Monday 14th October
Stroke of luck last night. Instead of going back to the camp site we had previously stayed at we drove round a few petrol/service stations asking if we could park the van overnight in their truckers car parks. After being turned down at every one, a truck driver kindly told us about a gravel carpark 5 mins away where he'd seen people parking before. So we headed there and luckily found it straight away (in the pitch black) at a crossroads. Made tuna pasta with a gourmet ketchup sauce and got a decent nights sleep.
Early in the morning - $25 richer - we quickly left our free camp spot and headed back into Bowen and made pancakes by the strand. Then went off to a few more farms and tried to follow up the potential job lead I mentioned. But still nothing.
Decided to hit the local beaches and think about what to do next. Went to Horseshoe Bay which was a nice little beach. Award winning in the local region. It had massive boulders strewn in and out of the water, either side of the sand so we went snorkelling and did some rock climbing. Had a good laugh! Once again though, whole time we were there... no more than 10 people on the beach at any one time. Where is everybody??? Spooky.
We agreed on going back to the camp spot at the gravel car park to get another free nights parking before leaving Bowen and getting back on the highway. We had time, since our Whitsunday boat trip wasn't till Thursday.
So, back to the Strand, made a rogan josh curry and also made use of the plug sockets by the tourist information kiosk.
Tuesday 15th
Nothing much today, same morning sequence as yesterday. Back to Horseshoe Bay for a while then back on the highway a little past Airlie Beach (which is where we get on our boat) to a slightly cheaper camp site 10 mins south of Proserpine by the O'connell river. Spent most of night chatting to an 30 yr old Aussie called Jessie. What a legend he was. Need to meet more like him for sure.
Weds 16th
Drove into Airlie Beach and spent morning walking around the area. The beach at Airlie is actually a small spit of sand that hardly any people go on. They all sun themselves by the man made lagoon (similar to cairns). The rest of the area is rocks and marinas.
We checked into true blue sailing to confirm our boat trip for tomorrow. Back to camp site for curry and an early night.
Thursday 17th
Up early to Airlie and parked van in staff car park of boat operator. Made some lunch and headed to marina with our bags and booze. Got on our Whitsunday's boat (the Atlantic clipper) and met the other 50 or so passengers. Had an induction briefing from big Steve (crew member) and then started drinking whilst on our way to first anchor point where we would stay for the night. When we dropped anchor we were allowed to jump off the top of the boat (7 metres high) and slides and mess around in the water for a bit. Was a good job I'd been drinking my fusion of vodka and cheap rum as I needed a bit of dutch courage for that first jump.
After tea (crew made us grilled fish and mash) we continued drinking and chatting to everyone. Was nice getting to know everybody and hearing their travel stories. The boat was actually mostly full of Irish and English travellers, which I guess was a welcome change from the countless Germans and frenchies we've met. Still no true Aussies apart from meeting Jessie.
Friday 18th
Woken by the ships engines and pretty hungover we had breakfast and shortly arrived at the anchor point for Whitsunday island, largest island in Whitsunday's, home to Whitehaven beach. Short dingy ride to the shore at Hill Inlet and a little hike up to the stunning look out point. Postcard perfect views of the white sand and turquoise waters. A little cloudy but still beautiful. We spent the morning walking around the sands and chilling in the water with the rest of the group. Saw a baby reef shark swimming in the shallows and a stingray.
In the afternoon we were taken to Blue Pearl Bay snorkel site on the western shores of Hayman island. Famous for attracting celebs like Will Smith, Hugh Jackman and Sean Connery. The water is deep just off the fringing reef, gradually shelving to the shore while it meanders it's way around countless bommies and coral ledges. Saw almost as many fish species as our trip out to the reef in cairns, only this time the fish weren't so shy. They would literally swim in big groups right in front of your mask and you could touch them if you were quick enough!
After tea (spag bol) during the evening, the drinking began again and the night really got going. This was, after all, the largest party boat in the Whitsunday's and eventually, after a couple of Goon (Australia's most controversial alcoholic drink for those of you who don't know) showers and dressing in women's underwear, the crew put on a few games and challenges for us. Wont go in to too much detail here but there was some very raunchy and hilarious antics going on, until eventually one of the guys we met on there was crowned king of the clipper! He did well but boy did he have a hangover the next day.
Was an eventful night for Tom (maybe not for all the good reasons though). Luckily, what happens on the clipper...stays on the clipper! Stayed up on deck until 3am (unaware of time) chatting and nursing headaches.
Saturday 19th
4 hous later, Awoke to a rather credible rendition of tom jones' sex bomb (big Steve's method of waking everybody up). we were so tired and hungover but somehow we found the energy to pack our stuff up and head up to the saloon for breakfast, only to find that we'd missed it. we were supposed to be going snorkelling again at a site i cant actually remember the name of. luckily the dive master said there was nothing there we wouldn't of seen yesterday and the coral wasn't as good either. apparently out of the 50something of us on board only 5 were sober/fit /awake enough to snorkel without being sick or drowning. The trip back to the mainland seemed so much longer than before. Tom fell asleep in the saloon while I went out on deck to take pictures. Nearly everyone was wrecked, nobody was talking, quite a few were asleep or passed out and one guy was in the corner in the foetal position.
Once back in the marina we trudged our way back to the van in the searing heat, dumped our stuff and sat in the van sipping cocktails of painkillers while trying to contemplate what had happened and where we were going to go next. Over two nights, we had drunk 1/3 bottle of vodka (leftovers), a whole bottle of rum, 24 cans of rum and coke, any beer we got offered and a gallon of Goon.
We went to Woolworth's to buy supplies and sober up then drove south to st Lawrence in search of a free camp ground we'd seen in our book with plenty of facilities like hot showers, laundry and bbqs - a rarity on the east coast. As we neared the location it was roughly 7pm and dark. we turned off the main road down a track (remember the van doesn't have beam headlights) so we slowed down, looking out for the turning to the campsite. It was during this point that in the space of 3 mins a bat flew into our windscreen (luckily no damage to it, although the same can't be said for the bat), then we nearly ran over a possum, and then we saw a large bright blue a flash followed by a burning streak across the black sky. Meteorite or UFO??
Shortly after, we found the camp ground and had a peaceful and well deserved sleep.
Did you know that the white sand on Whitehaven beach is 98% silica and is protected by law. If you bottle some for a souvenir and get caught with it in your bag at an airport you will be fined $3000. NASA was the only organisation permitted to take sand from the beach, which they used to build the lens for the Hubble telescope!
Whitehaven used to be the best beach in the world but now ranks somewhere around 12, depending on where you look!
Also, the Whitsunday's should actually be called the Whitmonday's, if you want to be accurate. See, when good old captain James Cook from Yorkshire discovered the islands it was actually a Monday. Apparently he was so lax with his time and date keeping when logging his trip during that voyage that he thought it was still Sunday when he named them.
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