Whit Sunday - was a Monday ...

So today was the day of my first sailing trip. It was supposed to be a two-day and one-night trip to the Whitsunday Islands.

Before I wanted to leave for the harbor in the morning, I heard strange noises on my hotel room balcony in Airlie Beach. I cautiously pulled back the curtains a bit and saw this ...

I am always amazed at the (for me) exotic species of animals that live and occur in the wild here in Australia. I somehow didn't expect that ...

So today the two-day trip to the Whitsunday Islands was on the program. I won't get the name wrong either, because it's not Whitesunday but Whitsunday (Whit Sunday).

Our old friend James Cook sailed through this island group on June 4, 1770 during his explorations and named the passage after the day of the discovery: the 'Whit Sunday Islands', or Whitsunday Islands. According to legend, he made a mistake with the close date line and sailed through the islands on Monday ... It happens in even the best families that you sometimes have problems with time zones ...

The island group consists of 74 islands, some inhabited, some uninhabited. The largest and central island is Whitsunday. That was also the goal of our sailing trip and specifically Whitehaven Beach. Whitehaven Beach is repeatedly referred to as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and is probably the most photographed beach in Australia.

At the harbor, the sailing ship 'Alexander Stewart' was already waiting for us. The ship was built by three generations of an Australian family in manual labor over 17 years and has been chartered ever since.

There were 17 other guests on board with me. The ship was firmly in European hands. The people came from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, and the majority from Germany. When I saw my cabin, I already knew that these sailing trips probably wouldn't become my new favorite way of traveling. I shared the cabin with a girl from Belgium, because we were the only two solo travelers. The room had barely more than 3 square meters and the bed above me started about 20 cm above my nose ...

Fortunately, the audience was very quiet and we got along very well for the two days.

On the first day, we made two snorkeling stops. Everyone had to put on a full-body suit, similar to a wetsuit, but made of fabric. The jellyfish season doesn't start until the end of October, but as a precaution, we still had to wear the suits. I only have this one picture because our skipper had to 'pose' again (but he was really a very funny guy). But just like the girl next to him, we all looked like this in the water ...

The fish and coral world didn't look any different at these two spots than at other places in the Pacific or Indian Ocean. There were a lot of fish at the second spot, but that's no wonder when you attract them with food. Our crew didn't do that, but we were parallel to one of the 'party boats' and the crew sprinkled plenty of fish food in the sea ... I'm always torn about that. Of course, it's nice when hundreds of fish swim around you. But that's not natural behavior for the fish either ... On the way, we also saw dolphins and turtles, but they were too far away to bother uploading the photos. But it's quite an experience when someone sees something and shouts 'Dolphins' or 'Turtles', and the skipper immediately turns off the ship's engine and everyone watches the animals eagerly.

Unfortunately, there was too little wind yesterday, so it wasn't worth setting sail.

In the evening, we then reached the bay where we wanted to spend the night. Conveniently, it was the neighboring bay of Whitehaven Beach, the beach that everyone was looking forward to the most and where we would be the first to arrive the next morning. The skipper asked if we wanted to see a sunrise the next morning, but he had to sail out of the bay a bit shortly after 5:00 a.m. so that we could see it. Everyone agreed and we didn't sit together for long and then everyone disappeared into their bunks. The crew (two girls and the skipper) actually slept under the open sky. It's certainly nicer than below deck with these temperatures.

The next morning, we woke up when the engine started and one after the other gathered on board. The sunrise was really beautiful. I think it's always a nice way to start the day and it puts you in a good mood.

After we returned to the bay, freshened up more or less and finished breakfast, we were dropped off on the island around 8:00 a.m. Then a short path, of course with stone steps up and down again, and then the bay lay in front of us ... breathtakingly beautiful ...

The sand consists of 99% quartz sand and is thus one of the whitest on earth. You can polish gold with it, and the men in our group were advised to confess to their wives now whether the gifted gold ring might not contain that much gold. This sand reveals it quickly ...

The photos hardly show how the white sand, the turquoise water, and the blue sky provided a fascinating interplay of colors. It's really beautiful there.

On the way, our skipper seemed to be doing some kind of 'team building' with a member of his crew who was on this tour for the first time ... Anyway, I just happened to pass by this spot and couldn't explain the situation any other way ...

After three hours, we drove off again, just in time before the day trippers arrived. We went to another snorkeling spot, and even in the last two hours to Airlie Beach, the wind picked up and the sails could be set.

All in all, it was another great experience, even if sailing ships will not become my favorite means of transportation.

Tomorrow I have the longest car ride of the entire trip ahead of me, about 500 kilometers through rather monotonous landscapes. At least that's what other blogs say ...