Whitsunday Islands and Airlie Beach

After we finished skydiving on Tuesday, we moved to a new hostel on Wednesday because the accommodation was included in the booked tour to the Whitsunday Islands. Fortunately, we even got a free upgrade from a 6-bed dorm to a huge double room with a kitchenette and private bathroom. So on Wednesday, we enjoyed Airlie Beach in great weather. Airlie Beach was hit by the cyclone 'Debbie' in March. Therefore, you could still see some of the damage left by the cyclone. Some shops and restaurants were still closed and some houses were still being renovated. During skydiving, my instructor showed me boats destroyed on the shore. The lagoon was also damaged and therefore closed. We were really looking forward to cooling off in the hot temperatures during our stay in Airlie Beach, but swimming in the sea was strongly discouraged due to two dangerous types of jellyfish. There are huge warning signs everywhere, but there were a few crazy people who still went into the water. The further north you go along the east coast, the more jellyfish there are. Due to the warming of the oceans, the jellyfish have even reached the Gold Coast. So in the summer months, there were jellyfish on the beach in Surfers Paradise. There was a warning sign on the beach, but people were swimming in the water carelessly and I also dared to go into the sea there. Only because there are always lifeguards here and the jellyfish are not as abundant as further north. It is said that the most dangerous animals in the Australian seas are not sharks, but jellyfish. More people die from contact with a jellyfish than from a shark attack.

Back to Airlie Beach. Unfortunately, we couldn't cool off in the lagoon. Instead, we had plenty of refreshment with lots of rain on Thursday. That was exactly the day we started our 3-day Whitsunday Islands tour on a catamaran. We and the other 16 participants had hoped that the tour would be canceled. No one wanted to spend the next few days on the boat with the bad weather forecast. Unfortunately, our hope was in vain and the tour took place. To make matters worse, the jacuzzi on the catamaran was also broken. We had booked this boat because of the jacuzzi and it was our only ray of hope to survive the rainy days on the boat. At least we were lucky with the room allocation. We had actually booked the cheapest single beds. These beds were in the dining/lounge area. That means there were small surfaces above the benches where we had to sleep. However, for some reason, we were given a double bed in the lower area of the boat. We shared the area with a Swiss woman named Petra and her friend, so there were two double beds.

When we boarded the boat, everyone had to take off their shoes. I was really disgusted, so I had hidden flip flops in my backpack so that I could secretly wear shoes in the toilet. But that was a bad idea. First, we headed to a waterfall. In the rain and wearing wetsuits to ward off the cold, we took a rubber boat from our catamaran to the waterfall. Just before we had to get out of the water, the crew told us to put on our flip flops because the stones and rocks were sharp and we would cut our feet otherwise. They had brought a bag full of shoes on the rubber boat. It was a shame that Dani and I had already handed over our sneakers when we boarded the catamaran. Dani put on her sneakers and stomped through the sea with them. I didn't want to get my shoes wet (even though they eventually got wet from the rain and the wet floor of the rubber boat) and walked barefoot over the stones and rocks. It wasn't really pleasant, but apart from a tiny cut, my feet survived quite well. So there we were, freezing in front of a waterfall with a somewhat unattractive muddy water running down. We had to wait there until we were taken back to the catamaran. This little excursion was the only activity we could do on the first day. The planned snorkeling was not possible due to the bad weather. But at least there was plenty of delicious food on the boat. All freshly prepared by our host. The two-person crew, consisting of a captain and the host, were very cool. The first night on the boat was absolute horror. Probably due to the moisture below deck, it smelled really bad. We couldn't even open the small window because it would have let in the rain. It became unbearably hot and stuffy at night. I woke up several times and felt like I couldn't breathe. Gasping for air, I sat in front of the small fan on the wall of our bed, and then I felt a bit better.

The next day, it didn't rain as heavily anymore, and it even stopped occasionally. So we were able to go snorkeling on the second day. We didn't snorkel at the coral reef, but where we were, there was a huge school of fish (among others, attracted by breadcrumbs). We were in the middle of it, and the fish were swirling around us. It was pretty cool that Napoleonfish (also called Maori Wrasse) came along. These fish like to swim towards snorkelers and divers, so you can even stroke them. When one suddenly appeared in front of me, I was startled. Napoleonfish can reach a size of over 2 meters, so they are not small coral fish. After that, we visited the allegedly most beautiful island with the famous Whitehaven Beach.

Equipped with rain ponchos and wetsuits, we made our way across the island to the beach. It already looked impressive, but I had seen photos of friends on the island in bright sunshine before. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see this dream setting in the rain. Nevertheless, we went into the water and walked along the beach. We just tried to make the best of it. The evening was unbelievable. Suddenly the sun came out a bit, and we were able to admire a beautiful sunset followed by a starry sky. Due to the blue underwater lighting of the boat, fish also appeared. At first, we thought they were small sharks, but unfortunately, they were just pretty big fish. On the third day, we finally returned to the mainland. Early in the morning, we had a surprise visit to our boat. A sea turtle stayed near our boat for a long time. At 7 am, we had the opportunity to go diving again. However, only a few of the participants went into the water. But we didn't want to miss the opportunity to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, many coral reefs have been destroyed by the cyclone at the Whitsunday Islands, and the fish have moved on accordingly. Therefore, we didn't see a particularly spectacular coral reef (although I hadn't seen one at the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns either) and there were only a few fish there. Apart from a few jellyfish and a stingray, there wasn't much to see. After snorkeling, we headed back in sunny weather. At least on the way back, we could see the beautiful surroundings and the many islands.

I think I have never been so much looking forward to a shower in my life. The only shower I had on the boat in the last two days was the sea. There was a shower on board, but there were strict rules for bathing. You could not use more than three sheets of toilet paper and shower for only 60 seconds. Well, and the 'shower' consisted of the faucet of the sink, which you could take out as a 'showerhead', and the shower itself was simply the space of the small toilet. That means if you had showered, you would have made the toilet and the entire room completely wet.

Back at the hostel, we had to wait until we could finally check-in. First, we were told that we could check-in at around 1:30 pm. So I stood in line for three-quarters of an hour in front of the long queue at the reception to be told that we could only check-in at 2 pm. So, feeling very annoyed, we waited again, and when it was finally time, we were told that our initially booked upgrade was not registered in the system. After long discussions, we still got our own room. Again, with a kitchen, bathroom, and this time even with a TV. What was not cool at all about our room were the many small spiders sitting along the ceiling.

In the evening, we met some people from our tour in the bar of our hostel and also went to a club for a short time. On Sunday, May 21st, we continued by bus to Townsville.