Whitsunday Boat Trip

On new year's day we woke up early and went to Brisbane airport to hop a quick two hour flight to the Whitesunday Islands.  Located in northeastern Australia just off the coast of Queensland, the Whitsundays are a collection of Continental Islands right off the Great Barrier Reef.  Visiting the Reef was one of my life dreams so needless to say, I was super excited about the trip.  Even the water in the harbor was turquoise and pristine and I knew we were in for an amazing weekend.  

We booked two days on the Whitsunday adventurer, a catamaran that slept 14 people.  It was a beautiful boat and it was exhilarating to sail around the islands in such gorgeous surroundings.  

Our boat, the Whtisunday Adventurer

Deep in thought

Gorgeous sunsets

Sleeping quarters

My favorite spot - at the front of the boat

I couldn't get over the gorgeous color of the water!! 

In the evenings we would anchor in a quiet cove and when the sun would come up at 5am, the islands next to us would be alive with activity.  I have never heard so many bugs, birds, and  who knows what else.  It actually sounded loud!  We definitely don't have all of those natural noises in the city!  The islands were rich with wildlife and the waters around the island were dense with an entire community of reef life. Every spot we snorkeled was pristine and beautiful - gorgeous corals and a wide variety of pretty fish.  More on the snorkeling part in my next post :) 

One of my favorite stops was at Whitehaven beach, an untouched and pristine7km stretch along Whitsunday Island.  The sand is a brilliant white and is actually 98% pure silica, which gives it a bright white hue. We walked along the sandbar and spent several hours playing on the beach.  We still had to wear our wetsuits in the water because of jellyfish and stingrays.  We were advised to shuffle our feet through the water so as not to startle them, since they were settled beneath the sand at the bottom.  We saw 8 - 10 of them and it was freaky whenever we would nudge them and they'd float away.  Lloyd claimed that one swimming near him was 'as big as a dog', haha.  It was an amazing day at an amazing beach!!

The other side of Whitsunday Beach

At one snorkel site I decided to try out the stand up paddle board and it was great fun! Hard work since I was paddling against the current and it was windy.  Our captain brought out the john boat and tried to make waves to throw me off (and let me tell you, he was relentless) but I prevailed and didn't fall off once!

Last dinner on the boat

A sunset to remember!