The City of Townsville
Trip Start
Jun 16, 2006
1
16
35
Trip End
Nov 11, 2006
Where I stayed
Townsville, Australia
Sunday, August 27, 2006
After a not too early start we checked out, put our backpacks in storgae and headed to the bus stop. Once we had all our passengers we headed to the Marina and the Southern Cross. We were greeted by enthusiastic Alison and handed our shoes over to skipper Kane as instructed. We organised our stuff below deck in a cosy little double cabin and, since there was absolutely no wind, motored out of the Marina. Friendly Londoners Paul and Heather (originally from South Africa) introduced themselves and we all sat on the deck chatting and enjoying the sun. A couple of dolphins made a brief appearance and we stopped in the middle of the sea for a swim, 23.3 degrees was still a chilly surprise! We then motored over to Blue Pearl Bay for some snorkelling (and diving for the richer folk!) Alison and Kane fed the fish from the dinghy and we hopped into the sea amid a frenzy of beautiful colours. Nathan and I were lucky enough to watch Kane hand feed Elvis, the enormous Maori Wrasse and we were all hugely impressed. Back on deck we got to know some of our fellow guests including Verena (Bavaria), Adam (originally London, now Venice), Elizabeth (Sweden), and Michelle (UK).
We had damn good quiche for lunch courtesy of masterchef Alison and I got special treatment because of my semi-vegi status (filling my plate before the others arrived!) We then motored over to Langford Spit for an explore and to stretch our legs. The coral beach was very sharp and whilst I walked with Paul, Heather, Elizabeth and Michelle, Nay played frisbee with Adam and Verena. Then we headed over to Stone Haven (off Hook Island) where we anchored for dinner - tasty chicken satay, rice and salad. After dinner we hit the "esky" (coolbox) and socialised - I told the self-inflating boob job joke and we played the dreaded spoon game we were taught in Fiji. Our French boat-mates were awesome at the game - Lucas cracked it in double quick time swiftly followed by Colas, Laura and Caroline. Canadian couple Kyle and Merena found the game confusing and infuriating so we made plenty of friends! Nay played cards below deck for a short time but they were keeping the crew awake so everyone went to bed pretty sharpish after a warning from Alison.
We were sharply awoken the next morning by the sound, smell and vibrations of the engine so we tucked into some delicious cereal and hung out on the deck whale spotting as we headed over to Tongue Bay (off Whitsunday Island). In the bay we saw a fabulous turtle poke his head up for air and were shuttled to the beach for a guided bush walk. We saw an awesomely impressive Goana in the bush and admired the stunning view from the lookout before following Alison back down to the path to the turnoff for Whitehaven Beach. The beach was absolutely spectacular, white fluffy sand, pure turquoise sea and little white fish. We walked, swam, played and frisbeed for a couple of hours before we had to head back to the yacht. The sand police ordered us to take a swim so we didn't knacker the boat's equipment (it's 98.8% silica at Whitehaven!) so we had a bit of a diving display and I bravely threw myself off the side of the boat with a bit of encouragement from the team! Back on the boat we had lovely sausage sandwiches and salad before stopping at a rocky outcrop known as Dumbell Island for a snorkel. The coral was absolutely incredible, in every colour you could imagine and all looking absolutely deadly! After our snorkel we had hot drinks and gorgeous cake before clearing the deck - the wind was finally strong enough for a sail!
Nathan helped hoist the main sail along with other manly menfolk Kyle, Colas and Paul. Our second team of Lucas, Heather, Adam and Verena helped hoist the head sail and we were away! It was super relaxing at the back of the boat with the rest of the 'deck fluff' and the 'bilge rats' had a great time scurrying over the boat as we tacked a couple of times to make the most of the wind. Nathan did some kind of cranking thing on a pedestal with Kyle and wiggled his bum around a lot! All the while we were listening to Sublime on the stereo - could it be a more perfect boat?! We tried to race another yacht from the same company but they weren't playing so we anchored in Nara Inlet (after a traditional Southern Cross bare arse salute from the skipper at some other sailors!) Dinner was a fab barbecue (I think all Aussie boats come with one fitted already!) and we all pondered some more riddles and games of deception over a few drinks. The night sky was breathtaking from the boat - we could see the milky way, Mars, the Southern cross constellation and shooting stars and everyone was mesmerised.
We woke up a bit later the next day and had a lazy breakfast on deck looking out for more Whales and being entertained by a friendly pair of Swallows. We stopped at Caves Cove for a snorkel and Nay jumped in the water for an explore. I was pretty tired so went out in the dinghy with Kane to feed the fish and throw bread at the snorkellers. Next we motored over to Black Island where we had a small explore and whacked on our snorkel masks in the hope of finding some turtles. We saw some awesome fish including a Stonefish but encountered too many jellyfish (one wrapped itself around my arm!) but fortunatley avoided stings. Back on the yacht we had some scrummy sandwiches before motoring back to Airlie Beach, stopping midway for some more diving antics accompanied by more Sublime. Everyone was very sad to leave the Southern Cross at the marina, we'd had a truly unforgettable time thanks to Kane and Alison. Catching the free bus back to the town we hugged all those unable to join us for drinks that evening and headed to the hostel for much needed showers! After a short rest we headed to Beaches bar where we met Heather and Paul and had some food. They left to sort out laundry but promised to return and it wasn't long before we were joined by Adam, Kyle and Merena and then Lucas and Colas. Heather and Paul returned and we enjoyed a few drinks watching the extreme sports on the big screen. Nathan, Adam, Lucas and Colas left the table to play fussball, pool and time crisis 3. The rest of us carried on chatting until Kyle and Merena said goodnight and the boys returned from their games. We then headed to 'Mass' nightclub but it was pretty dead so after a few more drinks we rolled into Paddy's Shenanigans which was much more our collective scene - a pub with a great live covers band. After some dancing and laughing we left Paddy's, saying our farewells along the street with lots of hugs and eventually hitting the hay just after 3am.
We were woken way too early by our androgynous dorm-mate the next day and with painful heads and wobbly stomachs we showered some of the alcohol away and checked out. Lovely bacon / corizo and scrambled on toast made things better too and we had a short wander around the shops and lagoon (outdoor pool). We bumped into (NOFX fan!) Lucas again, checked out a bookshop, had a nap in the hostel lounge and caught the Greyhound to Townsville. We had chips in another back of beyond service station and watched "The Perfect Catch" (Drew Barrymore chick flick) on the bus which was very enjoyable. We arrived in Townsville and took a while to get sorted, ending up in a pleasant double in Reef lodge hostel. We chilled out, snacked and caught up with the journal.
The next day we had a bit of lie-in and enquired about day trips to nearby Magnetic Island. We were pointed in the direction of the ferry terminal where we purchased a ferry-bus combi ticket and jumped aboard the boat for a 25 minute journey to the Island. On "Maggie Island" we jumped aboard a bus headed for Horseshoe bay where we had some lunch and admired the Horseshoe shaped bay. There was also a pretty cool monstrous green tree ant. We then took the bus to the 'Forts walk' walking track which was a great couple of hours adventure through the bush with our eyes peeled for rock wallabies, koalas, death adders and all manner of other creatures (that we failed to see!) We checked out the WWII gun emplacements and lookouts with glee and Nathan spotted a thin wriggling type snake. There were also some of the biggest most beautifulest butterflies and dragonflies we've ever seen. We caught the bus back to the ferry terminal and attempted a walking track that promised echidnas, tree frogs and a creek. We found none of these things and so headed back to look at the rock wallabies which also didn't exist. Having enjoyed our day we caught the ferry back to Townsville where all the supermarkets were shut, hurrah! It was super noodles for dinner, playing about on the net and then bed.
Today we got up, checked out and came here to update the blog for you ungratefuls (we want more comments!) I can't believe we're only in Oz for another week! Still to come - rainforest adventures, barrier reef diving, shopping, visiting Nathan's relatives and posting crap home!
We love you all,
Ella and Nathan xxx
Comments
irwin
i just heard about steve irwin dieing. i don't have the words.
Steve Irwin
For a guy who spent most of his life poking dinosaurs with sticks, who woulda thought a fish would get him?
FACT: Steve Irwin is only the second person in Australia to be killed by a stingray.