Whitsunday Islands

We arrived in Airlie Beach feeling much better, having recovered from our sea sickness. We were staying at a backpackers hostel right on the beach and felt very good for being such authentic travellers (in truth we booked a private double with ensuite bathroom and balcony, but hey, who's counting?) Right in front of our hostel was a great seafood restaurant where you can pick your piece of fish and it's grilled to your liking - amazing.

The next morning we went on sea kayaking tour around some of the islands. Our guide was a young guy from NZ, nickname "Skid", a professional stunt kayaker. Most of his friends had died in various kayaking related incidents - drowning, freezing in artic waters... Although he didn't seem to think that was a reason to slow down, he did take us on a very relaxing, safe trip.

We spent most of our time in the Whitsundays on a 3 day sailing trip. We were cruising around on the Derwent Hunter, an old fashioned sailing boat. There were about 18 of us on board, and we were involved in helping hoist the sails and all the rest of it. We did quite a lot of sailing using only wind power, which was pretty unique. During our trip we did some snorkling, went to Whitehaven beach and did some hiking in the islands. On the way home we sailed through the Whitsunday Passage in some pretty high seas (for us). With the boat cruising along at a significant angle, we all stood gripping the rails, getting soaking wet as waves splashed over the side - very exciting.