Sailing the Whitsundays
Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is flying by. Mine sure is! It has been so nice out. I’ve even switched from a light winter jacket to a spring jacket and on Tuesday night when I was walking home from the station after work it was too hot for any jacket! It still cools down at night though, but it’s definitely nice that it’s staying sunny a little bit longer every day.
Today is another post about our little getaway with Jacob. When we were in the Whitsundays we did a day cruise to the stunning Whitehaven Beach. We went with Cruise Whitsundays Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach Camira Sailing Adventures tour.
Part of the day cruise included snorkelling and free drinks. We actually specifically chose that boat over a faster one because of the free drinks haha.
We thought the tour included breakfast and lunch and we were running late (as usual when Tj is around) so we didn't stop for food in the morning. Big mistake. All we got was tea and biscuits (cookies). And the cookies weren't the greatest. Tj and Jacob were so annoyed LOL.
While the boat took us to the snorkelling spot we came across some humpback whales! This was so exciting for me and I almost cried. The night before on our Sunset Cruise I saw dolphins and now we were seeing whales? It was a dream come true! There was probably about 7-8 of them and they frolicked around in the water a bit and spouted some water. The guides thought maybe they were mating because they had never seen them act like that. I wish I would've gotten to see them breach, but maybe next time. We have some really great videos but you can just see the whales popping up in the picture below.
Then it was off to snorkelling (but more about that next week). The highlight of the day was definitely Whitehaven Beach. I wish we had more time there!
After our time on Whitehaven Beach, we were starving! We actually tried to run ahead to get the first transfer back to the big boat but we got stuck walking on a narrow path behind some slow people. We passed them when we got to the beach but the first shuttle boat was already full.
Luckily, we didn't have to wait for long, and there was plenty of food for everyone. Lunch was a bbq, with chicken and burgers (veggie burger for me). There were a lot of salads and side dishes which were all vegetarian as well. Dessert was chocolate cake!
The cruise back was slow. Other boats were speeding by us and we just kept tugging along. The staff tried to raise the sails to give us an extra push but then the wind died down.
They did entertain us with a funny game though, and Tj and Jacob got chosen to participate. Teams of two were tied together with ropes and they had to try and untangle themselves. I wish I could post videos because it was hilarious. I thought they would win for sure because of their competitive natures and we are all diehard Survivor fans. I kept giving them instructions and they would get mad at me when they didn't work because they expect me to be good at all the puzzles. After a while, I was just saying whatever just to watch them twist themselves into pretzels LOL. At one point all the contestants sat down for a drink break, still tied together. Eventually, a pair of young guys won, but I'm pretty sure they cheated and looked up the answer on their phone.
It was so peaceful just hanging out on the boat as we made our way back. And because we were running late, we got to see the sunset from the water for the second night in a row!
The boys were soooo excited to have a BBQ in the airbnb that night. It's all they were talking about on the way back. They had a whole feast planned out. And when we got to the grocery store at 6:05... it was closed! They were so mad. I thought Tj might cry haha. They took a taxi to a different grocery store and the taxi driver got really annoyed at them for asking why the only open store was outside of the tourist part of town. He was not pleased. It took them forever to find a different taxi home haha.
They had a huge feast with steak and shrimp and rice and veggies and I ate strawberries and Nutella haha. I wasn’t that hungry because I still felt like I was on a moving boat.
The next morning we made a huge breakfast before heading to the airport. Two short flights back to Melbourne and Jacob's Aussie Adventure was pretty much over.
Cost: 199$ per person (ouch!)
Departure Time: 8:00 am (but we had to be there for 7:45)
Returned: 5:45 pm (so make sure you get your groceries before)
What to bring: A swimsuit, towel, sunnies (sunglasses), sunscreen (although there were huge containers of sunscreen available all over the boat all day), sweater in case it gets chilly
Food: Cookies with morning tea, BBQ lunch and dessert (lots of vegetarian options)
Drinks: Lots of water (you'll need it), pop, and beer and wine served after snorkelling
Crew: The crew was incredible. Answering questions, hanging out with people. They went out of their way to talk to people and one guy was super informative when we were at the beach.
Overall thoughts: We loved it and had an unforgettable amazing day, but now that we've done this tour we would skip the snorkelling bit and find something with more time on Whitehaven Beach.
Have a great week :)
