The picture to your right is a snap of an enthralling England/Australia beach cricket match that took place on Whitehaven beach in the Whitsunday's yesterday.I am at bat, in the white shorts about to spank that ball into the sea for a six (or let go of the bat and send it careering at a member of the opposition depending on whose version of events you believe).
Before I get ahead of myself we've just returned from a four day three night luxury cruise around these islands which, for those who haven't been, are pretty special.
We arrived in Airlie Beach last Tuesday to more gales and torrential rain and to the news that our initial trip - on the Waltzing Mathilda - had been cancelled. Nadia and i were more than a little crestfallen and marched into the booking office ready for a fight until the kind lady informed us we had landed an upgrade to the Pacific Sunrise - basically top of the range cruise boat which would have cost beaucoup de $$$$ had we not been so fortunate.
We've both agreed its the best thing we've done since we've been away. A brief summary of the cruise....the first evening wasn't too strenuous - we pulled into a little bay for drinks and dinner with our ten fellow sailors and a low key evening was rounded off with a playful dolphin that spent a half hour swimming round the bottom of the boat.
Day two began with a bit of sailing before we pulled into a couple of bays and snorkelled the inner reef. The spectacular underwater life more than made up for the FREEZING waters...and we saw some very big and colourful fish. Whales were also spotted swimming off the bow as we moved onto our rest stop for the evening.
Day three was all about Whitsunday Island which was pretty awesome - the afternoon was spent on Whitehaven beach with beach cricket (see pic) and baking in the sun the main focus of activities. The sand was made up of 98% silica (i think) which meant it was whiter and finer than we'd ever seen before. Oh, and we saw a reef shark swimming in the shallows. Back on the boat we also had an encounter with three playful dolphins who were swimming along the bow and diving in and out of the waves as we motored to our next destination.
The last three days have been top quality - lots of sun, fantastic beaches, ink blue water, more marine life than you could shake a stick at, great food, plenty to drink and good company amongst the other couples on the trip. We are now back on dry land, but are both still swaying.
Forgot to mention we also had a trip to Magnetic Island before arriving in Airlie Beach. Again, lots of fun - we even saw a Koala!
Mammoth trip to Brisbane tomorrow then a couple of days break before we work our way down to coast to Sydney.
4 comments:
Hehe - did you see any dolphins that weren't 'playful'? ;)
Did you wear white to enhance your tan?
That sounds rubbish. It's sunny in Chiswick and we can sort you out a flight within a few hours. Come on James, enough's enough I think it's time you came back to Mr Hawelli...
Is every post going to include the comment - this is by far the best thing we've done on the trip so far??
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