The trip was planned through the Student Flights group at my school. Cost a lot but everything was pre-planned and well worth it.
Thursday we took the bus to the train around 7 am to Brisbane. It's about a 2 hour train ride. To our dismay, the train ride to the Brisbane airport did not cost the light fee of $6 as does the train ride into the city. Instead it was over 20. Australia never ceases to surprise you with absurd prices. We had about an hour and a half flight to Airlie Beach, north of us along the coast. We checked into our cute bungalow-esq hostel. We were very impressed with the fridge, size, jacuzzi sized tub (even though we wouldn't use it), and overall size - until we discovered all of the critters that lived with us. It wasn't the most pleasant night sleep as I worried an aussie spider would try to come snuggle with me. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town. We were staying along a cute little street, parallel to the coastline, containing many quaint boutiques and cafes where we did lots of shopping and had a great lunch. The harbor was beautiful. There was not actually a beach we could swim in, (because of jellyfish) instead there was a lagoon - a small pool type thing, I think it was filled with salt water, surrounded by palm trees and space to lay out. We sat by the harbor for a while, as the sun set behind us. We had thai food for dinner. I was not too impressed. I've fallen in love with the pad thai right near campus and this did not compare.
The next morning, we woke up, packed, and went for breakfast at the same cafe from the day before. We had some time to spend on this street before making the 10 minutes walk to the harbor where our catamaran was picking us up.
Around noon, all 27 of us checked in, and climbed aboard. As we departed, we had an introduction from our three crew members, followed by a long speech about safety & such in the hot crowded kitchen/lounge area. There were three tables that barely fit all of us, with a small kitchen area. Soon enough they showed us to our sleeping quarters, and we were able to escape onto the front deck. The catamaran was crowded, but at the same time there seemed to be enough room for us to spread out comfortably. There was a hot tub (I thought this was crazy), and nets at the very front of the boat where you could lay, and at rougher parts of sea get drenched by huge waves. We had out Scuba debriefing up front. This was around when my motion sickness pills and exhaustion set in, and I had a hard time keeping my eyes open.
The views were incredible. Crystal clear teal-blue water, mountain ranges on the main land and the islands. I took an absurd amount of pictures of the landscape.
Soon enough we arrived at our first snorkel destination. I made the decision that I wanted to snorkel, and scuba dive the next day, even though there were a lot of first timers going. I asked Richie (crew member who sort of lead everything) several times if I would definitely be able to go tomorrow. He promised that I would at the first location. Every part of the marine biologist left in me was filled with overwhelming excitement at the sight of the reefs. While a lot of people paired off and fooled around together in the water, I went into my own little world. I took so many pictures, too many to go through. I saw angel fish, damsel fish, blue tang (aka Dory from "Finding Nemo"), Nemo himself (aka a clown fish in an anemone), and a huge amount of parrot fish. Five years ago, while snorkeling in Key Largo Florida on my school's marine biology trip, I decided these fish were my favorite. This hasn't changed. In Florida I remember these "stoplight parrotfish" they were a blue color with painted spots and lines on their faces, painted something like a clown. This day I saw even more beautiful types, I think most of them were rainbow parrot fish. It became my mission to stalk and take pictures. They are harder to snap shots of because they are constantly on the move. They eat something on the reefs, I should look into what this is, but it makes a loud cracking sound that you can hear throughout the water. I even found myself swimming above a huge school of them. This was very exciting. I also saw a huge fish, can't remember what it was called, but I should find out. They named in Priscilla because they know where it always hangs out. The coral itself was impressive. So many different kinds, wish I could remember the names of more than a couple. There were some small jelly fish, but nothing too exciting. One of the crew members pulled up one of those disc like jellies that often are washed up at the jersey shore, or the cape. People were completely in awe and all wanted a turn holding it. All I could think was, wow what a bunch of amateurs. Saw some huge clams, which I later learned were called Maxima Clams from Emily Garland when she sent me this link:
http://scientificillustration.tumblr.com/post/17966680468/katewadsworth-first-project-for-my-scientific
My own photographs are going to have to come in a following post because there are just too many I don't know where to begin!
I ended up being the last one out there that day, didn't realize until it had been a while and I looked around and saw no one else with their snorkel tubes sticking out of the water, just me and the captain waiting in his dingy.
The meals provided for us were way above my expectations. Rachel was the crew member in change of cooking. Learning Rachel's story was astonishing. 19 years old and from South Africa. Graduated high school early at the age of 16, did Uni in S.A., did some work in Africa, traveled to Europe and backpacked there for a while, and now she's living and working on a boat in Australia. Amazing. Anyway, she prepared snacks, and full blown meals in the tiny hot kitchen. First "home cooking" I've had.
We watched the sunset over the ocean. Breathtaking. Took tons of pictures. First night sleep under the deck in my little bed wasn't the best one. I realized my bed was like directly under the hot tub, so between the ocean hitting the boat, and the slight sway causing the water to move back and forth in the hot tob, my slumber was very interrupted by the sounds of swooshing water.
Had breakfast, fruit & cereal, and it wasn't long before we were off to our next reef location. Spent the downtime on the boat reading "The Hunger Games" (which I finished today - pretty good book!!). Finally got to the next dive location. One thing about the crew members I haven't mentioned is their flakey personalities - random bi-polar rude behavior. Richie was asking who wanted to go for a second dive, then the certified divers, and when I asked about first time divers, he told me he'll try to work something out if they have time. This infuriated me. When I followed him to question him about this change in option, he told me "I said I'd try to work it out". I was pretty unhappy about this, but then I ended up getting lucky and having basically my own personal dive lesson, because I went down with the three certified divers in our group. Scuba diving was a very crazy experience. Unlike the day before, where the new divers gradually worked their way in from a beach - I was basically dropped into the middle of the ocean. Learned a couple basics here and there, and boom, plunge to the deep ocean floor. Just kidding it wasn't a plunge it was safe and slow. I was definitely really nervous at first, and very uncomfortable when I first started descending. My first thoughts were "oh my god let me go back up" and "this is why I could never sky dive". But Richie was great, held my hand pretty much the entire time (until I was comfortable). I was really nervous about my ears, but I made sure to equalize the entire way down (plugging my nose and blowing to pop your ears). But for some reason my left ear never was satisfied (and continued to bother me for the next week). Once I finally accepted the fact that I was breathing under water, and although it's unnatural I would survive - I LOVED IT. Being so up close and personal to coral that I could never see from the surface was unreal. I even saw a huge sting ray! Richie purposely scared it so we got to see it fly up from the ocean floor and dart away. It was a weird feeling having a hard time maintaining my locations (difficult from preventing myself from rising or falling unintentionally). I also had a hard time not breathing out from my nose, had to concentrate really hard not to allow this to happen.... which I find very strange because I never had this problem snorkeling. Overall it was a great experience, I might do it again in the future.
That afternoon we went to an island where we hiked to Whitehaven Beach. One of the most famous beaches in the world... because it was absolutely breathtaking. The sand was actually pure Silica - incredibly white and soft... which is produced because of two tectonic places rubbing together. The water and sand is woven together, making one of the most beautiful sites I have seen all of my life. Word's cannot describe and these pictures do not do it justice. We spent some time on the beach itself (after we looked at it & took pictures from above). Sadly we had to swim in our wet suits because of jelly fish. But it was a great way to spend an afternoon, lying in the waves letting the tide roll me around.
Sunday, we were snorkeling by 7 am, en route back to Airlie beach by 8 am. Most productive morning of my life. I saw sea turtles!!! Sadly my camera was dead (So I've stolen others pictures). Proudest moment: finding a sting ray on my own. I was moseying along, stalking a turtle, when suddenly I saw a long pole on the bottom of the ocean. I thought, gee wonder what that is. After a few moments of staring I realized it was a huge stingray, camouflaged by the sand. So cool!
Overall this weekend was unforgettable. Made a few new really great friends, saw fabulous sites, and I never wanted to leave.
HERE IS A LINK TO A PHOTO-ALBUM OF THE WEEKEND --> Whitsunday Photos
This Blog entry was a little overdue... I went to Whitsundays February 16th through the 19th. I began writing it weeks ago, but because I have been taking my studies so seriously I never had the chance to finish it... ;) I will update with photographs soon, but since you all are so eager to hear what's been happening I figure I better post the story first!
Coming soon... my Mardi Gras weekend in Sydney & a weekend by the beach at Byron Bay.
I miss everyone very much!! And time is flying by so quickly, I will be home in the States before I can say G'day. Very sad, but I do have a lot to look forward to.
