Day 8: Airlie Beach
After the bus ride from hell, we finally arrived in Airlie Beach (pronounced our-lee) around 9 am and boy it was hot! The farther north you travel in Australia, the warmer it gets because you’re getting closer to the equator. The weather was probably around 85-90 degrees and sunny everyday; it was pretty similar to the weather back when I was in Cairns in July. So we made our way to Magnums, our hostel for the night. Magnums was by no means the nicest hostel I’ve been to, but definitely my favorite because I loved the atmosphere and people.
Now at this point, the only thought on our minds was “MUST TAKE A SHOWER!” If you know me very well, you’d know that I’m that person who usually takes up to 2 showers a day, so I’m sure you could imagine this whole no showering thing was pretty rough. My last shower had been at 9pm on Monday evening before we left Hervey Bay and it was currently FRIDAY morning. Gross! This was by far the longest I’ve ever gone in my life without showering. So once we arrived at the check in desk at Magnum’s we heard the dreaded phrase that we all feared, “Sorry, but you can’t check in until 2 pm.” NOOOOOOOOO!!!! 5 more hours until we could check in?! Well, we knew there really wasn’t anything we could do about it, so we threw our suitcases in the luggage storage, pulled our hair into braids, put on our biggest sunglasses, and tried not to make eye contact with too many people as we ventured off to McDonalds for brekkie and free Wi-Fi.
We then spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon exploring Airlie Beach. There really wasn’t a whole lot to the city; it was basically just one long street. Any local will tell you that they hate Airlie, but any backpacker will tell you that they love it. Airlie is basically a gateway to the Whitsunday’s islands so it attracts heaps of tourists and backpackers. There was lots of good shopping and we really enjoyed just walking around for a few hours.
We made sure that at 2 on the dot we were at reception, ready to check in and anxiously awaiting being clean again. So finally we were allowed into our rooms. However, as always, there was a slight problem. Most hostels have communal bathrooms like in dorms where there are 3-6 showers that you share with your floor. Well at Magnums, we were put in these 10-share little cabin-like houses with an ensuite bathroom. Usually an ensuite bathroom is a desirable thing; however, in our case this now meant that there were currently 10 smelly, cranky people who haven’t showered in 4 days and only ONE shower to share. NOT GOOD. It only took a few minutes before the claws broke out. “I call shower first!” “Not fair…I was here first!” “But guys… I’m sick so I should go first.” As badly as I wanted to shower, I was not about to get involved in this drama, so I volunteered to go last. I figured I waited 4 days, what’s another hour? Some of the boys staying in our room ended up going down to the beach, so I actually didn’t even have to wait very long. Hands down, the best shower of my life.
The actual date of Day 8 was October 2nd, so that meant that tomorrow was my 20th birthday! Since we’d be out sailing and in the middle of the ocean on my actual birthday, we decided to celebrate tonight instead. After getting ready, we went out to a nearby restaurant where we got a backpacker special of steak, salad, and fries for only $10 (quite a steal in Australia!). Then we came back to Magnums for a little bit where they had some live acoustic music playing. Then eventually we went out to a few different dance clubs including my favorite one called Mamma Africa’s, where everything (including the bathroom) was jungle-themed. We danced the night away and I could probably say that it was the most fun birthday (eve) yet.
Day 9: Airlie Beach → The Whitsunday’s Islands
The next morning when I woke up, I completely forgot that it was even my actual birthday until one of the German boys told me “Congratulations” (apparently that’s what they say for “Happy Birthday” over in Germany). The sailing office gave us these tiny bags to pack our stuff in for the next few days (we weren’t even allowed to bring our backpacks). After packing up and checking out we headed over to the sailing office to put our suitcases and backpacks in storage for the next few days. We grabbed lunch, and then had to take about a 25-minute walk to the dock where our boat would leave. At about 12:30 pm we were met by the crew who took us to our boat where we’d be living for the next few days. We were going to be sailing the S.V. Whitehaven. When we arrived at the boat, I think everyone was a little disappointed at how small it was, but we were all still heaps excited. There were 24 of us and the boat defiantly didn’t look big enough for 24 people + crew to sleep on...
Again, let me give you a little background on where we were going if you’re not familiar with the Whitsunday’s. The Whitsunday’s Islands consist of 74 islands off the east coast, the largest group of offshore islands in Australia and only 8 of which are actually inhabited. Although the most popular chunk of the Great Barrier Reef is location further north off the coast of Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park stretches all the way to surround the Whitsunday’s Islands as well. So therefore, I had to cough up some more money for national park entry fees since we’d be sailing in the Marne Park (Aye...beauty comes at a price, I guess).
So before we even got on the boat, the crew took our shoes from us and we didn’t see those again for a few days. So once we got on the crew gave us a safety briefing (i.e. what to do if you fall of the boat, what to do if you see someone fall of the boat, why you have to walk down the stairs backwards, etc). Then Amy showed us to our rooms on the bottom deck. Catie, Amber, Jess, and I volunteered to share 2 double size beds since no one else really wanted to. However, it’s a good thing we did because by sharing a bigger bed, we ended up having WAY more room than the people with the single beds. Take a look at the room we slept in. 8 people slept in here. Yes, 8 people. Personal space wasn’t really a concept I understood over break.
After we got settled into our rooms, we had to go into this TINY bathroom in groups of two so that Andy could give us “toilet training.” I’ve never been in a bathroom with so many rules! Basically after you went, you had to crank this knob to flush, then you had to hold down this button for about 20 seconds to let the toilet bowl fill up with more water. Then you had to repeat that process 3 times! Going to the bathroom was quite a hassle. Then the “shower” was also in the tiny bathroom but we were restricted to 1-minute showers MAX and we were only allowed to shower after 8 pm.
We basically spent the entire afternoon laying out on the deck and relaxing (what a way to spend a birthday!). After our stressful Fraser Island adventures, we were enjoying not having any worries. We didn’t have to navigate, drive, set up and take down camp, or cook for ourselves! This was a bit more of the spring break that we had imagined. We had the option to go snorkeling, but I passed today because I knew we’d have 2 more opportunities over the next few days at even better dive spots. At one point, the skipper Dave even taught me how to drive the boat and let me do it by myself for a little while. It was a bit confusing at first, but quite easy once I go the hang of it.
Around 7 pm we anchored the boat for the night and watched the sunset as we ate dinner. After dinner, Andy pulled out a map and showed us the path we’d be traveling and taught us more about the Whitsunday’s in general. We spent the rest of the night relaxing, hanging out, and stargazing. It was so peaceful to basically be secluded in middle of the Pacific Ocean! A birthday I will never forget.
Day 10: The Whitsunday's Islands
Before we went to bed the night before, we were a little concerned about how we would wake up the next morning since we didn’t have mobile service, alarms clocks, or anything of the like. Andy responded, “Don’t worry, you’ll wake when you need to.” Some of us objected that we were heavy sleepers, but Andy insisted, “Trust me, you’ll wake up.” Well I finally understood what he meant. At exactly 6 AM Andy turned the boat engine on and between the noise and the shaking of your bed, there was no way ANYONE could sleep through that. So now it was 6 AM and we were wide awake. If you haven’t noticed yet, I didn’t really sleep very much on this trip. So anyway, we got ready and went up to the top deck for brekkie. Dave told us it’d only be about an hour until we’d reach Whitehaven Island. This was the part of the entire 2-week trip that I was most looking forward to! :) :) :) :)
We had to take the tugboat over to the island in a few different trips. Once everyone in our group was there, we walked together on a short rainforest walk until we reached the Hill Inlet lookout point. This was absolutely unbelievable! This inlet is where the tide shifts the sand and water to create the most amazing fusion of colors. I think the 4 of us just stood here for a good 10 minutes with our jaws dropped in complete awe that we were actually viewing such a sight.
Once we got a few photos, we made out way down to the pristine, award winning Whitehaven Beach. This beach was named the 2nd most beautiful beach in world, and in one look you knew why. Remember in my last post when I said that Lake McKenzie had the clearest water and the whitest sand I’d ever seen? Well scratch that – THIS was the clearest water and the whitest sand I had ever seen. The sand is composed of 98% silica and known to be amongst the purest in the world. Often people bring jewelry to this beach to polish. We were also told that you could brush your teeth with the sand or use it to exfoliate your skin. The best way to describe the sand was it almost felt like powder. It was quite a risk for me even to BRING my camera to this beach so I hope you appreciate my photos haha! The best part about the sand being silica means that the sand never gets hot. It was the perfect temperature to walk on. The beach is about 5 miles along, but this beach was different than any I had ever seen. Typically when you think of a beach, you think water and then sand which are obviously divided. Well at this beach, the water and sand mixed together to create quite a heaps of swirls of sand and water, which was VERY cool.
We had about 3 hours to explore the beach, but I wish we could have stayed all day. The atmosphere at this beach was like none other. This was the point in my trip that felt completely unreal. I felt like I was walking around in a postcard. It’s hard to believe that a place like this actually exists! This was by far the most beautiful place I had ever laid eyes on, and perhaps the most beautiful place I will EVER lay eyes on. At one point I even started to tear up a bit because I wished that my friends and family from home could have been there with me to witness this spectacular place. I was so overwhelmed by its beauty that I started getting a little picture happy and at one point Jess yelled at me, “Kim, you need to stop taking pictures and just ENJOY being here.” She was right. So for the rest of our time on the beach I put my camera away and tried to soak up every minute of being there.
Around 11 we had to go back to the boat (they practically had to drag us away). After lunch we had the opportunity to go on another snorkel. I decided to do this one. So after we dressed in our fashionable stinger suits, flippers, goggles, and snorkels, Andy took us out in the tugboat to the spot for the today. This snorkel was much different than the one I did in Cairns in July, but it was still pretty amazing. I saw a sea turtle! I also saw the hugest fish I had ever seen. It was probably as big as me if not bigger…no joke! I had no idea fish this big existed!?
We had the rest of the afternoon to lay out, relax, and enjoy sailing. The crew decided that they would take us to a small beach for “nachos and sunset.” This place was actually heaps cool because it had an intriguing looking cave. So of course, we decided to bust out some music and have a “CAVE RAVE!” before the sun started to set.
Day 11: The Whitsunday’s Islands → Airlie Beach
This morning instead of being waken up by the boat’s engine, we were woken at 6 AM by Andy running into our room screaming, “TIME TO GO FOR A SNORKEL!!” So we rolled out of and went upstairs for brekkie. Since the water was freezing and I was still half asleep, I decided not to snorkel today. The rest of the day was spent doing some more sun bathing, relaxing, and hanging out until we finally returned back to Airlie around noon.
Now the rest of the STA package east coast trip was planned to go north to Cairns for the last 6 days. However, since Jess and I had already been to Cairns in July, we decided not to buy the Cairns part of the package and to go somewhere new instead by ourselves. Since it was cheaper to fly out on Tuesday (tomorrow) we decided to stay another night in Airlie at Magnums. Everyone else was catching another overnight bus to Cairns that night at 9 PM, so it worked out well that we had a room because we let Catie, Amber, and Adam keep their luggage in our room and used our shower. We then mucked around for the rest of the afternoon, walking around Airlie, going on the internet (I had 86 Facebook notifications!) and the like. I also decided to do a load of laundry, which ended up costing me $12 (how ridiculous is that?).
Once we saw everyone off to the bus stop and said our goodbyes, we decided that we wanted to go back to Mamma Africa’s tonight since we had so much fun there on Friday night. Even though it was only the two of us, we ended up meeting heaps of people and having a blast this night. Check out these two videos that we took. When you’re watching them, I want you to pay close attention to 3 things: 1) The guy to girl ratio 2) The type of music playing 3) The way Australian boys dance. Much different from the states, hey?
Day 12: Airlie Beach → Brisbane
After waking up and checking out, Jess and I put our suitcases in luggage storage and went down to the lagoon for the afternoon. Despite its name, Airlie BEACH, actually has quite a small beach and you can’t swim in the water because it’s inhabited by marine stingers (a type of jellyfish). So to provide somewhere for all the tourists to swim, they built a public lagoon in the park. The lagoon basically looked like an expensive resort pool, I couldn’t believe that it was just in a public park!
We spent most of our morning and afternoon at the lagoon until we headed to the bus stop to catch a shuttle to the airport. The closest airport is in Prosperine which is about 45 minutes away from Airlie. The airport is TINY and there’s only 1 flight per day (at 6:30 PM) and the only place that it flies to is Brisbane. At the airport we ran into a girl from Austria who goes to Uni with us that was on our same flight. Small world? My favorite part about this airport was the fact that the gate was OUTSIDE! Ha! Only in Australia…
We landed in Brisbane around 7:45 PM and finally on my 3rd visit to Brisbane I actually left the airport. Unfortunately we missed the last train by like 5 minutes, so we had to catch a taxi to our hostel. We were pretty exhausted from the past few days, so we passed out by 10 PM.
There's still 5 more days of break, check back soon :)
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