Whitsundays Part 4, the last one!

Actually, this part takes place over two days, but the last part would've been pretty short, so instead, I'm merging them.

So, no drinking the night before, as we were going scuba diving again today. We were going on a "3 Island Cruise" with a ship/boat called Voyager. The three islands we were going to; Hook Island, White Haven Beach and Daydream Island, in that order. Not exactly up early, around 8 o'clock. Breakfast, and off (by bus) to the Shuttle Harbour where our boat awaited us.

As we boarded, we noticed that some of the people on the boat were the same that had been on the last cruise we had been on (the one to the pontoon). The divemasters/instructors were the same, which meant that we'd be diving with those guys again, yay!

The Voyager wasn't as big as the last one we'd been on, but there was still a fair amount of people on it. We stopped shortly at Daydream Island to pick up some more people, still plenty of room on the boat though.



Took us a couple of hours to reach the first island, Hook Island. While we sailed, us with PADI certificate signed up for a dive. Only $55 this time, or maybe it was even cheaper... (damn it! My budget was on my laptop, and is now lost...) anyway, it was a lot cheaper than at the pontoon.

We were briefed, and told what we could expect. The water would be murkier than at Knuckle Reef, we wouldn't go as far down as at Knuckle Reef. This time we'd be in bigger groups, only two groups. Six persons in each, with 2 instructors/divemasters in each. We were told that as we swam out, it would get deeper very quickly, and if we got out too far, we'd be pulled straight to the bottom, due to currents. And at the bottom... sharks! And not lame Wobbegong Sharks, no, Tiger Sharks! Probably the most aggressive sharks in the world, and they're pretty huge. If we got within 5m of them, they were likely to attack. And guess what the visibility was that day...? 5m!

We were taught the signals if a tiger shark was spotted. It was exciting and scary as hell at the same time (but mostly exciting). They told us that if we were (un?)lucky we'd see tiger sharks, but that it wasn't very likely, as they were further out than we were.

I was in the second team to go out, so I didn't really have to hurry when we got to Hook Island. I did anyway. Watched the other get their gear on. When they swam off, I went snorkeling with some of the others. The first team were gone for around 45 minutes. A little longer than we are usually gone. Normally it's around half an hour, as we haven't got much air left by then.

And then it was our turn! The water was warm, much warmer than in Hervey Bay, so we didn't actually have to wear wetsuits. They didn't actually have any full-body suits. They didn't have one that actually fit Thore (guy from my class), so he swam in his t-shirt. This time, Niklas was my buddy. And that actually went a lot better than with Mathis, as we managed to keep an eye on each other the entire time.

Anyway, off we went. And the water really was quite a bit murkier than at Knuckle Reef. There was still a lot of corals though. Not a lot of fish, but that was most likely because they managed to swim away before we got close to them. There was a pretty strong current as well, so it took a little effort to stay on course. I was always either in the front of the group, or in the middle. Usually in the front, with Niklas either beside me, or slightly in front.

It was a great dive, alas, no tiger sharks :( We did see a sea turtle though, hiding amongst the corals on on the bottom. I got pretty annoyed with Birk ('nother guy from my class) by the way... he kept signaling stuff to me, and pushing me out of his way. He was behind me. For the record, it's the guy in the backs responsibility to NOT hit the guy on front, and to not be hit by the fins of the guy in front. The person in front has no idea what's behind him, therefore he can't help it, if somebody is hit by his fins, unless he does it on purpose of course...

Anyway, we got up after 45-50min as well. We all had lots of air left though. Seems I finally got my breathing under control as well. About time:P
Unfortunately there's no pictures from the dive. The water was simply too murky. The camera wouldn't have been able to show anything, due to the particles in the water. It was fairly easy to see, but the camera... no.

After the dive, it was straight back to the Voyager, and off to Whitehaven Beach. Whitehaven Beach is a beach (surprise!) made completely of silica, which means that it's very heat resistant. It barely gets warm at all, and the sand was an incredibly white colour! Best beach I've been on.



There was a photographer on the Voyager as well, just as there had been on one the Knuckle Reef cruise. She took a lot of pictures of our group. Particular the group of boys I was in. There were some pretty good pictures among them, but unfortunately they were expensive. Very expensive. And we couldn't even get discount if we bought all the pictures of us... oh well. We had to make do with the pictures the other people from our class had taken.



On Whitehaven Beach we pretty much just chilled on the beach or messed around in the water. And posed for pictures of course. I think we were on Whitehaven Beach for one and a half hour or so. Possibly more. There was not shadow whatsoever on the beach. No shops either. No pier. The ships actually sailed in so far that they hit the beach, and then we would walk off.



After Whitehaven, Daydream Island. Daydream Island pretty much consists of a huge resort. Lots of souvenir stores, fastfood, restaurants, pools. There was jetski and stuff as well. And a huge artificial reef thingie. Spent the time on Daydream either in the pool, or at the pool.


Then back to Club Croc, and relax/drink for the rest of day.

The last day of Whitsunday, we went sea-kayaking. Not much to say about that day really. I was on the early team, so I wouldn't have to sit on the sea around noon, with the sun frying me. That meant I had to get up around 6 o'clock. Wasn't so bad actually. Patrick was my kayak buddy. And we actually managed pretty well, as long as I kept saying one-two. We sailed to a small island (pretty much just a huge rock), waited there a while, and then went back again. There was a lot of waves, and the tide was coming, and it was hard to steer. I was sitting in the back, so I had to steer. We managed pretty well though, and were pretty fast. If we didn't have to wait for the others, we would've been up long before they got back.

I forgot my hat at the place we went kayaking... I told Jesper to bring it back home, when he went. He was on the second team. He found my hat and brought it back to me :D
The rest of the day went pretty much like the other days.

The next day, it was time to go home again. By bus. Another 12 hour ride. Very tiring, but we got home, had a couple of days off (probably some of the most boring days of my life...) and then it was off to Goldcoast.

So, next update will be about the Goldcoast! See ya then /wave