Our boat launched from Airlie beach and set sail for Whitehaven beach. When the wind was in our favor the sails were put up. The landscape reminded me of the San Juan in Washington - with the difference in weather - and made me miss what I would call home. One thing that was surprising was the butterflies... they were everywhere! It was a bit surreal.
Once we reached the beach I knew I was on vacation - and at that point was satisfied with the money well spent. Now If you can picture a large white sand beach on an island which is only attainable via charted boat or helicopter - add in warm weather, warm water, and not a cloud in the sky and you might have an idea of what it was like. :) We spent a couple of hours at that beach then the boat made anchor for the night at the next bay.
In the morning we hiked to a lookout point where we could see where a fresh water river met the Pacific. This is where the swirling sands are... essentially the water from the river mixes with the tides and the sand makes magnificent swirls in the shallow water. It looked like someone had painted the river and sand into the island - truly beautiful.
After the hike and taking some pictures it was time for some sea kayaking. Now the bay that we anchored in happened to be a turtle breading ground - so there were turtles around the boat in the morning. When we set off in the kayaks we were able to go into the shallow waters where the massive (3' wide 4-5' long) turtles where hanging out. It's hard to describe, but if you were able to paddle up as quietly as possible you could actually float right over the top of the turtles. When the did get nervous and decide to move they would make a massive wake from their movement. The water was really muddy otherwise I would have tried to get a picture, but for now the description will have to do.
Later that afternoon I took my first turn at scuba diving and LOVED IT!! Now I will admit that I had a bit of trouble starting off with the whole breathing under water thing... which wasn't assisted by the fact that my mask was leaking. In the end, after a little salt water in the eyes and mastering the art of clearing my mask of water, all was good. This was good because we dove again on the second day and the number of fish was amazing! I was able to see Nemo, an eel, and didn't see the shark that was swimming with us but am glad for that!
I have lots of pictures but can't post them all, so will put this link and post a collage of some of the good pictures. (Click here for more pictures) This trip was amazing and I truly recommend it to anyone coming to this area - and I can get discounts with the company we went through and make recommendations as to which boat might be good. :)
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