Day 12

Hook Island Passage, Whitehaven beach
Wings Sailing Tour – Normal price $419pp but after a bit of bartering, $320pp

Backpacks in hand, we boarded the boat at 1pm. We had chosen the Wings tour to visit the Whitsunday islands on a two night, two day trip. It wasn’t a party boat, but more of a social drink kind of boat (perfect for the Grandma’s we have become).

After finding our bed (which was basically a double bed in a cubby hole), we decided to catch some sun on the front of the catamaran whilst we travelled over to our first snorkel destination – The Hook Passage. I do get a little sea sick, but luckily remembered to take a travel sickness tablet and made it through relatively unscathed.

As the harbour disappeared into the distance, so did the sunshine and we were sailing directly into a patch of rain. Trying not to be too disheartened, we pulled on our wetsuits, grabbed our snorkels, goggles and flippers and clambered into a dingy to head over to the reef. It was freezing.

I have never been snorkelling before and honestly really struggled at first. I kept panicking and ending up with a nose and mouth full of salt water. The water was pretty murky and visibility low due to the rain.

Towards the end of our time, I did relax a little more and was able to catch a couple of glimpses of fish. A lot of the group managed to see a turtle but typically both Matt and I missed that.

Back on board, we were treated to hot drinks, cakes and biscuits to warm up. Followed by a mid afternoon snack of mini sausage rolls, pies, spring rolls etc. As we were finished in the water for the day, the bar was opened and the conversation began to flow a little more easily between the group.

We were sailing towards the famous Whitehaven beach to dock for the night and anchored just as the sun was setting. Dinner was followed by a slideshow of all of the sea creatures we could expect to see the next day which was so interesting and really exciting.

We went to bed in our little coffin with full bellies and tired eyes.

Day 13

Whitehaven Beach, Mantaray Bay, Langford Island, Stonehaven. (I think)

I am pretty sure I woke up in paradise today and for once, even I was speechless. We sailed passed the beautiful Whitehaven beach and around to Tongue Bay where we disembarked. We bush walked for 10 minutes or so before we came into a clearing which revealed the beach. It was truly stunning and the weather finally couldn’t have been better.

We spent two hours enjoying the white silica sands and paddling in the crystal blue waters where we even encountered a couple of sting rays.

At 11am, we walked up to the look out points. It really was breathtaking. For me, the Whitsundays are the typical travel brochure photo for Australia and I couldn’t believe that what I was looking at was real.

Once the guides had managed to drag us away from the view, we got back on the boat and were greeted by an amazing lunch. If nothing else, we were definitely well fed on this trip!

Whilst eating, we set off towards our next snorkel point. Almost immediately after getting into the water I looked down to see a turtle swimming below me. I may have let out a little squeal of excitement. I swam with the turtle for a few minutes before he decided to take a rest on some coral and I let him be.

I definitely felt much more comfortable snorkelling the second time around and really did start to enjoy it.

Once everyone was back to the boat, we headed to our second snorkel spot. In the slide show yesterday, we were told about a big friendly fish called George which I thought was just a bit of a joke. Nope! I jumped into the water and by the time I turned around, there was hundreds of HUGE fish, including the famed George, swarming the boat. The crew were throwing fish food into the ocean and the result was just insane.

After the fish were well and truly fat, we climbed back aboard, whipped off our wetsuits and opened the bar. We spent the evening with some great company (shout out to Hannah and Seb) watching the sunset, playing cards and drinking beers.

Day 14

Blue Pearl Bay, Airlie Beach

Rainforest Retreat – $89 studio apartment. We had a $40 voucher for booking.com making it a bargain!

I woke up at 5am to the sound of rain falling on the deck above. Forever the optimist, I was convinced that it would stop and by the time we were called for breakfast it would be beautiful again.

Unfortunately, my wishful thinking didnt pay off and we woke to a pretty sombre mood onboard. I think there was a couple of hangovers lingering which didnt help too much! All of our towels were on the top deck so consequently they were all soaking and nobody really felt like getting into the water.

Stubbornly, I refused to let the weather ruin my morning and pulled on my wetsuit for the last time a long with a handful of other people. After the initial cold shock of the cold water, I soon warmed up. Over the reef, we saw hundreds of colourful fish and a giant clam. I also spotted a jelly fish (and promptly swam in the other direction).

I was a little worried it would be murky like the first day but luckily it wasn’t and I am so glad I decided to go in as I got some great photos.

After a little farewell to the crew (who were incredible) and most of the other passengers, we docked in Abell Marina and disembarked for the last time.

Today marked our 21st day on the road and we were pretty exhausted so we splashed out on an apartment with a proper bed for the evening. We could check in at 2pm so had a little time to kill in the meantime.

Onboard Wings, we met a really lovely couple who were catching the Greyhound bus that evening. We all went for some lunch, ate far too much, then headed to our apartment together to relax on the balcony before their bus.

The view from our apartment is pretty special. It is nestled in a little patch of rainforest and looks down over the marina. The sunset was another winner.

This weekend was incredible. The weather wasnt always on our side, but we still had such a good time and I am still in awe of the amazing things we experienced.

Ok – please excuse me whilst I go sleep in a real bed!!