After the brief stopover at the tranquil hideaway of Magnetic Island, the fast-paced party town of Airlie Beach hit us like a figurative refreshing lime to the head. The ‘Gateway to the Whitsundays’ proved a pleasant spot to liberate some animalistic drinking and general madness. We stayed at Beaches Hostel right on the main strip of bars and clubs, and enjoyed a healthy night of moderate beverages and socialising.
We luckily managed to select the correct beds in our all-male 8-man dorm, as during the night, one Aussie guy on the bottom bunk got a bit of a ‘splash’ due to his mate in the bunk above being involved in a one-drink-too-many/one-toilet-break-too-little battle. Needless to say we were relieved and amused…
The following morning brought our imminent departure aboard our home for the subsequent few days – the Broomstick. We were met by our crew of three, two thirds ex-pats, Skipper Rob, originally from Portsmouth and 21 year old Ross from Bournemouth. Leaving the marina with passengers totalling approx 90% male, we passed through torrential tropical rain – its fair to say, we began to think we had selected the wrong day and boat to sail on. But we soon got into the hang of things and helped out with raising the sails and enjoying the fresh, 30kt breeze moving us along towards Hook Island. Before long we donned our fetching, lycra stinger suits and went snorkelling amongst the island coral, desperately in search of the elusive Nemo. We finished the day anchoring in Narra Inlet for the night and being served up some amazing chicken dish cooked up by the crew which was then washed down by the wonderful Goon. As the bag emptied, our heads got heavier and we soon located our cabin and bunks.
We all woke the next morning with heavy heads and before long we had
set sail and had the cobwebs blown out. But before long the chief Goon consumer, Dach began to sway as a result of the mixture of the goon and the winds getting up, he struggled to find his sea legs. The plan was to head towards Turtle Cove and then Whitehaven Beach (2nd best beach in the world). Unfortunately the wind was coming straight from that direction and try as we might, we couldn’t manage that feat without engine power and the Broomstick was having problems giving us that. This resulted in a snorkel sesh while the Skipper tried to fix the engine. This proved successful and we were soon full power ahead for Turtle Cove. We enjoyed a nice lunch on deck only being disturbed by curious turtles coming up for a nosey.
Following this we headed ashore for our trek to Whitehaven. Unfortunately, due to the time of day – high tide – we didn’t really get the full appreciation of the beach with the amazing sands (95% silica) mostly covered by the blue waters. We still had fun on the white sand, played footy, cricket and generally posing for the ideal paradise picture.
A great sail followed as the winds got up with clear blue skies as we boosted back to our evening stop, keeled over with out legs hanging over the edge. That night was a chilled affair as steak barbequed on the back of the boat was on the menu and we chilled on deck watched the stars and sipping the remaining goon. Ross then decided to treat us likely lads and took the tender (mini speedboat) for a spin out into the dark waters while we chilled and enjoy the peace, tranquillity, silence, odd bit of banter and of course goon!!
The following day was a fairly straight sail back to the marina with everyone tired from the days at sea. A fresh sail topped off a great trip out to the Whitsundays and Hubbs and Dach bought ‘Crew’ shirts to wear and impress the ladies on shore… didn’t happen obviously!!
The following day was Australia Day – some sort of ‘cheap’ version of St Patrick’s Day where everyone enjoys a few Aussie beers, all day long!! There was some debate whether or not to wear English rugby shirts but the thought of ending the night in A&E didn’t really appeal to any of us, so we donned our yellows and greens and ‘tattooed’ the Southern Cross of the Aussie flag on our arms and cheeks!! Major lash ensued and we did our best to embrace the craziness of the night, meeting as many Sheila’s as possible!! The remainder of the time in Airlie Beach was spent at the conveniently located lagoon, basking in the sun and our hangovers, playing the odd game of catch in the pool.
We luckily managed to select the correct beds in our all-male 8-man dorm, as during the night, one Aussie guy on the bottom bunk got a bit of a ‘splash’ due to his mate in the bunk above being involved in a one-drink-too-many/one-toilet-break-too-little battle. Needless to say we were relieved and amused…
The following morning brought our imminent departure aboard our home for the subsequent few days – the Broomstick. We were met by our crew of three, two thirds ex-pats, Skipper Rob, originally from Portsmouth and 21 year old Ross from Bournemouth. Leaving the marina with passengers totalling approx 90% male, we passed through torrential tropical rain – its fair to say, we began to think we had selected the wrong day and boat to sail on. But we soon got into the hang of things and helped out with raising the sails and enjoying the fresh, 30kt breeze moving us along towards Hook Island. Before long we donned our fetching, lycra stinger suits and went snorkelling amongst the island coral, desperately in search of the elusive Nemo. We finished the day anchoring in Narra Inlet for the night and being served up some amazing chicken dish cooked up by the crew which was then washed down by the wonderful Goon. As the bag emptied, our heads got heavier and we soon located our cabin and bunks.We all woke the next morning with heavy heads and before long we had
set sail and had the cobwebs blown out. But before long the chief Goon consumer, Dach began to sway as a result of the mixture of the goon and the winds getting up, he struggled to find his sea legs. The plan was to head towards Turtle Cove and then Whitehaven Beach (2nd best beach in the world). Unfortunately the wind was coming straight from that direction and try as we might, we couldn’t manage that feat without engine power and the Broomstick was having problems giving us that. This resulted in a snorkel sesh while the Skipper tried to fix the engine. This proved successful and we were soon full power ahead for Turtle Cove. We enjoyed a nice lunch on deck only being disturbed by curious turtles coming up for a nosey.Following this we headed ashore for our trek to Whitehaven. Unfortunately, due to the time of day – high tide – we didn’t really get the full appreciation of the beach with the amazing sands (95% silica) mostly covered by the blue waters. We still had fun on the white sand, played footy, cricket and generally posing for the ideal paradise picture.
A great sail followed as the winds got up with clear blue skies as we boosted back to our evening stop, keeled over with out legs hanging over the edge. That night was a chilled affair as steak barbequed on the back of the boat was on the menu and we chilled on deck watched the stars and sipping the remaining goon. Ross then decided to treat us likely lads and took the tender (mini speedboat) for a spin out into the dark waters while we chilled and enjoy the peace, tranquillity, silence, odd bit of banter and of course goon!!
The following day was a fairly straight sail back to the marina with everyone tired from the days at sea. A fresh sail topped off a great trip out to the Whitsundays and Hubbs and Dach bought ‘Crew’ shirts to wear and impress the ladies on shore… didn’t happen obviously!!
The following day was Australia Day – some sort of ‘cheap’ version of St Patrick’s Day where everyone enjoys a few Aussie beers, all day long!! There was some debate whether or not to wear English rugby shirts but the thought of ending the night in A&E didn’t really appeal to any of us, so we donned our yellows and greens and ‘tattooed’ the Southern Cross of the Aussie flag on our arms and cheeks!! Major lash ensued and we did our best to embrace the craziness of the night, meeting as many Sheila’s as possible!! The remainder of the time in Airlie Beach was spent at the conveniently located lagoon, basking in the sun and our hangovers, playing the odd game of catch in the pool.
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