our way to the marina where we were to meet the crew. A short, feisty kiwi called Liv came and met us, she was the deck-hand. She really reminded me of my old boss Fiona (if you're reading this Fi, look out the photos on FB and see if you agree!). Liv took us to the boat, which was the British Defender. It is an 83ft yacht, which was sailed in competition in 89, 90 and 91.
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| British Defender sailing... just not in the conditions we experienced! |
This is where our haggling really came up trumps. It is a beautiful boat, with a crew of just 3 (Tane the skipper, Liv the deck-hand, and Rosie the cook), and 29 of us tourists. As when it was sailed in competition it had a crew of 40, we were needed to help out when sailing (which most of us were very happy to do!)
We left the marina under engine power, then we got the sails up and got sailing. We started sailing towards a big dark cloud, which we tried to skit around. It then got a lot bigger, and we went straight into the middle of it. As we hit it, the wind direction changed by 90 degrees, and we had to tack to go towards the Whitsundays. This just means going in a zig-zag, but means the boom has to swing over the heads of all 29, whilst some of us tried to help out and all move out of the way of the ropes and stuff... Whilst at about 60 degrees to horizontal... In a thunderstorm and really heavy rain. It sounds horrible, but great fun, and no-one whinged, just smiled along and laughed about it!
We got to our mooring spot in the shelter of Hook and Whitsunday Islands, and got the goon out, but not after a bit of a swim first. We had a go at diving, and my first attempt was a good ice-breaker (and prob could have actually broken some ice), as I slipped on the side, went half sideways and landed in the water on my face. Very graceful.
We all sat about on deck chatting under the covers as the rain picked up again, and drinking our goon (strangely, goon, which is cheap wine in a bag, is still nicer than cheap wine in the UK). It was when all this was happening that the storm went right over us. I was down below chatting, and Jo was sat on deck with everyone else when a flash lit up the whole sky and a huge crack stopped everyone's conversation. We went up on deck, and then it happened again. 5 mins later, a guy from another tour boat who was mates with our crew came over in a rib. Turned out our mast had just been struck by lightning, twice. It had blown a couple of lights on the top of the mast, but the earthing had done it's job, and we hadn't felt a thing! He came over to make sure we weren't all fried!
We left the marina under engine power, then we got the sails up and got sailing. We started sailing towards a big dark cloud, which we tried to skit around. It then got a lot bigger, and we went straight into the middle of it. As we hit it, the wind direction changed by 90 degrees, and we had to tack to go towards the Whitsundays. This just means going in a zig-zag, but means the boom has to swing over the heads of all 29, whilst some of us tried to help out and all move out of the way of the ropes and stuff... Whilst at about 60 degrees to horizontal... In a thunderstorm and really heavy rain. It sounds horrible, but great fun, and no-one whinged, just smiled along and laughed about it!
We got to our mooring spot in the shelter of Hook and Whitsunday Islands, and got the goon out, but not after a bit of a swim first. We had a go at diving, and my first attempt was a good ice-breaker (and prob could have actually broken some ice), as I slipped on the side, went half sideways and landed in the water on my face. Very graceful.
We all sat about on deck chatting under the covers as the rain picked up again, and drinking our goon (strangely, goon, which is cheap wine in a bag, is still nicer than cheap wine in the UK). It was when all this was happening that the storm went right over us. I was down below chatting, and Jo was sat on deck with everyone else when a flash lit up the whole sky and a huge crack stopped everyone's conversation. We went up on deck, and then it happened again. 5 mins later, a guy from another tour boat who was mates with our crew came over in a rib. Turned out our mast had just been struck by lightning, twice. It had blown a couple of lights on the top of the mast, but the earthing had done it's job, and we hadn't felt a thing! He came over to make sure we weren't all fried!
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| Sailing onboard the British Defender |
Had a really cool night in the end, playing Arsehole and drinking goon!
Got woken early the next morning by John Mayer (not in person, on the sound system), as we chugged along towards The Lookout and the beautiful Whitehaven Beach. Weather was looking brighter, and we soon anchored up in Tongue Bay, and ferried across to the beach and walked up to The Lookout, then down to the beach. Even with some threatening clouds around us, was breathtaking. We went paddling in the sea one side of the sandbar, then climbing on rocks searching for crabs (found some too), then into the bay which was only knee deep to see some juvenile sharks and rays swimming around our feet! Weather held out until we reached Tongue Bay for the pickup, and we sailed round to Hayman Island for some snorkelling and diving. I swam out to the snorkel spot instead of getting the rib in the hope of seeing something and getting a bit of exercise (was about 250m away from the boat). I was rewarded with a load of bloody huge batfish again, and a few different jellies. Saw loads of tropical fish, and did loads of duck-diving down and looking up, as it started to hammer with rain, so looked really cool from below!
Had a bit of a swim back to the boat, then did some diving off of the boat, and got changed, ready for some dinner, more goon, and, unexpectedly, doing the macarena on deck with the Swiss and German girls! Was a great night, and finished the night playing cards again.
Got woken early the next morning by John Mayer (not in person, on the sound system), as we chugged along towards The Lookout and the beautiful Whitehaven Beach. Weather was looking brighter, and we soon anchored up in Tongue Bay, and ferried across to the beach and walked up to The Lookout, then down to the beach. Even with some threatening clouds around us, was breathtaking. We went paddling in the sea one side of the sandbar, then climbing on rocks searching for crabs (found some too), then into the bay which was only knee deep to see some juvenile sharks and rays swimming around our feet! Weather held out until we reached Tongue Bay for the pickup, and we sailed round to Hayman Island for some snorkelling and diving. I swam out to the snorkel spot instead of getting the rib in the hope of seeing something and getting a bit of exercise (was about 250m away from the boat). I was rewarded with a load of bloody huge batfish again, and a few different jellies. Saw loads of tropical fish, and did loads of duck-diving down and looking up, as it started to hammer with rain, so looked really cool from below!
Had a bit of a swim back to the boat, then did some diving off of the boat, and got changed, ready for some dinner, more goon, and, unexpectedly, doing the macarena on deck with the Swiss and German girls! Was a great night, and finished the night playing cards again.
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| Me, Jo, Sarah and Gary |
Woke up early again the next day, and the weather was beautiful. Tade took us out to a reef where we were most likely to see turtles. We did more snorkelling, but I didn't see any turtles, but swam with loads of fish, and followed a shoal of juvenile somethings. They were pretty big, and if they were older they'd be lovely grilled with some lemon and garlic I suspect.
We almost left someone behind because she'd swam off looking for turtles, but was all ok, and we headed for home under the sails in blistering sunshine.
When we got back, we headed to the lagoon which is a big open swimming pool for the public. We met up and played some ball games, and sadly said our goodbyes as Jo and I were booked on the Greyhound to Hervey Bay that evening, so we wouldn't get a chance to see them that night. Was a fantastic trip, and met some lovely people, so thanks to Gary, Sarah, Dan, Becca, Canadia, Craig, Joe, Donye, Vera, the Swiss and German girls, and of course to the crew!
We almost left someone behind because she'd swam off looking for turtles, but was all ok, and we headed for home under the sails in blistering sunshine.
When we got back, we headed to the lagoon which is a big open swimming pool for the public. We met up and played some ball games, and sadly said our goodbyes as Jo and I were booked on the Greyhound to Hervey Bay that evening, so we wouldn't get a chance to see them that night. Was a fantastic trip, and met some lovely people, so thanks to Gary, Sarah, Dan, Becca, Canadia, Craig, Joe, Donye, Vera, the Swiss and German girls, and of course to the crew!
Last night we got the Greyhound, which was pretty packed to Hervey Bay, ready for our tour of Fraser Island tomorrow!
Will try and update more regularly now, and going to put in some retrospective posts from my rubbishness in the latter stages of our SA trip!
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