Hello Sailor
Trip Start
Jan 17, 2006
1
29
61
Trip End
Jan 17, 2007
Airlie Beach, Australia
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Me, Steve and Lee checked out of the backpackers in Bowen on Tuesday morning and luckily got away without paying for the 2 last nights I was there. We arrived in Airlie Beach at midday and on the bus on the way down we decided to shop around for the best sailing deal before we made our minds up. I headed to the hostel that I stayed at before and within 5 minutes of been in Airlie Beach we were booked up on a 3 day/2 night sailing trip, so much for planning! The deal we got was good value, we payed 380 dollars each, which included a free night at the hostel, all the food on the boat, all the snorkelling gear and a few other bits and bobs. The boat we booked up on was a high speed catemaran and I reckon we pciked the best one for that price range.
We chilled out in the hostel for a bit, grabbed a Mcdonalds and decided what we were going to do that evening. We got hold of a crate of Tooheys and planned to have a few sociable beers in the hostel because we had to get the bus to the boat at 8.30 the following morning. Phil phoned me from back home on his moms landline phone, it was good to speak to him for the first time in a while and I don't think he could believe he got through to me, I think hes joining me at the end of June for a few weeks. A few hours later and after polishing off most of the crate we decided to go out, which is one of the stupidest things I've done in a while. As soon as we got into the first bar I knew that it was going to be game over but we all carried on drinking. Within an hour we were in the second bar and I got a round of flaming sambucas in, then the lads introduced me to a drink called yagerbombs, which is a glass of red bull with a shot glass of yagermister inside it. Anyways, we met some girls from Bristol and played the clicks game on them, which I can't wait to teach to the lads back home but apparently I'm only allowed to tell one person every 12 months. I would explain it but I can't be asked. Me and Steve started hitting jim beam and cokes, which I never drink and notcied that Lee had left on the sly. By this point it must have been about 2am, me and Steve decided to hit a club and got on bottles of Stella where we bumped into Gemma and Donna from Fraser Island. We left the club just before it closed at 4.45am. We got in at 5am and must have passed out instantly. I some how had managed to remember to set my alarm for the morning and was woken up at 7.30, I didn't have a clue what was going on or where I was. I looked round to see Steve in bed with one of the Bristol chicks and Lee in a coma in the bed next to me.
I managed to get up and wake the others up, we'd left everything till the last minute and was meant to get some snacks and lager for the boat because they didn't have a liscence on board. We missed the bus to the marina and had to get a taxi. By this time we'd started to sober up and was debating whether or not to knock the boat trip on the head but for those people who know me, you'll know there was no way I was going to sacrifice 380 bucks just for a few hours kip. We were greeted by the boats crew at the marina who sorted us out with stinger suits that you have to wear whilst your snorkelling otherwise you can get badly stung by all the jellyfish. They kindly commented on how rough we all looked, I made myself have something to eat and was pacing like a mad man for the next five minutes trying to concentrate on not been sick. We got on the boat a few minutes later and lay down on the mesh between the middle and outer section of the boat. Once we got going I actually felt alright. Once the sails were up on the boat it shifts pretty quick. We left at half nine and I think by midday the three of us were all below deck trying to sort outselves out as the hangovers started to kick in, which has to be 100 times more extreme when your swaying on a boat. The boat stopped for somewhere to go snorkelling in the afternoon but we all stayed on the boat and slept.
That evening we moored up and I started to feel alright again and managed to eat a full meal. We all assumed that the boat was going to have a party every night but didn't have the right mix of people to pull it off. There were 6 toffs on the boat from watford who wound everyone up going on about money and how rich their families were to try and impress the women. There were a group of 4 girls who were alright to talk to, the crew were a good laugh and apart from them there was a few loners who kept themselves to themselves and a family from Norway and with no booze we had an early night.
The next day we were all back to normal and got loads of pics of all the different sights. We did the snorkelling in the afternoon, which was a brilliant experience. For some reason, once in your in you don't worry about sharks. There were fish everywhere, but the one that stood out for all of us was a fish called a maori wrasse, which was longer than me. I took an underwater camera with me and managed to get a few good shots that I'll put on here at in the next day or two. I didn't want to get out of the water I enjoyed it that much. Me and Steve swam back to the boat and all of a sudden noticed all these fins on top of the water, I had a look under the water and was confronted by about 10 batfish, which are about 2 foot long and ain't shy in the slightest. We then discovered that it was people from the boat throwing bisuits at us that was attracting them to us. One of them even tried staring me out, but a quick elbow to the head soon let them know who was boss. When we moored up for the evening we were followed by two eagles who the crew threw raw meat to and I managed to get a video, which I'll try and put on here. We had another booze free evening and just chatted crap for the evening.
The following day we went snorkelling again in the morning, it wasn't as good as the previous day but we still saw loads of different species of fish and spectaculor coral. We then headed off back to the marina and were lucky to have good weather for the entire trip. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did but its something that I'd definately reccomend to anyone. We got back to the hostel, dropped everything off and went straight out. It turned into another messy evening and we basically retraced our footsteps from the Tuesday night but stuck on the beer and avoided all the crazy drinks.
Yesterday, a few of the lads came donw from Bowen and 2 of them ended up crashing the night in our room. We had a good crack and managed to see the Chelsea game and saw Arsenal spank the Baggies. Lee then decided to fall asleep in the club, so I took him back to the hostel straight after the Arsenal game and spent an hour abusing the moose chasers in the hostel. I've had a really good diet since I got back off the boat, which yesterday consisted of a Mcdonalds breakfast, a big mac meal for tea and then a cheeseburger meal for supper.
We've just booked a bus pass to take us down to Sydney with unlimited stops for 260 dollars. We're heading down to Hervey Bay tommorow evening on an overnight coach and for some reason are doing a tour of Fraser Island. I can't wait to see the look of my bosses face when I walk in the bar, should be a good laugh. Tonight is going to be a messy one, with Blues playing the Villa. I've taught the geordies all the chants and I reckon they're looking forward to it more than me. I must admit though I'm starting to get nervous but confident that we'll stuff the inbred gippos.
