After Travels: Whitsundays

WHITSUNDAYS!!

The Whitsunday Islands consist of 74 islands, of which, only 7 have resorts where people can stay at.  It is important, as with many other places in Australia, to preserve Whitsundays' natural beauty.  Me, and the group of four other lovely people I am traveling with, took a guided tour on a sail boat, named Habibi; and set off for a sailing adventure on November 4, 2011.  From the moment we arrived at the dock in Airlie beach, we knew it would be a fun filled weekend, full of beautiful sites and cherished moments, that would make great memories.

Me and Sandra right after we hopped on the ship!

Starting to head off to the islands from the dock :)

The beautiful sunset on our first night at sea.

We spend two days and two nights sailing around the islands.  We met many people, most of which were European, and made some friends that we still keep in contact with.  Overall, there have been a lot of German and French tourists, and I would say they make up the majority of people we meet during our travels.  We met two lovely French gals on this trip, and traveled with them to Cairns and up to Darwin, in the Northern Territory.  It was great to meet such nice people from a different part of the world.  That is one of the beautiful things of backpacking, you meet people from all parts of the world, and have a place to stay if you ever visit those places!

The lower cabin where we slept...watch out for the bed bugs though!!

The sunrise on the first morning - - It was 5:20 am...sleepy sleepy!

Sunrise #2...

Sunrise #3.

On the first full day, we woke up to see the sunrise over the ocean.  It was a clear morning, and one of the most beautiful sites I have seen in Australia thus far!  We then ate breaky, and took a little ride on a dingy, to the beach on the main island called, Whitsunday.  The sand there is the purest sand in the world, and is 98% silica.  It can be used to polish jewelry, and the U.S. used to to make the Hubble Telescope!  It was a lovely morning, that was followed by an afternoon of snorkeling.

We took a short hike up to get a great view of the ocean and surrounding islands...here I am enjoying every minute of it.

 Sandra, Me, and Malin posing for a photo while enjoying the gorgeous water.

Titanic!

We snorkeled a total of three times; two times at two different locations on the first day, and one time on the second day.  Whitsundays is located near the mid-region of the Great Barrier Reef, and the snorkeling there was the best I have ever seen.  The coral was extremely colorful, and we saw all kinds of fish, and even turtles!!

All ready to go snorkeling!

This is a group photo of all of the people who took this trip with us.  We all got along really well, and it was great to meet such wonderful people!

Heading back to the dock at Airlie beach.

Habibi, meaning 'Darling'.  This was the ship that we sailed on.  It was old, but charming!

Whitsundays was a blast.  We had a fun and relaxing weekend, and I was lucky enough to experience things that I had never experienced before.  It was a trip that I will remember for the rest of my life, and that I am lucky to have had the opportunity to take!

- xoxo -