If anyone calls, I'm on my yacht.

On December 19th, after slaving over a paper for the first month of everyone else's summer vacation, I finally handed the sucker in and then hopped onto a plane with the rest of the Leicester Street crew on route to the Whitsunday’s in Queensland. We boarded a maxi sailing yacht called Spank Me, which was our home for the first four days and nights of our three week trip. It would prove to be four days of solid diving, snorkeling, swimming and fun. In addition to Christine, Sarah, Halley and I, we met up with our friend Ali and her visiting friend Scott for the boat trip and one extra day.





Day 1: We spent the first afternoon sailing from Airlie Beach to Blue Pearl Bay at Hayman Island, which was a nice quiet little spot. Apparently, since we were lucky enough to have Adrian (the owner of OZ Sail) be our captain for the trip (which I guess is sort of rare), Blue Pearl Bay was chosen partly for it's location but mostly for the presence of another Oz Sail boat in which he could check up on to make sure the crew wasn't partying too hard. According to Emma and J.C. (cook and diving instructor) this has been a problem recently. I think I found my new vocation!



So we anchored there for the night, had dinner, got to know the crew and fellow swabbies and then went to bed. The sleeping quarters were open-sided bunks below deck. Christine and I got a top bunk double bed (which was exactly (!!) as long as I am tall. Whew!) right next to the galley. I woke up the next morning with my mouth agape, drool spilling forth and looking straight at Emma while she was preparing breakfast. I rolled over and contemplated how long I had been like that.

Day 2: After breakfast we sailed on to Lunchson Bay at Hook Island. This bay has a small reef with excellent visibility and there we had our introductory dives. There were four groups to be trained so we had plenty of time to snorkel our butts off while we were waiting around. I didn't have to be persuaded to take this opportunity (first boat to the shore; last boat back :-). Christine, Sarah, Halley, Ali and I all at various times snorkeled around together and soaked in the mini-reef, which actually had a large amount of fish and activity. During Christine's introductory dive, J.C. saw a small shark. I wish I could say the same but didn't have one shark sighting the whole time. ;-(

So I FINALLY(!) dove for the first time and it was GREAT! It's something I've wanted to do for so long and it felt good to finally accomplish that goal. And what better place too than the Great Barrier Reef!!

After a couple of hours of aquatic bliss and a little beach combing and rock climbing, it was back to the boat. We then proceeded to sail out to Bait Reef, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef. This particular reef is four separate segments that form a semi-circle, which provided an ideal place to anchor in calm(er) water and safely snorkel and/or dive to each one.

Each dive after the introductory one cost $50 so I opted to wait and dive the next morning. So, Christine, Sarah, Halley and I spent a couple hours snorkeling. We hoped into the mini-boat and they dropped us off at the farthest reef segment (up-current from the boat). While we were out there we saw a good-sized turtle just meandering about. We were about 6 feet above it at one point and I managed to snap a picture. We also encountered a huge fish, which periodically came right up to us to either check us out or warn us to go away. We assumed the later and did so after snapping a picture.

Later on, after we had snorkeled quite a bit and were making our way back to the boat, we encountered a wall of jellyfish that was blocking us from getting back. It didn't seem like much at first but every time we tried to swim around them but more just kept appearing. Keep in mind that we had been told over and over again to avoid jellyfish and that they were the main reason we had to wear stinger suits while in the water. So, we were a little freaked out. This coupled with the fact that we were starting to get tired after a long swim while also fighting the current catalyzed our decision to give the 'come pick us up" signal to the guys on the boat. This wouldn't be that embarrassing if we weren't only about 200 feet away. We got a few looks when we got back but it wasn't worth explaining. Uh, yeah, those jellyfish were huge. I swear! As big as a room!! And there was a giant squid too. Yeah, a giant squid!! We had to fight 'em off with our snorkels!

That night we had the privilege of staying anchored overnight on Bait Reef (which is very rare due to weather and waves). This was great because we spent less time sailing the 15 km back to a quiet cove and more time at the reef itself. After the sun went down, out came the stars. All I can say is that they were unbelievable!! We spent a good long time gazing and I managed to see 6 shooting stars!!

Day 3: Woke up in time to catch the sunrise. After breakfast, I dove the reef. It was pretty damn cool. Since it was my second dive ever I spent most of my time checking and regulating my ears, adjusting and blowing water out of my mask and trying to keep up. Midway through the dive, we descended to the bottom and proceed to go into a small opening that led through a partial-tunnel between two reefs. From above it looked like a dark cave entrance and I started to hyperventilate a bit. My breathing got real heavy and it took a concerted effort to relax. When I got down to the entrance though, I could see light at the other side and everything was fine from there. After that I put the ears and the mask on the back burner (as much as I could) and enjoyed the scenery. We didn't see any sharks, turtles or Manna Rays but we did see a ton of fish of all shapes and sizes. At the end of the dive we got picked up and towed back to the boat by holding on to a rope, which was really cool. We were pulled along over the reef, which felt like a mini-tour without having to do any work. All I had to do was dodge the occasional jellyfish coming down the line. Tons of fun!!

After a morning of diving and a little more snorkeling it was time to head back towards the island. However, this time at FULL SAIL!! Spank Me was once an yacht that won some high-profile races so getting up to full speed was pretty damn fast for a sail boat. We all sat on the port side with our legs dangling over the side. The wind was really kicking that day and you could feel the force when the wind filled up the sails. Off we went on a 15 km sail over the rolling waves with the boat listing to the starboard at about 30 degrees. Over the waves we went! Up and down and up and down and... ....uhhhh, ohh God. Ohhh. I think I feel sick.

Right!! That morning I say to Christine...."Oh, I don't need the motion sickness pills. I've been feeling fine......" The only problem was that I didn't finish that sentence before I went about my business, which would have gone like, "....because I've been taking the pills. Dah!" I did realize this later but too late to save me from the waves!

No I didn't puke but thanks for asking. However, I did (ironically enough) proceed to have one of the best times I've had during the whole vacation. I tried to stand up to find a quiet place to puke overboard, which didn't exist. I looked at the hatch going below and knew I'd loose it before I even got down the steps. So...I proceeded to lie down exactly where I was and close my eyes. Then, out of nowhere, someone puts on Tom Petty's Greatest hits, which for those of you that don't know, it's the perfect album to sing along to. So....I laid there in the blazing sun (luckily I lathered up earlier), enjoyed the wind in my face and sang along to Tom Petty, while trying not to puke. The more I lied there the better I felt. The better I felt, the more I sang. I was so happy that I wasn't the only person on the boat puking (which turns out wouldn't have been true) that I actually had a wonderful time, while also transforming my pale skin to semi-pale. I lay there long after I felt better, which only fueled the popular opinion that I was too sick to get up. Later that day, the captain expressed his surprise that I didn't end up bent over the railing. Don't you worry though...that comes later in this vacation!! It seems I can't go on a vacation anymore without puking at least once. Ask Christine.

Next stop...Toung Bay and Whithaven Beach, which is long, white and laden with stingy creatures. No swimming without a wetsuit(!!)...welcome to Queensland. We got dropped off on the Tounge Bay side of the peninsula and hiked up to a platform that overlooked the beach. The scenery was gorgeous with turquoise water, white sand and green islands all around. We then hiked down to the beach itself on the other side of the peninsula and found a shady edge to hide from the sun for a while. We read, walked, talked but mostly enjoyed not having the ground beneath us heave to and fro. But after two hours, it was back to the boat and on to the next spot.



We dropped by another small reef on Dumbell Island. It wasn't the most spectacular reef of them all but it beautiful and it was also nice to get in the water and swim around for a bit. We saw a few fish, some lovely coral and then back to the boat again for a slow cruise to Nara Inlet.













Along the way, Halley got to steer the boat for quite a while (it was her birthday!!). It was quite the sight and she did a really great job. She even navigated us around the point and into the inlet!! We were all very proud, until she ran over a dolphin!! Oh, the humanity!! On the way to the inlet we saw an amazing sunset and later on I saw another handful of shooting stars. Ah, thasa nisa vacation.











The next morning we awoke for our last day on the boat with the sight of the limestone formations of Hook Island all around us. Before we left, we were shuttled over to the island and had ourselves a little hike where we saw some Aboriginal cave paintings and enjoyed some lofty scenery.

We then got back on board for a slow sail back to Airlie Beach and on to the next phase of our trip.

Stay tuned, Eric fractures and elbow on Christmas Eve!!