Wave after wave - Whitsundays Day 2 / 10.11.2018

This morning we had fruit salad for breakfast, which we unfortunately had to eat squished under the deck because it was raining.

But it soon stopped and we went on a morning snorkeling trip, which Linni and I were not very motivated for at first because it was cold and gray outside and we were afraid of drying off afterwards. But the water was very pleasantly warm, although we didn't see much again because the rain had stirred everything up again and the sun wasn't shining either. So for us it was only a rather short snorkeling trip, after which we were transported back to the Apollo in the dinghy, tied our neoprene to the lifeline and put on dry clothes - I didn't care about my hair since yesterday, as it was beyond saving with the saltwater anyway, so I walked around with a lion's mane, but no one minded.

Today we would travel a pretty long way from Hook Island to Whitsunday Island and finally to Whitehaven Beach, one of the longest beaches in the world with the whitest sand ever.

We stood on deck for a while and looked out over the forested islands through which we sailed, admiring the dense patches of mist that quickly rose over the mountain peaks and seemed to move towards us at a rapid pace. The sea seemed to want to avoid them and we only noticed shortly before they reached us that they were actually raindrops - I had never experienced anything like this, being able to see the rain approaching.

Everyone quickly climbed down where we stayed for some time and I enjoyed a nice coffee.

After a while, I dared to go back up with the others, but only after putting on my high-visibility rain jacket, which also kept the wind out and stored my body heat, I also exchanged my shorts for jogging pants, so the temperature was actually quite pleasant.

The sail at the front of the boat was folded into a hammock and I saw my chance to squeeze myself into it when another girl from Sydney named Sarah was lying alone there. It was super comfortable and so I relaxed and watched the waves passing by next to me and the two seagulls playing around our ship and even sitting briefly on the end of the hammock behind us. Until suddenly the waves became more turbulent and a huge wave crashed over us - I quickly jumped up and grabbed a rope hanging from the mast, Sarah stayed in the hammock and held onto the railing, and so we spent the rollercoaster-like ups and downs of the sailboat and enjoyed the occasional splashing wave. It was a real Titanic feeling, sometimes even the entire bow of the boat was in the air, only to crash particularly violently on the water afterwards, until I eventually got too wet and joined the others in the middle of the boat in a rather risky action and balancing act.

After some time, we arrived at Whitsunday Island, where some snorkelled again after lunch, but we preferred to stay dry - the others told us that it wasn't really eventful though.

In the early evening, we also went to a part of Whitehaven Beach, where Linni, Till and I walked for a while after admiring the turquoise clear water and the absolutely brightest sand we had ever seen on a beach. I also had to briefly play the soundtrack of Moana and take a video of the ocean because it just fit so perfectly.

Some of us also saw small lemon sharks, which should be found here near the shore, but unfortunately we didn't. Then we relaxed with a few others in the sand for a while and took some more photos until it was dusk and we returned to the Apollo. There we played some games in a smaller group, with alcohol being brought out again and we only drank water, which later became a running joke, because we would probably have the biggest hangover tomorrow morning. It was all pretty funny with cool people and we already regretted planning our departure for the next evening, because we unfortunately missed the after-show party in one of the clubs in Airlie Beach.

The highlight of the evening, however, were the two sharks that we could follow in the water with our flashlights in the darkness, and with the two large turtles that we had also seen from the boat at noon, I was able to check off another 2 animals that I really wanted to experience here.

Song of the day: I'm Ready from the Moana soundtrack, because it actually sums up this entire journey here and the view of the ocean from Whitehaven Beach was so perfect.