It was time to pick up our rental car from Hertz and start the road trip! So we walked there in the morning, to face a touch decision of whether or not to take insurance for the car. It would´ve costed $400. Without the insurance, if we had damaged the car we would´ve had to pay a fee up to $4000! After some debating we decided to be extra careful and not to take the insurance, which ended up being a smart decision since we returned the car in a good condition and saved a lot of money :) Anyways, we began driving towards Airlie Beach, where our Whitsunday sailing trip was to depart. After driving for half an hour we received a call from the guy who had booked our tour. He told there had been a mistake and there were no cancellations on the trip we had booked. But he promised to do his best to find an equivalent tour for us. It took him almost 2 hours to find one, but he managed to book us on a tour we wanted. So we continued our journey until it was time to stop in Townsville for a quick swim and lunch.
We found the swimming place – an artificial pool that was closed and a fenced area on the sea – really randomly. (We just turned where ever having no idea of directions until we found the swimming place.) Since the pool was closed we swam in the fenced sea area before going to a nearby beach café for lunch. Then we drove along Esplanade, stopped at another café for coffee and ice cream and at Coles for some food, before continuing driving. There were road works on our way, which slowed us down quite a bit, but we arrived in Airlie Beach at around 9pm. Our hostel reception was closed already and we had to book our rooms at a bar next door. They could only give us our keys, but no bed sheets or cooking & eating stuff. The hostel was quite spread out in a camping area and it took us a while to find the right building. After taking our stuff to our room we went for a walk on the main street – which we had already done earlier looking for an ATM. We bought over priced sandwiches from a convenience store and went to the beach to eat them, before heading back to our hostel. There were many bars and clubs on the main street and lots of young people partying, but we decided just to go to bed instead.
Friday 7.12.
Our sailing trip didn´t depart until 2pm so we had some time to hang around in Airlie Beach before going to the wharf. After collecting our trip info and coupons from a travel agency we headed to the beach & pool area we had been to the night before. It was a nice area indeed with a large pool, lots of grass areas and picknic tables. We sat there for a while and then walked up and down the main street again. I bought a Billabong hat and a tank top and Juulia found some postcards. Then we went to Subways to crab some lunch, and to a bottle shop to buy canned drinks for the sailing trip. When we got to our car to drive to the wharf we had a really nice surprise waiting for us… The car wouldn´t start :( Juulia had forgotten to turn off the driving lights the night before and the car had ran out of battery. All we could do was to call the sailing people and tell them to wait for us while we walked to the wharf. We ended up getting there just in time for our departure, but I felt a bit annoyed knowing we´d have to deal with the car after getting back from sailing.
The sailing boat was called Silent Night, and our group was 12 people plus our skipper and cook. The boat was just big enough to fit everyone inside for sleeping, and it had a small kitchen and a toilet. There was room on the deck for sitting around and sunbathing, which we did most of the time when we were sailing or using the engine. Our trip started with a brief info session about safety and other practices, after which we all went outside to sit on the deck. Juulia and I ate our Subway sandwiches before arriving in our first snorkelling spot. We had to wear stinger suits again to protect us from tiny stingers and they recommended us to snorkel in pairs. Pairing up with Juulia was good, since she spotted a big turtle that we kept following for a while. It was so cool, it looked like it was just peacefully floating in the water. The reef wasn´t as colourful as the one in Cairns, but there was plenty to see anyways.
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Silent Night - sailing boat
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Inside the boat
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Juulia and I wearing our stinger suits (hot, huh?)
After snorkelling our cook prepared our dinner. We had delicious nachos for appetisers. I took a quick shower – each one of us was allowed to shower for 1min a day – before dinner. We saw a beautiful sunset, and spent the evening sitting on the deck, chatting and drinking whatever we had brought with us. (Juulia and I had bought just 6 cans of those “pop drinks”.) Our skipper took the little rubber boat and drove around, showing us how some plants got activated by movement and became fluorescent, creating a kind of light path behind the moving boat. It looked so cool! Later we played some observation games and it took forever for some of us to get the idea. By that time everyone had pretty much gotten to know each other. Our group consisted of 2 German guys, 3 Irish people, some Bristish people and 2 girls from Switzerland. It was a good group indeed and we all got along really well.
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Sunset at the sea
Saturday 8.12.
We woke up before 7am after sleeping really well in our small cabin. After breakfast we were taken to Whitehaven Beach on the small rubber boat. It´s one of the worlds most famous beaches and the 4th most photographed place in Australia. First we walked to a lookout, and the view from up there was amazing! The beach looked like a paradise with its white sand, palm trees and clear water. We took several pictures before heading down to spend a couple of hours on the beach. It was a really hot day, and after laying down for a while we ended up spending most of the time in the water. It was shallow and we just sat or crawled around. At midday it was time to return to our boat for lunch, and then we headed towards our snorkelling place. There were notably more fish and corals at that place. I saw Nemo fish – both in orange and turquoise – and some big fish. Some people saw jelly fish, too, but I didn´t catch any. When we got back from snorkelling we were given coffee and cookies, which was nice since I always got kinda tired/cold after returning to the boat.
We woke up before 7am after sleeping really well in our small cabin. After breakfast we were taken to Whitehaven Beach on the small rubber boat. It´s one of the worlds most famous beaches and the 4th most photographed place in Australia. First we walked to a lookout, and the view from up there was amazing! The beach looked like a paradise with its white sand, palm trees and clear water. We took several pictures before heading down to spend a couple of hours on the beach. It was a really hot day, and after laying down for a while we ended up spending most of the time in the water. It was shallow and we just sat or crawled around. At midday it was time to return to our boat for lunch, and then we headed towards our snorkelling place. There were notably more fish and corals at that place. I saw Nemo fish – both in orange and turquoise – and some big fish. Some people saw jelly fish, too, but I didn´t catch any. When we got back from snorkelling we were given coffee and cookies, which was nice since I always got kinda tired/cold after returning to the boat.
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Whitehaven Beach
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Whitehaven Beach
The wind was strong enough to sail to our days final destination so we put the sails up. Juulia and I helped pulling up the big sail and everyone else got to do some chores, too. Sailing was cool and we actually went pretty fast at times! When we reached our destination – that was also our snorkelling place the next morning – it was time to admire another beautiful sunset. After it got dark we just sat around chatting. We had delicious lasagne for dinner, accompanied with garlic bread. We went to bed quite early, planning to get a good night sleep.
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Juulia and I putting the sails up
Sunday 9.12.
We woke up again pretty early and went snorkelling right after eating breakfast. Knowing it was my last time snorkelling for a while I tried to make the most out of it, staying in the water for as long as possible. I saw a rather big fish that was kinda square shaped and had a pointy nose, but forgot to check its name from the booklet we were using to identify fish. We would´ve wanted to sail back to Airlie Beach, but unfortunately there was hardly any wind so we had to use the engine. It was really hot and I sat on the shade most of the time.
When we arrived back in Airlie Beach Juulia and I hurried to the backpackers to take showers and get ready for the days long drive. Our car had to be fixed before hitting the road, though. While Juulia was still in the shower I walked to a nearby gas station to ask for cables to charge our battery. A friendly man from a bicycle shop next door happened to be there and offered to lend me this box with cables that I could carry to the car. It was easy enough to start the car, with the help of this German guy who happened to walk by, and by the time Juulia got back from the shower I had the car all fixed. So after returning the cable box we began to drive towards Hervey Bay.
Because of our tight travelling schedule we had to start our Fraser Island tour right the next day, which meant driving 800km that day/night. It was 2pm when we hit the road and we arrived in Hervey Bay at around 1.30am. We only stopped for lunch (fish and chips – the junk food of our trip) at some small town and for short coffee/toilet breaks. Unfortunately our radio had been automatically set to security mode when the battery died so we had no music :/ We tried calling to Hertz for a pin number but they were closed already. So we entertained ourselves talking and listening to a few songs on Juulia´s laptop. The long drive went surprisingly smoothly without either of us getting too bored/tired. When we arrived in Hervey Bay and were searching for our hostel we were stopped by the police who were checking drivers´ alcohol levels. We asked them for directions to our hostel and they were helpful showing us the right way on the map. Later after we had checked in and were waiting for to get into the hostel parking area and same police officers drove there to make sure everything was ok with us. It´s good to have some police friends in Australia :)
We woke up again pretty early and went snorkelling right after eating breakfast. Knowing it was my last time snorkelling for a while I tried to make the most out of it, staying in the water for as long as possible. I saw a rather big fish that was kinda square shaped and had a pointy nose, but forgot to check its name from the booklet we were using to identify fish. We would´ve wanted to sail back to Airlie Beach, but unfortunately there was hardly any wind so we had to use the engine. It was really hot and I sat on the shade most of the time.
When we arrived back in Airlie Beach Juulia and I hurried to the backpackers to take showers and get ready for the days long drive. Our car had to be fixed before hitting the road, though. While Juulia was still in the shower I walked to a nearby gas station to ask for cables to charge our battery. A friendly man from a bicycle shop next door happened to be there and offered to lend me this box with cables that I could carry to the car. It was easy enough to start the car, with the help of this German guy who happened to walk by, and by the time Juulia got back from the shower I had the car all fixed. So after returning the cable box we began to drive towards Hervey Bay.
Because of our tight travelling schedule we had to start our Fraser Island tour right the next day, which meant driving 800km that day/night. It was 2pm when we hit the road and we arrived in Hervey Bay at around 1.30am. We only stopped for lunch (fish and chips – the junk food of our trip) at some small town and for short coffee/toilet breaks. Unfortunately our radio had been automatically set to security mode when the battery died so we had no music :/ We tried calling to Hertz for a pin number but they were closed already. So we entertained ourselves talking and listening to a few songs on Juulia´s laptop. The long drive went surprisingly smoothly without either of us getting too bored/tired. When we arrived in Hervey Bay and were searching for our hostel we were stopped by the police who were checking drivers´ alcohol levels. We asked them for directions to our hostel and they were helpful showing us the right way on the map. Later after we had checked in and were waiting for to get into the hostel parking area and same police officers drove there to make sure everything was ok with us. It´s good to have some police friends in Australia :)
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