Aboard the Anaconda

For 3 days and 3 nights I've been tossed around on the gorgeous, turquoise ocean somewhere in between Airlie Beach and The Great Barrier Reef, which I'll refer to as the GBR from here on in. What an amazing time! I left with good expectations and a little weary about what I'd signed up for. Several hundred dollars had come out of my bank to pay for my last days in Australia and I wanted it to be amazing and worth every penny. It was the best experience and what a change from these past two months.

I arrived in Proserpine from Brisbane, which is not on daylight savings, so I was thrown back an hour, and took a shared cab to Airlie. I made it to Magnums hostel, the name of which probably is drawn from the wild town that is Airlie, and checked in for the Anaconda III, a 100 foot sailing yacht departing that evening. I left my big packpack at the Magnum's luggage storage as we weren't allowed any zipped luggage on board. I later found out this was because of bed bugs which can nest in zipper crevices - gross.

I went for a culturally-challenged dinner at Subway before walking over to the harbour. It was a gorgeous night, but the week had suffered much rain, and more was predicted to come. I didn't let the weather get me down when the sunset cracked through the clouds - I had a good feeling. I looked out over the harbour, having arrived early at the meeting spot for Anaconda, and took some pics and reflected on life - I'm good at that.

While I was sitting on the boardwalk chilling, I heard a high-pitched British voice behind me. I turned to see a girl, wearing a bikini under her tank top and shorts, her hair tied up and she was carrying a cloth bag with no zippers. She was definitely Anaconda material, I thought. She asked if I was also about to board the ship and we hit it off right away. Her name is Nadia and she's from the real Stratford in England. She's the funniest person with awesome stories. We immediately met another girl named Bo and as more people showed up, I soon realized what a good idea it was to book the Tuesday to Friday trip.

Soon, Carrie, one of our crew, showed up and ushered us to the dock where we went over a couple of things. Sporty and energetic, Carrie informed us of the groundrules, like no bringing booze or bananas on board. Booze I can understand, but the bananas come from them being a bad omen and making food rot faster at sea. We then picked up our wet suits, or stinger suits, and headed to the ship. Champagne was immediately thrust in our hand. The boat looks smaller than you imagine, and once all 32 of us are on board, it's kinda cramped. You really get to know people fast and the motto, 'dirty is sexy' becomes a daily statement with only 1-minute shower time and salty air.

The temp outside didn't change once we hit the open water. The waves were so rough heading out to Whitsunday, I actually thought I'd puke, but was able to overcome it on deck. A few people did yack over the side, a common occurrence for many first-timers. Actually, as I type this, I still feel like I'm rocking back and forth ever so slightly.

One interesting factor was the room. I was randomly assigned a two-person room and my roommate was this british guy who we'd all met while waiting for the crew to get us. Chris is his name, so Chris and I were shown the tiny cabin room and dropped off our bags before heading back on deck to overcome the seasickness. It's like walking in a fun house all the time.

Mornings start at 7am onboard the Anaconda. The food is amazing, there's always a breakfast spread of toast, cereal, fruit and all the tea you can drink. But because we start so early, I always felt hungry by 10am. We'd start the day off right after breakfast. The first morning we went out to a smaller reef by the islands, not the GBR itself, but still really pretty. I snorkelled and then had a scuba lesson. It's awesome! When you snorkel, you feel like you're flying over an underwater civilization. The reef just drops into the depths and fish are all swimming around the coral. I saw many sea turtles and many references to Nemo were made. I couldn't help but get the Jaws music in my head while snorkelling - the famous 'dah dah' Jaws music, but also the eerie harp music that plays during the opening credits of the movies.

I then made the mistake of tanning on the bow of the ship after lunch, using sunscreen but neglecting my thighs which turned red later that day. Almost everyone was suffering from some sort of burn on some part of their body but a few jokes were made at my expense by the crew. They are all so fun! I can't believe their lives - they sail around the islands for a living, tanning, meeting new people, and being in the water. It sure beats a desk job. The guys who teach diving absolutely LOVE what they do. Simon, one of the divers, reminds me of a pirate scallywag in appearance, but is the nicest guy. Max is the heart breaker of the group and he's from New Zealand! At one point my scuba belt wasn't closing so he had to help - haha it was actually good he helped or I could have drowned, well maybe not ;)

We made it to the GBR the next and snorkelled all day. It's fabulous! Our skipper, Baz, a 50-something weathered and extremely intelligent sailor, and I had a long chat the second night, all about his adventures sailing around the world and diving at the reef. I felt like I was in Pirates of the Caribbean, chatting with this rough around the edges captain on the bow of a ship in the complete moonlight. He explained the GBR perfectly - its the biggest city in the world. It is! It's so full of life and growth, it's amazing to watch. I followed a sea turtle, who is named Crush, as he floated serenely through the warm water (it was 26 degrees in the water). What a life.

Today we made it to Whitehaven beach. It's truly paradise! The sand is so fine, it's 98% silica. Amazing! We walked all around, swam and had to go back to the ship by 10am. Just as the dinghys were coming to pick us up, a guy not from our cruise calls me over and asks me to take a picture of him on the cliffside above the water. He specifially asked for 8 or 9 pics, and proceeded to climb up the cliff, pausing to pose in various spots and in questionable positions. At one point, he started doing pushups on the rock and I'm down on the beach taking pictures of this guy like a creeper. When he made it to the top of the cliff he assumes the gladiator position - outstretched right arm and left arm arced above his head. It was quite the interesting situation. Turns out, the guy is Canadian from Toronto - I'm always meeting people in the most random places! First the LOTR gang, now this body builder from T.O.

The cruise back was great and we all departed this afternoon, only to go back to our hostels. What amazing weather we had - we didn't have to fret about any rain. It was sunny every day and so warm.

Tonight is the goodbye party at Phoenix bar in Airlie, where we get free food and beer and party with the crew. I can't wait! I gotta go, my internet time is almost up. One week left - I can't believe it!