Sailing around Queensland’s Whitsundays is one of the most sought-after east coast experiences, but Gillian McVeigh wonders if it it lives up to the hype…
It felt like we were under there forever. I wanted to burst out laughing, looking at my boyfriend hooked up with all the scuba gear. But I dared not – if the breathing apparatus slipped out of my mouth, it would be panic stations. We were about to do our first ever dive and were lingering under the water as we waited for one of our group to get to grips with her equipment and join us in the deep blue sea. As we waited, I got thinking… Is my mask filling up with water? Would a shark find me tasty? Agghh, am I still breathing?
As unnatural as it all seems at first, when you glide through the crystal clear waters, like the Little Mermaid’s long lost twin, you soon feel right at home in the underwater world. Well, maybe it’s not quite as simple as that, but as you swim deeper and watch all the brightly-coloured little fishies float by, it’s not difficult to get lost in the awe of it all.
It is amazing to look around and see hundreds of little eyes look back at you as they swim by. At one stage I even forgot I was swimming with other humans at all, stopping to watch the shimmering of blue and yellow scales flicker passed every inch of my vision. We also saw little turtles and hundreds of varieties of fish in every size, shape and colour.
I was cruising through the Whitsunday Islands, by the Great Barrier Reef. In other words, not giving diving a go was simply not an option. And sure enough, once I’d got a taster of the life aquatic I was soon donning my snorkle to head back in again. And again. And again. I’d fallen in underwater love.
Sailing the Whitsundays hovers pretty close to the top of most backpackers’ “must-do” lists. People come for different reasons: some to dive by the Great Barrier Reef, some for Whitehaven Beach and others for the pure luxury of exploring Australia’s great paradise without having to cook, clean or even lift a finger, apart from putting on suntan lotion that is. The trip can be as action-packed or chilled out as you want it to be.
There were 25 of us on board, all experiencing our first taste of the Whitsunday Islands and most of us embarking on our first ever sailing trip. Everyone was impressed as we spread out across the boat’s spacious deck to enjoy first row seats of watching the sun slide down into the horizon, making the sky an orange and red masterpiece.
At the risk of sounding like a glutton, one of my favourite bits was the food. After travelling the coast for a few weeks, it was great to get quality food, and plenty of it. Being a vegetarian (or vege-terrible as Captain Johnno dubbed me), I didn’t know what to expect. However, I couldn’t have been more satisfied.
Stopping off at one of the world’s top three beaches had to be the highlight of the trip for many. Indeed, having a picture of yourself in a human pyramid on Whitehaven Beach is practically a mandatory addition to any self-respecting backpacker’s Facebook page.
