Spank Me, part II

We set sail out of Airlie Beach at 3 p on Monday afternoon. It was a quick and easy sail out into super blue aqua waters and we headed to Hook Island - we got there in about 2.5 hours. Despite there being a crew, us passengers were called to action to raise and lower sails on these big 'grinders' (gears) that sat in the middle of the boat. We arrived in an amazing cove, dropped anchor, everyone felt better...and jumped off the boat. We were advised to wear our stinger suits -- they don't even pretend to call them wet suits, the suit is to prevent the majority of your body from being stung by a bad bad jelly fish. -- and we pretty much did whenever in the water. The whole jelly fish thing is talked about a lot but the areas that I am in do not have the box jellyfish, a little 1 in by 1 in cube of stingy death. Or at least that's what I'm told.

Dinner was spaghetti bolgonese. Yum. The food on the sail trip was pretty phenomenal - chicken curry and burritos for other dinners, lunches were these feasts of chicken and salads and 'brekky' was a pile of big fluffy rolls, peanut butter jam jelly butter, cold cereals, coffee and fruit.
Snacks would show up (cheese and crackers, apples and orange slices) and this is why we love Ashley.

Drinks and food and all wiped me out the first night and went to bed fairly early (never really know the time on a boat for some reason) but quickly learned that my 3 foot wide bunk was basically an echo chamber for all the noise above. Note to self, be the last one to bed next time. I slept real crappily - it hot and I kept waking up.

We got up every morning obscenely early. Obscene. On Tuesday around 6 am, we set sail and FLEW across the water...the boat I swear was at > 55 degree angle...at one point I was technically sitting but actually standing up because of the pitch. Everyone got quiet pretty quick since we were basically just trying not to throw up...the seas were ROUGH. Sun shining and gorgeous views, but 2 meter swells were kicking around the boat pretty good. We'd be in a trough of a wave and looking up at the peak of it. I didn't get sick - as long as I was talking and looking at the horizon I was good. I went below deck for about 7 seconds once and nearly hurled.

Around 11, there were no more waves but we were far out in the middle of the sea, and they just stop...and then I saw the little tiny baby whitcaps. That is what the barrier reef IS from above the water. No makers or signs (thank god) - just a few anchor buoys that Jack snagged w that hookey thing, tied our boat to...and voila. At the great barrier reef.

I have been scuba diving before and liked it, a lot. Back then I did feel a bit stressed then and my ears didn't equalize very well, but had to give it another go here. So glad I did. We got in our suits, did a little refresher class, read some stuff, blah blah and jumped in in groups of 4 divers and 1 instructur. Sean). Saw tons of GIANT colorful fish, every color of the rainbow, swimming below.

The dive was amazing - was down for 40 mins and went to 10 meters (~30 ft). Sat on the bottom, looked up, and there were hundreds of fishies above around and beside me. Wild. One slight moment of excitement when Sean and 2 of the certified padi divers were down for longer than expected. Everything was fine - they were diving deeper and the current took them further away then they had planned. Jack got 'em in the dingy.

We hung out at the reef all day, snorkeling when the dive was over. That was a little hectic because the wind had picked up and so there was a slight chop, but below the surface was the same underwater zen calm zone that makes stuff underwater so otherworldly. We made our way to Whitsunday Island, the biggest of the Whitsunday Island cluster, and anchored again in an amazing cove. I slept above deck on a blow up air mattress, which was pretty great.

Next day, we dove from the boat before breakfast. Jack took us in the dingy just around the cove end and dropped us, and we came back under the water to the mothership. The coral here was more vibrant than it was the day before, but the fish were tinier. Lots of laying around and mid day, we set sail to Whitehaven beach, a huge sandbar made of super white sand that was like walking on a field of talcum powder in warmish bathwater for as far as the eye can almost see. There were stingrays swimming around all over the place, those little guys just scoot away from you the moment you get close. No worries.

Next day more of the same, diving and snorkeling at the reef. Last night on the boat was a party. There are 2 big built in coolers on the boat that we all dumped our booze in. Starboard side beer, port side goon. Goon is cheap box wine, and it's called 'GOON' because that's the aboriginal word for 'pillow' and the idea is that after drinking a bag of goon you just inflate it and sleep on it, wherever the hell you are. Ooookay. The day I boarded the boat I thought to myself that 2 sunken vat like coolers was both brilliant as well as trouble - great to hold drinks and great to fall in to. Well sure enough that night, Dimitri - one of the 2 french guys on the boat - fell into the beer cooler, head first and had to be rescued. Good think Bert rescued him. To be honest, Dimitri and his french arrogance needed a little cooling off.

Last night slept below deck because I was too lazy to blow up an air mattress and had slight concerns about not rolling off the deck. Sail back was again very fast. Very fast....we made it back to Airlie Beach in about 3.5 hours and snorkeled at one spot along the way. There was a definite feeling of 'I don't wanna get off the boat' going on. The plan was made to meet up - all passengers plus crew minus 2 french guys who had to fly home an hour later - at a bar at 7 pm that night.