Welcome to the sailing life

In the morning the three of us set off for the harbour, from where our sailing ship to the Whitsundays, on which we would spend three days, started.

Still in the harbour we met our tour guide and the people with whom we would spend the days on the ship.

Because I get seasick very quickly in high waves I had to buy some tablets before I went on the ship. I had never tried this with the pills before and could not imagine that this would work. However, in the whole three days I did not feel sick.

Shortly afterwards we went to the ship. The ship looked very small from the outside and I was a bit skeptical about how 25 people would fit on it.

We had to throw all our shoes into a sack, so that we always had to walk barefoot.

Making new friends and exploring the reef

First, we all sat down in the seating areas. There was pizza and while the ship was already leaving we got a little briefing.

Afterwards we all laid down on the deck of the sailing ship, enjoyed the sun and the view of the water. We all got to know each other a little. It was the first tour that I did where mostly backpackers of my age were. In addition, 19 of the 25 people on the ship were German.

After a two hour drive across the water we arrived at our first snorkeling spot. It was nice to see the Great Barrier Reef again, but what I saw in Cairns was much nicer. Except for jellyfish, all I could see were fishes.

I actually enjoy snorkeling but I had salt water in my nose and mouth all the time that day, so I was very relieved when we were back on the boat. There we got cookies.

Food, food and more food

While our captain has already sailed to our sleeping places we sat on the deck of the ship again. There we had little sausage Rolls. We had a looot of really good food in those three days. I could make these trip again only for the food haha.

Around  6pm we had dinner. A buffet was set up and there was garlicbread, a lot of salads and corn. Afterwards we sat down on deck again and let the evening end there. Our ship was then already standing on our sleeping place.

Around nine o’clock we all gathered again in the ship, because the crew wanted to tell us a little bit about the animals in the Great Barrier Reef, which we could possibly see. Meanwhile, we got cake.

Then we sat outside for a while and talked. Around 11 o’clock we went to bed. You were quite lucky with your bed or unlucky. There were bunk beds that were no wider than 80 centimetres and had no bars in front of them.

Then there were also very narrow double beds. I was still lucky with my bed, because I had a relatively wide single bed. However, there was another bed above my bed and to get there, the person who slept there always had to walk over my bed and my pillow (barefoot).

The best day in my life

On our first morning we were woken up at about 7 o’clock. First we had breakfast and then we went directly from the boat down into the water.

The place in the reef where we went snorkeling that morning was much nicer than the day before. After snorkeling we went on by boat to a beach where we got off the boat.

The beach was incredible beautiful. From the ship we could not see how turquoise the water really was.

We stayed at this beach for one hour and then walked to a Lookout Point that was not far away and from which one had a great view over the beach and the water.

The rest of the time on this beach we spent in the water. We had to be very careful, the more northern one gets to Australia, as there are the dangerous animals in the water. But when the water is so clear, you really want to go in.

After one hour we went back to the boat where we had lunch. There were sandwiches and a very tasty tuna and egg salad.

After we were all full with food we finally made it to the Whitsundays. We still had to walk about 5 minutes from the ship to Whitehaven Beach. The beach was just so incredibly beautiful. We could not get enough of the colours of the water. In the water we could even see a small shark.

First we went to the famous tree trunk and took a lot of photos.

Afterwards we were led to a secluded beach where there was nobody and the water was just perfect for swimming. It really was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been and to be honest I could have stayed there for the rest of my life.

In the afternoon we walked to the Lookout Point, from where we had a view over the Whitsundays.

Just when we arrived there it was a bit cloudy and we couldn’t see the Whitsundays in the colours we know from photos. Luckily the sun came out again shortly after and we could see the Whitsundays with sunshine.

After that we went down to the bay again, from where we got back on the ship. For the day there was no more program and we spent the afternoon with cookies on the deck of the ship or inside playing cards while we sailed to our sleeping place.

Around 6 pm we had dinner again. That evening we had garlic bread, salad, vegetables with meat and rice.

After dinner everybody was sitting outside and talking.

Towards late evening we all gathered again inside the ship where we had cake while we were shown the pictures of the past two days that were taken. Around 11 o’clock we got ready again and then we lay down in our beds in our cabins.

Exploring the Great Barrier Reef for the last time

On our last day we were woken up again at seven o’clock. Shortly after breakfast we put on our wetsuits, fins and diving goggles again. Then we went snorkeling one last time.

That day we went snorkeling at a place where I found that the reef looked most beautiful. We didn’t have much time for snorkeling as we still had to sail two hours back to Airlie Beach.

After we were back on the ship and peeled out of our wetsuits we went back to Airlie Beach.

The weather in the days before was really nice. We had blue skies and sunshine. But as soon as we sailed back, the sky closed in and it started to rain. We were really lucky to have seen the Whitsundays with nice weather. The rest of the time we spent on the ship where we packed our things and sat together.

So far the Whitsundays Tour was the best tour I have done in Australia. The people were really nice and cheerful and finally all of our age. The Whitsundays themselves were also the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Life on a sailing ship was also something completely different and a very interesting experience.

After the Whitesundays we continued our trip to Magnetic Island. If you would like to know what we experienced during our time on Magnetic Island. Please read my next blog post