Katy's Oz-some Blog: Airlie and the Whitsundays

We spent a week in Airlie Beach, jumping off point for the Whitsunday Islands, and 3 days on the islands themselves. Thanks to the aforementioned “hacking cough girl” (see Soapbox post) I spent most of the week and a half sick. I got antibiotics from the doctor when we went to get our vaccinations for India, and he may have mentioned swine flu. Awesome. I’m still trying to shake the sore throat but I’ve stocked up my medicine bag with all the necessities for India, just in case.

We spent the first part of our week in Airlie just lounging around the town, I spent most of it sleeping and coughing. Then we departed for our 3-day Whitsunday trip. Day One we took a rocky 2-hour boat ride out to the reef where we tied up to a huge pontoon playground. It had a water slide, snorkeling area, scuba area, underwater observatory, glass bottom boat and semi-submersible boat.

Jess and Sarah went scuba diving and I did a bit of snorkeling. The water was really rough and cold plus I didn’t feel too hot so I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the sundeck trying to warm up. I also explored the reef via the glass bottom boat and semi-sub. I wonder how many trips to the reef I would have to take before I would get sick of it. It is so beautiful and the sea creatures are amazing!

That afternoon we cruised back towards the mainland and got dropped off at Long Island where we spent 2 night. We decided the island should actually be called Too Long Island because anytime there feels like too much time. I don’t know if it’s because everything shut down at the ripe ole hour of 7pm or if we weren’t used to the laid back island life but it got pretty boring, pretty quick. The first night we hustled to order dinner from the café before it closed at 6:30, then we spent some time at the bar talking to some other travelers and the bartender himself. We also joined in the wacky resort games including a flip flop toss and limbo. Hey, anything to pass the time. The next day we laid out, went snorkeling but didn’t see anything, watched a whale in the distance, fed some lorikeets that scratched my hand when they started fighting while I was feeding them, hit the bar, saw wallabies on the beach, then showered and came back for dinner. We totally lost track of the time and when we came back to the main part of the resort the dining area was closed but luckily Jessica sweet talked the chef into giving us a plate of leftover buffet food to share for free.

That night we played resort bingo which we all cheated at but I still didn’t win. Guess that’s what I get for cheating. Winner got a free drink at the bar which would have been nice since there was only 1 bar and they charged a lot for drinks. Monopoly, boo! After everyone else on the island went to bed at 9pm, Sarah, Jess and I got talked into a game of beer pong with two of the resort staff, Ryan from Oz and Marcello from Brazil.

The next morning we woke up early, caught the ferry to another island where we boarded Camira the catamaran for a day of sailing around the islands. Our first stop was Whitehaven Beach, famous for its 90% silica sand that is blindingly white. The sand is so fine that it squeaks below your feet and can be used to clean jewelry. It was gorgeous. After that we sailed over to an area to do some snorkeling which turned into a game of “avoid the jellyfish”. No, not box jellies, they aren’t in season right now. Thank goodness we put on the optional stinger suits! It was pretty good snorkeling, nothing compared to the reef though. Then we sailed back to Airlie Beach.

Sarah and Jessica went skydiving one day. I was there for moral support, and to take pictures in their ridiculous neon jumpsuits they insisted on wearing. Sarah and I had a less exciting adventure to the doctor to get vaccinations for India. I’m now typhoid fever, salmonella and hepatitis A proof. But somehow not common cold/sore throat/swine flu/whatever it is I have that won’t go away proof.

Jessica left this morning and Sarah and I leave tonight for India. Our flight leaves Brisbane at 11pm and we fly overnight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where we have a 12 hour layover before continuing to Delhi, India. We have booked a hotel in Delhi for 2 nights, enough time to get our bearings, get used to things, and buy a plug converter before we take off on our non-stop 2 week journey. We will be staying in Northern India, mostly in the part known as Rajasthan. So much ground to cover in so little time! I’ll post updates when I can!

The skydivers in their awesome neon suits