Wings Whitsundays Sailing Trip

As written in the last report, after saying goodbye to Caite, Karen, Kathryn, and Niamh, we went straight to the port of Airlie, which was our meeting point for the sailing trip. Upon arrival, I immediately met Leigh, Faye, and Evie from the Channel Islands, with whom I quickly realized that we were at the wrong dock 😅 So off we went and a few hundred meters further. Gradually, the remaining participants arrived. Just before we set off, I got to know Ashley (Munich) and Lisa (Oldenburg), before Wings set sail with 31 people on board relatively quickly. After a short briefing by our guides, Chad and Jimmy, everyone went up on deck to sunbathe, which was briefly interrupted by us settling into our extremely small rooms. The size of the rooms made us only use them for sleeping or quickly grabbing something from our bags 😉 Let's just say this: Two people - in a 5-bed room - could manage, but it got really tight with three and was impossible with four. Well, unless everyone was in bed, that is 😂 After lunch - the food on this boat was top-notch - we went snorkeling for the first time. Unfortunately, the visibility was still limited due to the water being stirred up by Debbie, but we could still see a variety of fish. Back on deck, I lay back in the sun and after a few minutes, I was shocked to find that a particularly high wave had left some splashes on and inside my phone 😨 Luckily, I noticed it quickly, even though my phone initially refused to charge, but that was fixed with a bag of rice. But there was hardly time to worry, because right in front of my eyes, the probably most spectacular sunset of my life was unfolding. The colors were simply incredible. And when a little sailboat sailed along the radiant red horizon - world-class 🌅⛵😍 It couldn't get any better 😊👌 At dinner, I started talking to the Dutch girls Daphne and Iris, who are cousins and have also been to New Zealand. So we quickly found a common topic 😉 Lisa was also there, with whom I later had a longer conversation. She had been to all continents at the age of 24 - not bad 👍 It's very likely that we will meet again in Germany soon, as I will also be in that area to inspect our new vacation home in the countryside 😅

The only full day on the boat was supposed to take us to one of the most beautiful beaches, maybe even the most beautiful beach in Australia: Whitehaven Beach. The sand there is pure white, and the water has a beautiful light blue color as a result. After a short hike, we arrived there and settled in a small "camp" for a total of four hours, which we used, as you can see from the pictures, for some fun photo shoots - no, I didn't have a sunburn on my face, even though it looks like it 😜 - cooling off in the sea, and playing beach soccer. Of course, I also got to know some other people better, such as our two couples, Jessica and Fabian from Denmark, and Dor and Shira from Israel. After enjoying the bright sun for long enough, we climbed up to the observation platform, which offered a truly amazing view of the entire area. Simply top 😍 In between, Chad let us lick a beetle - sounds strange, but it's true 😂😂 - that tasted like lemon 😮 Back on the Wings, we were then served a huge plate of nachos as an appetizer for dinner, but we were all already so full that we didn't really need to eat anymore 😉 However, no one wanted to miss out on another hot meal 😆 At the same time, on one side of the boat, we got to see another beautiful sunset, and on the other side, we could feed large fish that came very close to us. Later, we watched a slideshow of our trip in the dining room and spent the rest of the evening initially with a question-answer-drinking game, before we did all sorts of funny things with a swimming noodle 😂 Everyone had to come up with something they could do with the noodle and then demonstrate it. I just bent it and threw it overboard like a spear 😄 Some of us stayed up longer that evening because we had a birthday girl on board, Daphne. At exactly midnight, we raised a toast to her and then sat on the deck with a few people to admire the sensational starry sky, just like the day before 🌠🌑🌟 Suddenly, Evie and Faye came up with the idea that we could spend the night sleeping on the deck under the open sky 😂 Unfortunately, Chad objected to it because it is not allowed to take mattresses and bedding outside on the Wings. The mattresses could soak up water and the bedding could blow away. The idea of sleeping on towels and without blankets in the cold didn't appeal to anyone, so we had to abandon the plan.

The next morning, we had to wake up early and check out of our rooms before continuing with breakfast. Afterwards, we were allowed to go snorkeling one last time, but unfortunately, this time there was absolutely nothing to see. So after ten minutes, everyone was back on the boat. I'm not sure if that's always the case or if maybe the cyclone had particularly affected that spot. From there, we went straight to the port of Airlie Beach, where we saw a dolphin leaping out of the water just before we arrived 😊🐬 When we disembarked from the boat, we were all invited to attend the farewell party at a nearby bar, where we would get some free drinks. After a few hours in Airlie, we went to continue the party. It was a fun evening with karaoke music. However, I preferred not to go on stage and sing 😉❌🎶 It was fun to watch. Afterwards, about half of the group went to another pub, where we stayed until midnight. There, I met Connor again, the English guy from Fraser Island, among others. Of course, there was a lot of dancing, and our guide Chad was right in the middle of it. Finally, Evie, Laurie, Ben (all from England), and I went to McDonald's, and then we went to bed around 3 am.

I had a whole day left in Airlie. Since the town itself doesn't offer much, I decided to take a long walk along the coast, which was definitely worth it. There were beautiful green spaces, beaches, a shipwreck, probably caused by a cyclone, and rocky landscapes, and a lake to see. On the way back, I was able to witness another sunset.

My next stop took me back to an island: Magnetic Island. I also brought back a lot of experiences and beautiful pictures from there 😊👌

So, see you soon! 👋

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