One day in New Zealand I started googling for new adventures. A few months later I started working as a tour leader in Europe. Through this job I’ve had so many cool opportunities that brought me to different places, from Peru to Morocco. Just over a year ago I was in Australia for an apprenticeship at the office. As part of my time there I got to go on a trip to Queensland. We spent 3 days onboard the Boomerang for some sailing through the Whitsundays.
We weren’t very lucky. From the moment we entered the boat it started raining. Throughout the 3 days we received a mix of sunshine, showers and winds. But this wouldn’t stop me from having a good time on my first real sailing experience. It turns out sailing is all about doing nothing. At least as a passenger. I’m not very good at doing nothing and I struggled in the second hour of our voyage. We were just sitting on the side of the boat, our legs over the edge, catching the water. And I was catching a lot of water. It seemed I had found the worst spot on deck. As we raced over the waves, the boat tilted and waves of water washed over my face and body. I was soaked when the boat came to a calmer speed.
I learned to embrace the quiet though and I started enjoying being out on the water. But what made it really interesting was the excursions we made, the times we were allowed to swim or snorkel and the times we got to help out raising the sails. I like to move. I like to explore. Sitting on the deck was not my favourite activity. And we couldn’t easily jump in for a swim either. It was december and therefore stinger season. Whenever we went into the water we had to protect ourselves with a suit against the jellyfish. We did swim though. The cherry on the pie was a trip to Whitehaven Beach.
The dinghy brought us to the island and first we walked onto a boardwalk to take in the views of the beach. The tides play with the sand and give you a different experience every time you come. It was breath-taking. The sun felt warm on my skin and seeing those perfect waters just made me want to jump in.
And so I did. On the beach were loads of little crabs. Every time you got too close, they would hide in the sand. But I saw hundreds of them on my to the water. The water was perfect and you are truly away from everything here! There were two more group on the beach, but it was huge and had plenty of space for all of us.
The Whitsundays also have some snorkelling, although it’s not nearly as impressive as the outer Great barrier reef or other regions where I’ve snorkelled. But I was happy enough to just swim around and try to discover what was there. The coral was mostly dead and grey, but there were still fish swimming around and we even found a turtle.
On one of the evenings we had a Hawaiian party. We anchored in a beautiful bay, without other boats around. We dressed up. We had a delicious dinner. We watched the sunset. And we played games on the boat.
My travels are temporarily on hold, but luckily I have a lot of memories to relive. And so today I am on that beach, white sand all around me. I feel the warmth of the sun and cool down with a swim in the crystal clear waters. I wonder what’s on the itinerary tomorrow…
The view is stunning!!! Looks like a lot of works to do on a sailboat. Never ride on one before