road trippin': whitehaven beach, great barrier reef

At Abel Point Marina.

We sailed through Whitsunday Passage to Whitehaven, snorkelled at Hook Passage. Cruised to Knuckle Reef.

Sailing in the Whitsunday Islands

We had to catch the bus nice and early at 7am and caught the bright, purple catamaran, Camira, at Abel Point Marina. It was an inclusive day trip sailing through the Whitsunday Islands with a BBQ lunch and free beer and wine. The day started with a bit of overcast and had a bit of rain. The water was still a little choppy so I got kinda motion sick and didn't have any Gravol with me. Once the sun came out, it was so much fun and the water was such a deep blue colour.

Our first stop was the magnificent Whitehaven Beach, it was soo beautiful. Nice white, super fine, soft sand that stretches for 7 km. Lucky for us the sun stayed out the whole time we were there, which was only an hour, but got to soak in some, chill out and throw a frisbee around.

The Camira that took us sailing around the Whitsunday Islands.

Rain clouds ahead..

The clouds are clearing up. Captian Steve

On our way to Whitehaven Beach. There's me and my nervous smile haha.

Arriving at Whitehaven. The boat taking groups at a time over to the island.

The beautiful Whitehaven Beach with super soft, white sand and deep blue water.

We got back to the boat just as the BBQ lunch was cooking and served. The rest of the afternoon was cloudy and rainy. We stopped at Hook's Passage for some snorkelling. Shane went in but I stayed back talking to a few people I met on the boat. I didn't miss much anyways because they said the water was a bit murkey from it being so windy the past few days. Some people said they saw turtles and a few fish.

We spent the rest of the trip, back to the marina, talking to a few people and having a few drinks. Got back to the bay just as the sun was setting.

Cloud and rain came back as we got to our snorkelling part.

The sunsetting as we got back to the marina

Sunset over the marina

The Great Barrier Reef

Another early morning start. We caught the same bus to the same marina, but this time boarding on the Seaflight cruise ship. It takes about 2 hours to get to Knuckle Reef, where the pontoon is stationed, which claims to be Queensland's "most innovative and spacious reef pontoon". I got a bit sea sick again on the way there so I a had a little snooze which helped. On the way there were some whales breaching near the ship, so we stopped to talk a look. I got there a bit slower because I was a little dizzy and I missed a good photo opp plus there were too many people in the way. They were so close to the ship! When we reached the reef and pontoon, the sight was so amazing. You always see it in photographs and tv and stuff but when you see it in person, it is almost unreal. The different shades of blue in the water.. just amazing to see.

Whales breaching, missed a good shot. You can see the tail there.

Knuckle Reef Pontoon

Knuckle Reef of the Great Barrier Reef

We had 4 hours to spend on the pontoon. We booked time in for the guided snorkel around the reef in the afternoon. So before that, we took a ride on the glass bottom boat and the 'Subsea Adventure' and saw some colourful coral, fish, clams and more. Had a quick lunch and then went for our own mini snorkel, cam back up and met up with our guide. Snorkelling in the reef was soo much fun and it was probably my favourite experience so far. It was like I was in the movie Finding Nemo haha! And I got to see little Nemos, cuttlefish, parrotfish and just so many neat things. You could easily spend hours in the water just looking at all the life that goes on underwater! We got to see a big Maori wrasse fish in midst of a sex change where the female was changing to a male. The story is that there was a pair and one of them disappeared and they think a shark got him so the female was left on her own and so had to take the male role. It's very common for reef fish to change sex at some point in their life cycle. After our tour we went down the big slide and did some more snorkelling. On the way back, on the ship, they played the movie Finding Nemo!

On the glass bottom boat

On the 'Subsea Adventure'

The coral and reef life. Little bubble fish that followed the sub around.

Snorkelling

It was our last night in Airlie, so we had a nice dinner out at a Japanese restaurant, but unfortunately the food wasn't that great. I hate not having a satisfying meal when you're looking forward to it! We did a little bit of research after to where we wanted to go next, on our way back down!

Last night in Airlie. Out for dinner.