Whitsunday Island Spring Break

So I flew out of Melbourne on Saturday. Our flight was at 7:45 so I was up at 4:45. I was hoping to catch a tram into the city to then walk to Southern Cross station to catch the shuttle to the airport. However shuttles did not start running until 5:30 so that was not going to work. So instead I was able to catch a taxi right outside of IH to take directly to Southern Cross Station. I then waited until the other two girls who were on my plane showed up. We then got on the shuttle to the airport. Taxi’s to the airport are expensive but the shuttle is pretty cheap. It was around a 20 minute ride from the train station to the airport. There was hardly any traffic since it was so early. So we got there with the normal two hours to spare that you usually allow in the US. Well you really don’t need that much time in Australia. Checking in is a lot easier, they don’t ask for any form of I.D. You just tell them your name and they print your ticket. You also do not have to show a ticket or I.D. when going through security. So you actually never have to show an I.D. Also at security they don’t care about shoes or liquid or showing your ticket so security is a lot faster. So since you don’t have to show your ticket it is like it was in the old days in the States where famly and friends could see you off at your gate and be there to greet you. So we then had a lot of time to kill and unfortunately our plane was delayed because they were doing checks on it. This was only a problem because we were flying to Sydney and had less than an hour to make our connecting flight to Hamilton Island. They were very vague about the deal but then they announced that the people who were connecting to Hamilton Island would not have a problem because the same plane was continuing on, so we were not at risk for missing the connection. Then they said that they were waiting on a spare part to come into Melbourne for the plane… haha. So finally they announced that they were re-routing us. So instead of flying to Sydney and then on to Hamilton Island we were instead going to fly to Brisbane and then connect to the island. So we had to change terminals in Melbourne but again security was a joke, although I did get selected to have an explosive test done. And then it turned out we were on the same plane as another kid in our group (there were 10 total including myself). Once at the Brisbane airport we met up with two other kids in our group as well. There was also a group of BC kids going to Hamilton Island.
O and another weird Australian thing about planes is that they always load you from the back and the front. This actually makes a lot more sense and expedites the process, although you do have to go onto the tarmac all the time. They also have tvs in every seat and let you watch for about 20 minutes for free but then you have to pay to continue watching your show or movie.
So we finally got to Hamilton Island in the middle of the afternoon, a couple hours after we were supposed to. Hamilton island is a very small island in the Whitsunday islands that is full of expensive resorts where everyone drives golf carts around. The airport is tiny; it reminded me of the airports we flew into in Hawaii (besides Honolulu). However, the plane we were on was normal size 3 seats by 3 seats and around 30 rows, and it was packed. When we arrived we didn’t ever really go inside the terminal. We just collected our bags at the baggage claim, which was really just the area that they pull the carts up to with all the baggage on it. We then had a little bit of a wait before getting on our ferry to Long Island where we were spending the night.

Unfortunately it was somewhat rainy and cloudy when we were flying in so I didn’t have great views and it was rainy when we got to Long Island. Long Island was around a 20 minute ferry from Hamilton Island. The only thing on Long Island was this “resort”. We weren’t staying at the resort but at a hostel that was connected to the resort. From the beginning this resort was very frustrating. When we were trying to check in they told us we had to have this email confirmation printed, even though they had never told us that before. So we then had to pay to use their internet and pay to print out the confirmations. They also did not put all of us in the same rooms so that was frustrating. The island was a drag. It was not a pretty island. Most of the islands look the same and this one had nothing special. There was nothing to do because it was raining and we definitely did not want to hang out in our rooms because it was so muggy and hot in there and obviously its just a hostel room with bunks.
I have to interject that I was also really pissed because I had found really nice apartments for everyone to stay in on Airlie beach (where we would be heading to the next night). After it was all said and done it would have been the same amount to stay in the apartments as it was to take the extra fairy to Hamilton Island and pay for everything on the island. Except if we had staid in the apartment we would have had ac, nice showers, a place to hang out, and a kitchen to make food together if we chose. So I was pissed that I was wasting my money on something that was frustrating me.
So we hung out around the resort part of the island for the rest of the day. The resort was not that nice either so their amenities, which we were allowed to use, were so so. The showers and bathrooms, which were shared with the entire hostel, were pretty horrible and there was a ton of bugs in the shower. In fact there was a dead moth on the counter that the ants had found and were eating and there was a line of ants from the dead moth up the mirror and outside. Awesome. We all slept and woke up sweating, again awesome.
The next morning we hung out at the resort until it was time for our ferry at 2:30. It felt like a very long morning. There were parts that weren’t raining and so we chilled on the beach for a little bit. We couldn’t really swim in the water because it is stinger season and so you have to wear a stinger suit whenever you go into the water. I also wanted to go jet skiing but this resort overpriced everything and so to jetski for 10 minutes was $70!!!!! You have got to be kidding me. So we clearly waited to find a better deal. We then got to leave the island! YAY! We then took the ferry to Airlie Beach, which is this little touristy town on the mainland. When we got there it was poring so we took a shuttle to our hostel. This hostel in fairness was a lot nicer than the other one. We were all in one room with 10 beds and our own private two showers and bathroom, and this one had AC! After checking in at the hostel we went to go check in at the place that booked our sailing cruise and got some ice cream. We then just hung around Airlie beach and got dinner and such.
On Monday we had until around 2:30 before we were supposed to get on the sailboat. So I did some research and found a place we could jet ski that was a lot cheaper. Three of the other kids in my group wanted to jet ski too so we headed over to the resort that offered it. We got to jetski for 30 minutes for $35 each, a much better deal. It was slightly misting when we got there but by the time we had our reservation it was sunny and gorgeous. It wasn’t a huge area for us to explore so we just had fun riding around. The waves were nice and calm too. After that the 4 of us grabbed lunch and then went to go pick up the bags we had stored at the sailing place that we were going to take on the sailboat. So we were only allowed to bring soft sided bags with no zippers onto the sailboat. In other words we had to use those eco-friendly grocery bags. While we were in the office we ran into these friends of one of the kids in my group who had just gotten off the boat on the trip we were about to embark on. They told us that we didn’t need a lot of clothes and that we didn’t really have shower. Also you weren’t allowed to use shampoo or conditioner on the boat. So we chucked more things out of our bags. We then had to walk around 30 minutes with all of our stuff in the heat and sun to the marina so we were all gross by the time we got to the boat. We then got our stinger suits and signed some papers and got on the sailboat.
The sailboat was called “spank me” and it is an 82ft Maxi Yacht so it is a very long sailboat. It used to be a racing sailboat and won some races in Australia. There were 26 passengers (including the 10 of us) and 4 crew. So when we got on the boat we found out that we would have to share bunks and that we had to sleep with all of our stuff in our bed. There were no cabins all the bunks were just built into the side of the wall. There was not storage space and two tiny bathrooms for the 30 of us, and a tiny kitchen. Also we were not allowed to wear shoes on the boat so I went 3 days without wearing shoes, which was kinda weird. So I shared a bed with Caroline and luckily enough we got a bottom bunk right under the skylights. So after getting our stuff below deck we sailed away from Airlie Harbor and we sailed for about 3 hours before anchoring between two islands for the night.

That night we just played some games on deck with the other passengers before going to bed early around 10:00. The next morning we woke up at 6am because that is when we started going and so we could hear the motor running and the boat began to sway. This first morning on the boat was the worst. Everyone felt sick because we were moving side to side so much. Our first destination was white haven beach. This is probably the prettiest beach I’ve ever been to. The sand is the finest in the world so it is pure white. We docked on the other side of the island and were then tendered over. We then did a little walk through the woods and ended up on the side where the beach was. We were all really happy to be on land. So we got on our stinger suits and went swimming a bit. We only had around two hours on the beach before we had to get back on the boat. We then sailed to this other inlet area by an island. This was where we were going snorkeling and spending the night. It was somewhat cloudy but the water was really still so the snorkeling was awesome. I think this is technically part of the outer reef. I got an underwater camera so I took some pictures of the fish friends I saw. I don’t really know when I’m going to be able to develop these but Ill let you know.
The cool thing about being on the boat at night was the stars. I haven’t seen stars like that in so long. We were able to find the Southern Cross, which was sweet. Those stars are the pattern on the Australian flag.
Another 6am morning to start off the day because we had a while to sail to get to the Great Barrier Reef! The reef was different than I imagined. We just pulled up to this area with a couple other boats in the middle of the ocean. The water was greener in spots and that’s where we would be snorkeling because it was the shallow parts of the reef. Snorkeling didn’t work out as well for me so I was kinda bummed. My mask kept letting in water and so did my snorkel so I had to adjust constantly. Where we were snorkeling was really shallow so I was trying really hard not to kill the coral (when you touch coral it dies) when I was fixing my snorkel. It was also very wavy and there was a pretty strong current so not the best snorkeling weather. However besides all that it was so sweet. It was really sunny that day so everything was brighter and prettier. The fish was awesome and so was the reef. That night we sailed to another inlet and they tendered us over to a little beach to watch the sunset.
The next morning we got to sleep in a bit. I even took two Benadryl to help me sleep but they didn’t work. People were allowed to jump off the boat in the morning and go swimming but there was nothing really to see and none of us wanted to deal with being wet again. So then it was a couple hours sail back to Airlie Beach where we got off the boat. Everyone was pretty much a mess when we got off the boat. It was ridiculously hot, we were hungry, tired, burnt, and dehydrated. We all plopped down outside this café at the dock to rest a bit before taking all of our stuff back to hostel. We then got lunch and took showers! One of the best showers I had ever taken after not being able to for 3 days. I was worried my hair would be irreparable but a lot of conditioner did the trick. I then napped a bit and got some Basken Robbins because yes they have that here too and it was amazing. Australian’s are not a huge fan of ice-cream and the ice-cream they do have is not very flavorful.
The day after that we didn’t have that long in Airlie before we had to leave. It took a long time to get back and it was a lot colder back in Melbourne. The rest of the weekend was not very exciting since I had two papers to write in 3 days.

Whitsunday islands