Days 215 to 220 Shiver me timbers, it's the Whitsundays!!

Airlie Beach is a chilled out town at the gateway to the Whitsunday islands where backpackers mingle with millionaires in a friendly atmosphere. It boasts a massive lagoon suitable for swimming when it is stinger season. Kieran & Claire came up from Hervey Bay to meet up with us for a few days. We arrived a couple of days before them which gave us time to check us all in for our sailing trip around the Whitsundays. It was good to see them & hear their stories & recommendations from driving South to North. (We are travelling in the opposite direction).

Eureka II - this is the state of the art 18.2 metre Sydney 60 yacht we boarded for two days and two nights sailing. The boat is an ocean yacht racer with a fine racing pedigree. It has raced several times on the prestigious Sydney to Hobart yacht race & still competes in some competitions.

Along with 13 other travellers & 2 crew we set sail. Mike was called on to hoist the huge main sail numerous times & I held the side up for the girls by hoisting the smaller front sail. We were both let loose on the wheel & Michael manouvered the boat like a professional, whilst I managed to zigzag about and had Eureka II up on her keel more than the skipper really envisaged! All great fun though & we had a lot of laughs.

The yacht was very comfortable & there was plenty of space for everyone to relax & enjoy the glorious weather. We all shared stories & a few beers on the first night whilst in amazement the moon sunk into the ocean & set. We had never seen anything quite like this so it was a unique special moment. On a roll, we lay around the deck late into the night watching the shooting stars & the milkyway. We even saw a comet, complete with stardust tail flying across the sky.

Next morning we were up early (7am) to the sound of 'The Monster Mash' blasting through the sound system - a joke from Matt (the skipper). We donned some stinger suits & did some snorkelling at three different sites on the Whitsundays. It is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park so the coral & fish are plentiful. However, we have been spoilt by the scuba & snorkelling when we were in Port Douglas.

The Whitsundays are a collection of 74 islands & we made a stop at one of the most famous - Whitehaven Beach. We were brought to the far side of the island on a speed boat & made the 650m hike through bush to a lookout. The view was spectacular. (At this point I would like to say that I know we use words like "spectacular, amazing, incredible" in most of our blogs - all are worthy as well - but on this occasion, please imagine every positive superlative & that would be possibly 50% of how simply georgeous this place is!) Seeing Whitehaven at low tide gives the best views of the crystal clear water mixing with the sand.

Oh the sand.......not being experts but we've seen a few beaches along the way, the sand on Whitehaven is like powder. Best way I can describe it is to imagine walking in icing sugar! This is one of our favourite beaches & we feel certainly deserves its rank as one of the world's top five.

Overall, we had a memorable & fun trip on Eureka II which a great crew, good food & perfect weather. Enjoying all this with some great friends. We'll not be able to meet up with Kieran & Claire again on our 'tours' until we are back home - Mike & Sarah's weekend guide to norn iron awaits you both!! See you then & thanks for a great time. Team Ireland rocks, beep beep & that's the law!! xx

Next stop on our travels....somewhere equally as impressive in Queensland!

Love to you all & thanks for all the lovely messages again this week.

Sarah & Mike
xxx

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