Whitsunday Islands

There are four typical activities that about 99% of all Eastern Australia backpackers do: visit Sydney and Byron Bay, 4x4 camping on Fraser Island, and an overnight sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands. Although cliche, all four are popular for a good reason.

My Whitsunday experience was aboard Habibi, a medium sized yacht; I didn't measure it, but I'd say it was 10-15 meters or so. We crammed 26 people onto the boat, but it really wasn't very crowded feeling after we dispersed into groups.

We didn't really do much; it was more about spending some relaxing time out at sea amongst some beautiful islands. The first night I did some fishing and caught an eel; as they are armed with sharp teeth, like to coil and have tough skin, the skipper wasn't too happy about my catch. We had to cut the line.

There was one full day out at sea. Our first stop was Whitehaven Beach, most popular of all Whitsunday destinations. It was an amazingly beautiful beach with fine sand as white as snow. It actually has nearly a 100% silicone level, making it great for exfoliation.
The rest of the day was spent snorkeling at a couple of sites. The Whitsundays are connected to the Great Barrier Reef, but not actually in it. The snorkeling was still good though. It was nothing compared to the actually reef.

We watched an amazing sunset from the beach off of some island, home of one the most expensive resorts in the area. We, however, slept on the boat. The evening was dedicated to a very fun boat party.

We awoke much too early and sailed home in the morning. Most of our "sailing" was with a motor, but the sails were brought up a couple of times. Everyone had a chance to help. As I write this, I still have vertigo. Funny how it takes longer to get land legs back than it does to get sea legs.