Whitsundy Islands

This entry is about The Whitsunday Islands. They are an old mountain range that has since been inundated by the sea, the result...a group of islands surrounded by the warm Coral Sea. This place is quite popular for sailors, yachties and backpackers. There was a myriad of options available for seeing the islands, the most popular was a three day sailing trip but we decided that since Andrea will get sea sick in a bathtub we went for the quick and dirty speed boat option.

What we didn't realize was that this company was run by a group of Kiwi's which means that the trip won't just be a quick zip to the islands and back. Minutes into the boat ride the skipper decided it would be a great idea to spin a few donuts and zig zag his way across the bay at speeds Micheal Shumacher would be jealous about. It was a bit eye opening as I thought that this is what the rest of the day was going to entail. Luckily enough the high performance boating quickly ended before my Cheerios became fish food.

The day started with two hours of snorkeling at two different locations, still on The Great Barrier Reef, still just as amazing. From here were off to the one of the best ten beaches in the world. I do not know where this stat comes from but I did not feel like asking the skipper for the back up information for fear of another 20 minute round of sea donuts. Whitehaven Beach was the name, stunning was the adjective. Bright white 99% silica sand makes for a great place to get a sunburn. We were quite entertained by the small reef sharks and sting rays in the water and the squeaking sand below our feet, definitely a cool place to spend the afternoon.

The day was closing out so it was back on the boat for the trip home with the skipper at the helm. The ride home we rendezvoused with the sister ship in the Ocean Rafting fleet for some more high spend hijinks. This time the skipper managed to do a wake slide with the entire boat. Let me explain, we traveled behind the other boat and came in at a rapid pace towards their wake. We rode up the wake and at the apex the skipper turned the boat as quick as he could, pulling the engine out of the water and putting the boat into a full sideways slide on the wake. It was a high performance maneuver best left for wake boarders in my opinion but I wasn't driving. After about six of these, we got nauseous. The ride home was not a pleasant one but whatever it makes for a good story in the end.

Check out the slide show...