Friday, August 15, 2008

Week 3 on Roadie - Sailing Trip


So, I had last left off in Seventy Seventy in my writtings. We had about an 8 hour trip to Arlie Beach. It rained the whole way there, but the rain later stopped that night. We stayed at Magnums Hostel on Thursday July 24, 2008. It was probably the biggest one with cabins, tent sites, and camper sites. It was situated downtown and had lots of nice palm trees and manmade fountains around the rooms. They had a big outdoor bar and restaurant in the front. Arlie Beach is a very nice little town. It has one main strip with all the hostels, bars, touring agencies, and restaurants. It also had the first wireless cafĂ© I have found since I have been in Australia. So I was able to get online with a drink purchase (which is about $3 a coffee). Also it was closed all weekend so I got free Internet when I sat out front. Arlie Beach has a really nice manmade lagoon along the bay; it’s basically a big pool with beach sand and grass surrounding it. It was very similar to Brisbane’s artificial beach. It was right across the street from our hostel. Also there was a real beach that wrapped around the bay. Arlie Beach is the hub to get out to the Whitsunday’s, which are a series of islands off the coast of Australia that are just west of the Great Barrier Reef.

The following day, Friday, we met at our sailboat in the afternoon at the harbor area of Arlie Beach. We were scheduled for a 3-day, 2 night trip in the Clipper sailboat. It had about 48 people and about 6 staff. It was a very big sailboat with 3 decks, lower one for sleeping, middle for eating, and top for hanging out in the sun. The first day we went to the north end of Haymen Island. We got out there for sunset and dinner. The food was all included and was very delicious. We ate salmon one night and pasta another. Lunch was salad and sandwiches and breakfast was cereal and toast. You were able to bring on your own alcohol. I only had to pay for scuba diving, which was $45-$50 per dive.

That night we saw lots of fish in our spotlight off the side of the boat. We also had dolphins playing for hours in the light. All the fish are attracted to the light and attract lots of water life. I went scuba diving Friday morning at Blue Pearl Bay on the north end of Haymen Island. I hadn’t been for a dive since I took my certification class at UMASS and we dove in the middle of winter in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts I didn’t see any fish and it was very cold. The difference of scuba diving in Mass and Aussie was night and day. The area we were in was classified as the outer reef; the Great Barrier Reef was more east. I here it is very similar. We saw lots of colorful fish and reef. We also went through underwater caves. We saw the Little Nemo fish (Clown Anemone Fish). Also we saw two of the Humphead Maori Wrasse fish which are gigantic friendly fish, they get up to 7.5 feet long and have wide bodies. That day we relaxed on the top of the boat and took in some sun. There were a few humpback whales along our ride. I got a good snapshoot of the tale of one.















In the afternoon we went to Whitehaven Beach. We hiked up to a beautiful lookout of the surrounding silica beaches. The tectonic plates along a volcano shift and have created these peaks and valleys which formed these islands of pure white silica beaches with crystal clear waters. The views were just amazing. While walking along the shallow waters I saw what looked like small sharks swimming around. Andrea was trying to get a good pose on the Whitsunday Beach sign but took a good spill off it, pretty funny picture. We hung out on the beaches for a while. Some of the islands have resorts that start at $400 a night. A lot of actors/actresses or probably people on there honeymoons stay in these areas. For the most part the islands are national park areas and stay undeveloped. There is an island called Long Island and has a Long Island Sound. I heard there are some great hikes along it. They seem like good places for honeymooners.




















































That night we celebrated Riki’s birthday, I made him a necklace and everybody signed a card for him. We met some cool people on the boat. The Irish took up about 70% of the population and kind of hung together. I met two Brazilian guys who were very nice. We had to wake up at 7am everyday so we would go to bed at reasonable times, which was good.


The following day, Sunday, we scuba dived at Langford Reef. We saw a lot more reef, some sea cucumbers and a ton of colorful tropical reef fish. It was nice diving because it was just 4 of us, including the dive instructor. If you weren’t certified you had to take the beginner dives, and they weren’t allowed to go the second day because of the strong currents in the area. If you didn’t want to dive you could snorkel for free. That morning we headed back to Arlie Beach. We hung out at the lagoon and relaxed most of the afternoon. We met up for dinner that night with people we met on the boat and celebrated Riki’s birthday again. The weather in Arlie Beach was very nice, between 70-80 F during the day. It would cool down at night probably to between 55-60 F.


On Monday we had a day of no traveling. We caught up on the Internet and went swimming in the lagoon. On Tuesday we had a 7-hour drive to Cairns. Cairns is a major hub to get out to the Great Barrier Reef. I fly out of Cairns on Wednesday morning back to Sydney because I am flying to Indonesia(Indo) for 10 days on Thursday with Benny, Morgan, and 3 of their friends. I originally was going to drive back to Sydney but ran out of time. Bali (Indo) is a big destination spot for Australians to vacation to since it is one of the closer places on the map. Once we go to Bali we are on a flight to Sumbawa, whichare two islands east of Bali. Indonesia has the best surf beaches in the world. They are mostly coral breaks and are clean, hollow, and warm. They’re suited for intermediate to advanced surfers because the reef is shallow and when you fall you can be heaved into the sharpness below. There are some sand bottomed beaches on the west coast of Bali but very crowded in the lineup. Bali’s surf beaches are become overly crowded so that’s why we plan to hop over to Sumbawa. Everything is incredibly cheap in Indo and I have heard the natives are very friendly.

On our way to Cairns we saw lots of sugar cane fields, some nice mountains that were very green from all the vegetation and trees. We have usually been driving at night so it was nice to see the country by day. I must have seen 10 dead kangaroos in my 3-hour shift of driving. There was a lot of road construction on the way, especially around Townsville. There were also a bunch of brush fires on the sides of the main road.

We got to Cairns at nighttime but I had to fly out to Sydney the next morning at 6am. Riki and Andrea both woke up to drive me to the airport; it was a very nice gesture of them. I will miss those guys but I am sure I will see them again. I left Andrea with one of my California shirts.
I will be back in Cairns when I get back from Indonesia to pick up my car. I got to Sydney and did the train to ferry to Manly. It is a very easy commute. Then I walked to Benny’s place and started prepping for the trip to Indo. I was to leave the next day.Flying within Australia is very easy and comfortable. When checking in all you have to give is your surname and they give you a boarding pass. You don’t have to show id at any point. You can bring water through security checkpoints. Security is very laid back. The lady behind me had a pocketknife in her purse and they security guy saw it go through the x-ray. He had her fill out a form for somebody to pick it up in Cairns for her.


In the afternoon we went to Whitehaven Beach. We hiked up to a beautiful lookout of the surrounding silica beaches. The tectonic plates along a volcano shift and have created these peaks and valleys which formed these islands of pure white silica beaches with crystal clear waters. The views were just amazing. While walking along the shallow waters I saw what looked like small sharks swimming around. Andrea was trying to get a good pose on the Whitsunday Beach sign but took a good spill off it, pretty funny picture. We hung out on the beaches for a while. Some of the islands have resorts that start at $400 a night. A lot of actors/actresses or probably people on there honeymoons stay in these areas. For the most part the islands are national park areas and stay undeveloped. There is an island called Long Island and has a Long Island Sound. I heard there are some great hikes along it. They seem like good places for honeymooners. That night we celebrated Riki’s birthday, I made him a necklace and everybody signed a card for him. We met some cool people on the boat. The Irish took up about 70% of the population and kind of hung together. I met two Brazilian guys who were very nice. We had to wake up at 7am everyday so we would go to bed at reasonable times, which was good.


The following day, Sunday, we scuba dived at Langford Reef. We saw a lot more reef, some sea cucumbers and a ton of colorful tropical reef fish. It was nice diving because it was just 4 of us, including the dive instructor. If you weren’t certified you had to take the beginner dives, and they weren’t allowed to go the second day because of the strong currents in the area. If you didn’t want to dive you could snorkel for free. That morning we headed back to Arlie Beach. We hung out at the lagoon and relaxed most of the afternoon. We met up for dinner that night with people we met on the boat and celebrated Riki’s birthday again. The weather in Arlie Beach was very nice, between 70-80 F during the day. It would cool down at night probably to between 55-60 F.


On Monday we had a day of no traveling. We caught up on the Internet and went swimming in the lagoon. On Tuesday we had a 7-hour drive to Cairns. Cairns is a major hub to get out to the Great Barrier Reef. I fly out of Cairns on Wednesday morning back to Sydney because I am flying to Indonesia(Indo) for 10 days on Thursday with Benny, Morgan, and 3 of their friends. I originally was going to drive back to Sydney but ran out of time. Bali (Indo) is a big destination spot for Australians to vacation to since it is one of the closer places on the map. Once we go to Bali we are on a flight to Sumbawa, whichare two islands east of Bali. Indonesia has the best surf beaches in the world. They are mostly coral breaks and are clean, hollow, and warm. They’re suited for intermediate to advanced surfers because the reef is shallow and when you fall you can be heaved into the sharpness below. There are some sand bottomed beaches on the west coast of Bali but very crowded in the lineup. Bali’s surf beaches are become overly crowded so that’s why we plan to hop over to Sumbawa. Everything is incredibly cheap in Indo and I have heard the natives are very friendly.



On our way to Cairns we saw lots of sugar cane fields, some nice mountains that were very green from all the vegetation and trees. We have usually been driving at night so it was nice to see the country by day. I must have seen 10 dead kangaroos in my 3-hour shift of driving. There was a lot of road construction on the way, especially around Townsville. There were also a bunch of brush fires on the sides of the main road.


We got to Cairns at nighttime but I had to fly out to Sydney the next morning at 6am. Riki and Andrea both woke up to drive me to the airport; it was a very nice gesture of them. I will miss those guys but I am sure I will see them again. I left Andrea with one of my California shirts.
I will be back in Cairns when I get back from Indonesia to pick up my car. I got to Sydney and did the train to ferry to Manly. It is a very easy commute. Then I walked to Benny’s place and started prepping for the trip to Indo. I was to leave the next day. Flying within Australia is very easy and comfortable. When checking in all you have to give is your surname and they give you a boarding pass. You don’t have to show id at any point. You can bring water through security checkpoints. Security is very laid back. The lady behind me had a pocketknife in her purse and they security guy saw it go through the x-ray. He had her fill out a form for somebody to pick it up in Cairns for her.

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