The Wicked Witch of Whitsunday
- Sep 26, 2016
- 6 min read
Location:
The Whitsundays Cruise, QLD, Australia
A long time ago, in a distant land called Melbourne, the good people of ‘Urban Central’ decided to hold a party to celebrate their tenth anniversary. This was to be the best party the land has ever seen, but there was one problem. You can’t have a party without prices! But what sort of prizes could they have? It then became clear! What about a half price cruise around the beautiful Whitsundays? Everyone thought this would be a great idea and with that, the whole kingdom began to cheer!
Back to the present, where myself and Jason are really excited about our Whitsundays cruise. The boat that we booked, ‘Powerplay’ looks very impressive. It’s not a party boat which suits us perfect and it only has a small group of people which allows for a more intimate setting. Nothing wrong with that. As we wait to board the boat, our host Luke, AKA ‘Mam,’ as he is the one that will be feeding and cleaning after us, gave us a briefing of the boat and what to expect. Usual spiel!
Finally, the time has come, we are now boarding the boat. At first glance, impressive it looks. It’s very fancy! How exciting. Myself and Jason upgraded to a double room. How posh are we! With it being a boat, space comes at a premium. The couple staying in the other double next to us have to crawl over our bed to get to theirs, with only a curtain dividing us. It’s certainly cosy. We can’t really complain. Most of the guys who didn’t book a private room are stuck sleeping on the sofas in the kitchen. Others have to sleep in a very narrow space at the very top of the sofa that transforms into a bed during the night. Let’s not complain, ok? After getting all our stuff together, the skipper of the boat, Moxy had us on the top deck jumping into the water recording us on his GoPro. It was such great fun! I lost count on how many times I jumped. An Asian guy belly flopped into the water. Judging by the sound, that had got to hurt. For me, a simple jump is suffice, I don’t need to show off with a fancy dive or flips off the edge, because I know what will happen. A laugh for you and bitter pain for me!
If there is one thing to be said for the Whitsundays, their beauty is unrivalled. If it’s good enough for Johnny Depp and ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie franchise (Don’t mention the dog situation!) then it’s good enough for us! Even though we dived in The Great Barrier Reef, what we saw snorkelling here, was probably nicer. The colour of the coral was certainly impressive, not to mention the many different types of colourful fish swimming around in the open water. It is so beautiful!
At night, our boat has a blue light around it to attract marine life. As it began to get dark, the lights came on and with it, small sharks began to circle the area. A very cool sight to see. Everyone was out with their cameras and phones trying to get a good photo of them. It was quickly discovered that edge of boats, sea water and good phones are a recipe for disaster with one of the guys dropping his phone into the water. Even though it was in hands reach, we couldn’t stretch over and pick it up for fear of what the sharks might do to us and I’m sure the sea water quickly took hold, destroying the whole phone. We all felt so bad. It wasn’t so much losing the phone that bothered the guy, more a case of losing the majority of his photos that he took on his travels so far. Remember, always backup your things, cause you never know!
The great thing about such a small group, is that it’s easy to get to know people and have a laugh with them. Our two evenings on the boat involved chatting, drinking and playing games such as charades on Chloe’s phone, who is from Australia, until the early hours of the morning. We may be the grandads of the boat, but we were always the last ones standing. During the cruise, we made some great friends including Catharina from Germany and Louise from ‘Brexit’ torn England! It’s great when you meet such a diverse bunch of people. Get to know them and they could inspire you to continue chasing your dream!
In case I needed reminding that I am in one of the most beautiful places in the world, a ride to ‘Whitehaven Beach’ where the sand is so pure, huge fines apply if you try and steal any of it. The water here is crystal clear and the sand is so white. Apparently it makes for a good exfoliator and can even be used to whiten your teeth. I didn’t test the teeth whitening part, but I did dab some onto my face. Not sure if it worked or not, but later on, my skin felt amazing. It must have been funny for Jason watching me attempt to get onto a paddle board. I may not have been as elegant as the others, but I did manage to stay standing on it, for a few seconds! Me thinks I need to work on it a bit more, what do you think?
It’s always great when you visit places that just blow you away! Very rarely does it happen, but when it does, it is very special! Let me paint a picture for you, the weather is perfect, the sky is blue, oh wait, we are on ‘Shit Beach’ (You’ve got to love the Aussie’s for their very descriptive names) and there are lots of people coming back from the lookout. When we reached the lookout, we were blessed to have the whole lookout to ourselves. The conditions were perfect, allowing us to see the swirls of sand and water. ‘Is this real? Am I actually here?’ We have seen some amazing things over the last few years, but this is definitely up there. I am gobsmacked! Think you have seen real beauty? You haven’t seen nothing until you’ve come here!
Over the course of the few days, we have had plenty of swimming opportunities and on our last chance to explore the open water and all that she has to offer. Just when we began to give up hope of spotting a turtle, we find two. An adult one, casually lying on the ocean bed and a younger, active one who was busy swimming around. After a few minutes, the skipper calls the guys over as there were bigger ones where he was. Even though I missed a turtle swallow a jelly fish, (I did see an ‘Angel’ fish swallow one when I jumped off the edge of the boat by myself where I got stuck in a strong current in a matter of no time. It was a struggle to get back to the boat, but I used all my might and got back eventually in one piece, to everyone’s amusement.) I’m so happy that I decided to stay where I was as I was able to swim with the younger turtle as he came up for air. An experience that touched my heart!
Not all was as rosy as it appeared, as the wicked witch, Josephine was back to her old tricks causing unrest in the kingdom. If there is something she wants, she gets it. I’m sure by usually fluttering her eyelashes in guy’s directions. When I got back on the boat from my amazing experience, I quickly had a look at my footage of the whole thing. Josephine who was standing next to me asked if I would send her the photos and video. I said Ok and as soon as I was able to, I sent her the photos of the turtle swimming. Then she proceeds to hound me for the video. And when I failed to reply to one of her messages as I was told not to ignore her. After that message, I quickly blocked her. They do say blondes can be dumb, but she takes the top price. A few hours later, she messages Jason asking him for the video. If I ain’t going to give it to you, you hardly think Jason is, or do you? It was decided by the king that the wicked witch would be banished from the land. The good people of Whitsunday rejoiced, for peace was restored once and for all and as the years went on so did the stories of ‘The Wicked Witch of Whitsunday!’
Over the last few days, our host Luke has spoilt us with an incredible trip and amazing food which he prepared himself in what must be the smallest kitchen that I have ever seen! Fair play to him. The Whitsundays have really touched our hearts. They are, with no hesitation what so ever, the Whitsundays are one of the most beautiful places I have been privileged to see. You might need to pinch yourself just to make sure what you are seeing is real. Remember, good always wins the fight against evil! Take that wicked witch!
The End
By Andrew
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