Whitsunday Islands (Australia)

Hello All,

The next stop up the Australian east coast backpacker trail are the Whitsunday Islands, a group of 74 islands at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. We took a three day trip aboard the Wings Catamaran, along with 24 other passengers and the crew. We were very well looked after by them all, particularly Cookie, the slightly mad kiwi dive instructor who entertained us with comments like "please be quiet, she's never done this before" when the skipper was mooring the boat! Our swedish skipper, Annika, endeared herself to Vania immediately by telling her off somewhat harshly twice on the first day. The boat was quite good by backpacker standards, our bed was a sofa bed in the dining area, which was better than the bunks below given how humid it was.

After a couple of snorkelling trips, we had a good evening on deck with some beers and a barbecue with the other guests and the crew.

The next morning involved a very early start, up at 6am. However, with Whitehaven Beach waiting for us it was well worth it. We trekked up to this lookout for a spectacular view of one of the best beaches in Australia. Now doesn't that water make you just want to jump in right away? Well no, not after the crew have finished telling you about the Box Jellyfish that inhabit these waters from October to April. In a country full of nasty things that can kill you in many different ways, the Box Jellyfish is right up there.

The Box Jellyfish keeps people out of the sea for much of the Queensland coast for half the year. With the deadliest venom in the animal kingdom, the sting so excruciatingly painful and overwhelming that you would most likely go into shock and drown before reaching the shore. And it gets worse - their cousin, the Irukandji jellyfish is twenty times more deadly, thumbnail sized and (you'll like this) it is also invisible!!

Anyway, all this cheery news means you either stay out of the water at the hottest time of year, or you dress yourself in a fetching lycra stinger suit and hope to avoid any jellyfish encounters. Fortunately our boat was a dive boat so we had proper wetsuits, the thin lycra stinger suits are apparently quite a sight! Here I am with Peter and Daisy, a couple we met on the boat. I don't quite remember what I was laughing about, maybe I was still in hysterical shock after the box jellyfish talk!

We had a couple of hours to ourselves on Whitehaven Beach, which was beautiful with the finest sand I have ever seen.

We posed for some daft group photos (sadly we didn't buy the CD) and spotted some stingrays and reef sharks in the water. The water is so shallow that you can see all this just from the beach.

Back on board the boat, it was time for some more snorkelling and diving. Below are some pictures taken with our underwater disposable camera, including our first Nemo encounter!

As we headed back on the final morning, the skies darkened and brought torrential rain when we got back on land. That night, a big storm passed over and flooded roads. As I went to the bus stop to see if ours would be going, I saw several boats smashed up by the bay and others had been washed up on the rocks. With roads blocked north and south and the airport shut, we spent an extra couple of days in Airlie Beach. With time on our trip running out, we were keen to leave. They were still offering parasailing trips, but Vania was not impressed when I suggested that must be our best route out!

At least we weren't still out at sea for the storm. Another of the sailing boats broke from its mooring, got wedged onto rocks and then sunk. Everyone was ok but had to be airlifted off. Having photographed some of the battered boats, I was feeling a bit guilty so we also spent some time helping some of the locals who were getting things off their boats and securing them. It was still very windy, which explains why I'm wearing my poncho in this odd fashion!

We met up with one of the others from our boat, Simone (a crazy italian we met on board), who told us that he'd ended up rescuing a man and his dog from one of the boats when they were returning from the bar. He was with Cookie who had jumped in the water and swam aboard and helped him off, and also put him up for a few days.

After another metre or so of rain, the rain finally stopped and we managed to get out on our bus and made our way up to Townsville.

More soon!

Tom