Kieran and I said our goodbyes to Conor, Gary and Tom in Hervey Bay the next morning with our eyes closed as it was six o’clock in the morning! They were heading back to Sydney to work while we were making our way up to the Whitsunday Island’s and Cairns.
Before that we had to make our way back down to Brisbane by bus for something we had always wanted to see since we were little kids: a WWF/WWE show. Funnily enough Louie from our Fraser Island tour was on the same bus as us and staying in the same hostel! We knew all our old heroes like The Rock, Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin weren’t going to be there but we decided to go along anyway for the craic! When we arrived at the arena 20 minutes before the show we were the only ones around. This worried us! Then we meet a father and son who said they were going to the same event. The father then realized we were at the wrong arena and offered to give us a lift to the actual arena (of the same name) even though he wasn’t fully sure of where it was. I looked at their tickets and it read “Judas Priest” instead of “WWE” and immediately decided against this idea. We threw a few dodgy looks at them and ran for a taxi! We got out there just in time and the show turned out to be a good laugh, it was entertaining and we were taking the piss shouting our heads off, booing all the “bad guys” and going completely over the top! That night we roomed with two girls from Athenry and a freak from god knows where who was dressed as a tiger believe it or not! If you ever go to Brisbane do not stay at Palace Backpackers or else, like Kieran you might get a drunken elbow in the face from a drunk not fit to stand up not a mind traverse a pitch black room full of backpacks and climb a dodgy bunk bed!!!
The morning after we headed to Brisbane Domestic to get our plane to Hamilton Island and the views from the plane of the Whitsunday’s was amazing, tropical paradise! The was even one small island that was solely a golf course! We collected our bags and got a ferry which brought us to Airlie Beach through the rest of the islands. We stopped off on Daydream Island and were envious to see everyone getting treated like they had just arrived in Hawaii!We checked into our Beaches hostel, met our room-mates Catriona and “Stumpy” and explored a bit of the town. We found our old friend from Surfer’s Paradise, Cold Rock-Ice Cream so that was our first stop! There isn’t a proper beach in Airlie Beach but there is a nice lagoon and this is where we spent most of our time that day.
The morning after it was time for our sailing trip/cruise to Whitehaven Beach considered one of the best beaches in the world! The previous night we consumed a lot of alcohol so we showed up at the marina half asleep and half alive! We boarded the large purple coloured Camira catamaran and headed straight for the tea and biscuits. There were about 70 other people on the boat and everyone was in good spirits………..besides the two hung-over Irish guys in the corner trying to sleep! We arrived at Whitehaven beach about 2 and a half hour’s later. It looked incredible! Whitehaven sports absolutely stunning super-fine grain white sand as far as the eye could see, literally squeaky due to 98% silica content and is surrounded by warm, clear green waters with various islands scattered in the distance (from a travel guide!). We passed the time by playing keepy-uppy’s with two Norwegian lads and relaxing on the beach. There was even time to make a few videos. We saw dolphins hopping around in the water as we made our way back to the catamaran. This truly was paradise!We then headed back on the boat for a massive BBQ buffet and we on our way to the snorkeling spot. Neither of us had ever done it before so we weren’t fully sure as what to expect. We thought we might see a few fish but what we saw blew us away. There was thousands of fish swimming around us. Photos or words don’t really do it justice but it was a unique experience. I even saw an eagle attacking a fish and carrying him home for dinner!We made friends with an elderly couple on the way back to the marina and they told us stories of travelling around Africa and they liked us so much they even offered us a place to stay just an hour north of Brisbane. We found this a bit weird and thanked god that we wouldn’t be in Brisbane again!
After spending three days in Airlie Beach and meeting up with Michaela, Nicole, Tal and Roger from our Fraser Island trip it was time to get a plane from the Whitsundays to Cairns (we really didn’t want to get the 11 hour bus!).
Mike
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