Finding Nemo - the truth.... fresh from the Great Barrier Reef

Hey Campers!

We last spoke in Hervey Bay post my rather cool trip to Fraser Island, since then i have now moved all the way up the coast of Queensland to as far as i will be travelling in Australia to Cairns. The real story is in what i have been doing on the way and more importantly what is this Nemo crap all about.... so here goes!

We said goodbye to Tommy, Freya Sohpie, Anneka, Liz and Dutchy from the Fraser Island trip, grabbed a bacon sandwich then got on our way. From Hervey Bay we had to do two looooong ass drives all the way up to Airlie beach which would be the start of our trip to the Whistsunday Islands. The journey wasnt the most interesting of driving. We got to Rockhampton after the first days drive yet again in the pouring rain.

Rockhampton is just another town, nothing too special about it at all. We then drove on from there up to Airlie Beach the following day, arriving there in the late afternoon. We met up with Danish Katrine and yet again snuck into her hostel and abused the amenities there and spent the evening chilling out and chatting.

18th Jan - Simon, the Dane and I had booked a 2 day, 2 night sailing trip out into the Whitsunday Islands through Wicked Travel (seem to be an ok ish company for anyone travelling, be careful though they aparrently dont like giving refunds). The boat we were on was called Freight Train (not a name i would choose for a boat but it was actually an ex racing boat so was pretty cool!) and we had to be on board by half 12 so got there on time and met all our fellow passengers and the crew.

The skipper was a guy called Johny who was in his late 40's and had been sailing boats around the Whitsundays for over 20 years. He was a pretty laid back and cool guy, i also think that it helped that he was only a relief skipper so he wasnt so strict etc (had heard some of the skippers on the boats could be bottom holes!). The boat itself was generally nice. The toilets were a little small and crazy. The flush was basically a blender which would chop up your bodily business ands spit it ouut to see in small bits!

The first day on the boat was fairly plain sailing (get it?!), the skipper put the sails up for a while to stop people complaining that not enough sailing was going on then whacked the engine back on and we set off accross the Whitsundays which are pretty beautiful.

The Whitsundays are actually a set of over 70 islands which are mostly unihabited, mostly state owned and mostly national park areas. Captain Cook named the islands not surprisingly after Whit sunday as this was the day he believed he had discovered them. However, he supposedly was actually a day early but i think everyone has let him off for that. Anyhoo we moored up in the evening in a cove which would protect us from the elements a little and Precila the deck and kitchen hand cooked us up a good spaghetti meal and everyone on board had a couple of drinks. That is everyone except Simon and I (mother take note of this, I did not take a drop of alcohol on board the boat as i was trying to save money. I am not a member of alcoholics anonymous and have drunk very little on this trip!!!!). Alcohol wasnt really needed though and captain Johny pulled out his guitar and played away with everyone joining in for the evening.

The next morning we were all up at around 6am to allow us to get the most out of the day. We got dropped off at a beach near where we moored for the night and walked up to a look out point to take in the view. After this, the fun really began. We motorsailed for about 2 hours up to an area consisting of five bays. Within these bays we wetre going to make two stops where we would get to snorkel over the great barrier reef!!!! The first stopped was known as Manta Ray Bay, skip Johny claimed this was one of the best snorkel sites in the world and gave it a 9.5/10 rating. We all pulled on our stinger suits (tonnes of Jellyfish in the water at this time of year) and grabbed some fins and snorkels and jumped on in.

It was absolutely amazing swimming around for the best part of an hour with thousands of fish of all shapes and sizes. We moved onto Luncheon Bay for a second snorkel which was just as good as the first one and again we got to see so many different types of fish and coral. The coral itself comes in so many different forms! One guy from the boat called James even claimed that her saw a Reef Shark but no one could confirm that for him! On the way to our destination for the night, the skipper also spotting a pair of sea eagles (i cant remember the exact name, but he gave a few whisltes to attract them then chucked some meet up in the air and into the water for them to come down and catch, very cool indeed. As we came into the late afternoon we motored up to where we would be spending the night near a long sand spit which would be completely covered at high tide. I again took up the opportunity to go for a snorkel with Irish Ian, Simon and Katrine and this time with just the four of us in the water we got to see even more fish and probably best of all got to chase around after a couple of Sea Turtles for a while which was very cool indeed.

Additionally i got to see Nemo, you know the Clown Fish. Well at least i think i saw him, although now i know the truth i dont like him so much. Firstly Clownfish come in many different varieties and patterns compared to the standard Nemo style, this is why im only pretty sure that i saw one but not definately sure. Anyways, the dive instructor/deckhand onboard called Michael changed the way i will look at Nemo for ever. Basically if pixar got there facts straight, finding Nemo would be a totally different film altogether.

Nemo may still have got lost yes, and maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe just maybe someone might have tried to find him. However, Nemo wouldnt have a daddy at all. If Nemo's mummy died, Nemo's daddy would change sex and then (this is the worst bit) would mate with its own children to continue the family! Now Nemo i can't swear in this blog but you Clownfish are sick.

The evening meal was served. It was only bloody roast beef with mash potato, vegetables and gravy! (the trip was getting better and better!!!) and we ate whilst watching an amazing sunset. Then the drinking for everyone else and luckily Simon and I started again (the Irish brothers Ian and Gerard donated substantial amounts of beer to us, they are awesome blokes and Gerard does a good Irish jig!) and the skipper got back behind the guitar and played some songs for us.

Although i think he was in a more solemn mood so the songs tended to be slower but fun was had by all. That night due to the below deck sleeping area being hotter than the sun on the first night, i decided to try and sleep up on deck with nothing but a pair of trousers for a pillow and a borrowed sarong for a mattress! Needless to say it wasnt the best nights sleep i had and i did wake up wondering where the hell i was but when i came to, it made me feel good to be waking up out on the ocean enjoying amazing views! (I am spoilt by this trip at times!).

The final day of our trip (Sun 20th Jan) was spent with some more early morning snorkelling where we saw lots of stingrays and some baby reef sharks on the other side of the sand spit (we weren't allowed to swim with these for obvious reasons but could see them from the beach).

Then we headed back by both sail and motor power to Airlie Beach. The Whitsunday trip has been one of the best parts of Australia and is definately up there with Fraser Island, I met some really cool people and the scenery is amazing not to mention getting to snorkel in the great barrier reef! After the trip we were starving so went and got ourselves a cheap pizza then i fell asleep watching American Idol for a while at Katrine's hostel and then we met up with the Irish boys for a few beers before they had to get their bus. After a few pints another nights sleep in the van was on the cards. We spent the most of the next day chilling out by Airlie Beach Lagoon and just reading until come early afternoon and after Simon had done a spot of fishing we headed up to Townsville. Townsville is the second largest city in Queensland (after Brisbane) but there wasnt a lot on offer for us there. We spent the evening saying goodbye to Danish Katrine. She was a cool girly (Simon knew her better then me!) and got us a lot of free showers in the hostels she stayed in which has made our lives massively easier so big thanks to her! As Townsville didnt feel right we decided to drive for a while and come 2am we pulled into a rest area on the highway and spent the night there.

Next stop was Mission Beach. This area is literally just a nice beach and a small town. We managed to become fugitives in the town shortly after arriving there. As i have told you all, our lives in Australia have revolved around our abilities to wash our nude little bodies and so we saw the opportunity to walk onto a campsite and use their showers.

All was going well and we were getting clean, then we got lapse. We sat in the shower area having a chat for just a little too long. Enter a fairly old and very Australian bearded man. He looked once, which was fine. Then he looked again, this was a bad sign. "Are you guys with the park?" (Imagine a terrible aussie accent). I sat there scared and looked at Simon. Simon sat there scared and bullshitted his arse off until the man enter the toilet cubicle he had clearly come to use and we sneaked out of the building and off into the sunset (no sunset but im telling a story here guys!). We never returned to the camp site office like we told the man we would. We never returned to the town of Mission Beach, where our faces are probably on wanted posters. Instead we spent the day 5 minutes up the road sat under palm trees watching crabs run around a beach and reading our books. We hadnt eaten all day so we decided by mid afternoon to drive off and ended up (pretty much without realising it) driving all the way to Cairns.

And as the blog usually ends.... that is where i am now writing to you. Cairns is a city just about, but a really nice one! This is a good thing as we have arrived a day or two ahead of schedule. We fly out from Cairns to Singapore on the 27th Jan then onto Bangkok on the 29th. The four days left in Cairns include our last two nights with Vicky our trusty van. Vicky has never given us too much trouble and for that i thank her. She has however, caused me to lose about 2 litres of sweat every night i have spent inside her (that sounds dirty) but i assure you Simon has sweated inside her too (that sounds worse).

Vicky you are the gayest van i have ever seen but i love you and i will use this blog to say Goodbye (will probably mention it in the next one for some filler!). After the last two nights in Vicky we have two nights at a hostel (got them cheap when we booked our trips with wicked). Cairns will hopefully be chilled and cheap! I will let you know!

Keep on reading and getting in touch guys, its always good to hear from you!

Peace!

Matt xx