We started planning our trip to the Whitsunday Islands over a month ago. We researched kayak rental. We compared hotel, youth hostel and campsite accommodations and pricing. We travelled to Anaconda, Australian's adventure superstore, on numerous occasions for all of our camping, kayaking, and snorkelling needs. We spent hours calculating and mapping the distances between three of the islands. We downloaded information on the tides. And on February 14 we hopped on a plane and headed to a campsite in Airlie Beach to begin our adventure.
All of the planning in the world could not have prepared us for our trip. In fact, less planning might have helped lay the groundwork for a more relaxing vacation. We set some pretty serious goals and achieved all but one, paying a visit to the third most beautiful beach in the world, Whitehaven. Four days and approximately 65 kilometres later, we returned to Airlie Beach in search of shelter, a shower and anything aside from lentils to snack on.
When we arrived in Airlie Beach we were greeted by 86% humidity and our lovely bus/shuttle driver. His question to the group of tourists as we loaded the bus, "What are you doing here? Seriously, it's the wettest month of the year."
(What were we doing there?)
We chuckled and congratulated each other on our cheap flight tickets and the accommodation savings we would achieve by sleeping "on the beach, under the stars!" Little did we know, the time we spent on that bus was the last time in five days we would be clean, dry and cool.
As we reached our destination in Airlie Beach, we pitched our tents immediately, as it began to rain upon our arrival. We walked to the grocery store, dropped $140 on lentils, beans, rolled oats, canned tuna, peanut butter, granola bars, soy milk, nuts, and bug spray. We took the bus back into the town centre and splurged on $10 fish and chips in celebration of Anika's birthday. We chatted excitedly about packing our belongings into two kayaks and spending the week on the turquoise sea.
On Monday morning we packed up our gear, lathered on sunblock, and hopped on a bus to the marina. There we met Neil (or Salty) of Salty Dog Kayak Rental. Before signing our lives away, we rented stinger suits and life vests with whistles. Neil taught us how to use the neon orange tarp he provided as a rescue signal. We filled nine 10 litre bladders with water. I bought Conor a quick cup of coffee and some yoghurt - he would need the sustenance for what lay ahead.
The rain held off for about an hour. Then it continued for four days. We paddled, ate, slept, swam, urinated, and laughed (a lot) in the rain.
We camped at two different sites, Joe's Beach and Chance Bay, on Whitsunday Island and spent our third night on Denman Island at North Spit. The campsites were fabulous. Sandy beaches and beautiful views. Toilets and picnic tables. Goannas and spiders. What more could we ask for? We kayaked almost 70 kilometres in four days. We went to bed just after the sun set and started stirring as it rose.
The best campsite food: lentils, coconut powder, green curry paste. The essential kayak snack: mixed nuts and M&M's. Thom prepared Greek coffee for the group every morning. We munched on smushed chocolate cupcakes our first night on the islands in celebration of Anika's 28th birthday. It was a wonderful adventure - we would not have done it so well with any other couple.
On day four we headed back to Airlie Beach, in spite of a warning from Salty. The visibility was poor and we needed to cross a fairly wide channel. We were tired, wet, and bruised. There was no way we were spending another night out in the rain. Anika had slipped in the mud the night prior to our departure and sliced her leg on some wooden steps. Her shin turned black and blue almost instantly. I paddled for two days with swollen and blistered lips, after getting burnt on our first day on the water. My lips were about three times their normal size and hurt like hell. It was time to head back to the mainland and a warm shower.
We braved the channel.
We spent four to five hours on the water on our trip back to Airlie. At one point we talked about tossing ourselves into the jellyfish infested water and giving up. Thank god we didn't. Upon our arrival to Airlie, we unpacked all of our wet gear from the kayaks, grabbed our packs, and headed into town in search of a hotel. We shelled out a little extra cash and stayed at a two bedroom apartment for the night. We swam, showered, ordered pizza, and watched movies as we all slowly crashed on the living room floor. Conor curled up in front of the air-con.
I cried as we rode the shuttle back to the airport the next afternoon. What were we thinking? It was the wettest month of the year. I was exhausted. I knew once we reached Brisbane we would have to flag a cab and head home. There wasn't anything in the house to eat and I needed to be up for work bright and early (4:45AM) the next morning.
As I mentioned, it has taken a week or so to recover from our trip. I would post photos of the beautiful Whitsunday Islands and our dear friends, but our camera was demolished on our first day at sea.
It has rained almost every day since we returned to Brisbane. But at least the four of us can sit indoors and eat dairy and fresh vegetables while joking about our relaxing holiday.
