Off the Grid

Ok, I'm still depressed over the iPod thing, so I may have to have a keg party to raise funds for a new one upon my return. I will properly mourn this loss, but the show must go on!

I've spent the last week on the grid so to speak. I arrived in Airlie Beach last Saturday and decided to book a sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands. Even though the weather was still craptacular, I had to just do it! Sailing, snorkeling, diving, what could be better, right? There isn't much to do in Airlie Beach, in fact the only reason I can guess to it's popularity is it's proximity to the Whitsundays and it's use as a jump point to them. Everyone in the town was super young, but I just attributed this to it being on the 'backpacker route' I was taking. I stopped at a recommended travel agent and booked a sailing trip for 2 days and 2 nights. Let me preface this by letting you know I asked NOT to be put on a 'party boat' full of young kids and I wanted a nice, slightly more upscale experience. She booked me on a boat called 'New Horizon' and it seemed all well and good. I used up the rest of my day with a trip to the Vic Hisloc Shark and Whale Expo, which scared the piss out of me. There was a two ton great white (dead, frozen) on display and it freaked me out. I could only imagine the terror that would grip someone facing one in the water. One thing I have to mention is the spectacular public Esplanade that Airlie Beach has. It has bathrooms, showers, changing rooms (free) and a beautifully landscaped and shaped langoon pool system (chlorinaded) for anyone to use, complete with lifeguards. Public dollars at work in Australia! The thing that struck me most was how handicapped accessible it was. There was a motorized chair lift for placing people in the water (minus wheel chair or other aid), a sloped entry to those who can't do steps and even a swing made specifically for people in wheelchairs (in the playground)! It touched me that so much consideration was taken when constructing this space.

The day of the trip saw the weather turn for the worse and I arrived at the pier amid a rain storm. Not a good way to start. As we are led to the boat, I am slightly apprehensive - the boat looks way smaller and the people are mostly young kids all carrying vast quantities of wine and beer. So much for not being on a booze cruise! We left and it proceeded to rain and be generally miserable the rest of the day into the night. Blah. I met a fiesty French-Canadian girl named Audrey and we hit it off right away. The crew members were pretty gross and drank the whole time, except for the captain (thank God). My bunk was next to the engine room and it reeked of fuel. So much for that upscale experience I was expecting! I should also not that the ship contained six English girls who displayed the utmost rudeness to everyone else. They proceeded to sit in the dining area (which only say 8 people - there were 24 on board) and not talk to anyone else and never offered their seats to people when finished eating or drinking. So everyone else took there meals in the rain and wind, which we didn't mind after a while since it was painful to be within earshot of the Spice Girls. I think my brain cells started to commit suicide just so they didn't have to listen anymore. Think "Valley Girls" with English accents. Audrey first commented on them by declaring, "those English girlz are joost so rude!" Now, I've been to Montreal before and found the French-Canadiens a bit, well, short with non-French-Canadiens so for a Frenchie to point out the rudeness of others means we have reached Defcon 4 on the manners scale.

But I digress. I went to bed early, a bit annoyed by the drinking and carrying on and awoke to find a so-so day. I went diving and it was shitty visability so what does my mind wander to? The shark and whale expo from the day before! (Thanks Joan!). I kept wondering what was watching me or if something sinister was out there, but had to control my thoughts or I was sure I would start to panic. It was the first time I was happy to be done with a dive. It was cloudy and rainy so that only added to my feeling of dread. We spent the rest of the day going around the islands in search of some sunshine for some decent snorkeling or time on the islands. Back on board, more people are becoming annoyed with the Spice Girls, but it was clear nobody wanted to start conflict (the girls stated they didn't like getting wet or sand...WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ON A BOAT THEN?) by calling them out on their behavior so we all grabbed our food and again headed to the back of the boat. The weather started to clear and we had a fun night hanging on the deck! It was me, Audrey, two German girls who looked like models Fransiska looked like Heidi Klum and Romy was Brianne Brown's tall modely twin (I tried to hate them, but they were so nice too!), three Argentinian men (as most of you know, there are no words to describe the hotness of Argentinien men), a darling Englishmen named Thomas (who described an almost erotic affection for Nutella and banana), Yolanda from Swizerland and the Guy Who Passed Out Naked in the Toilet. We sat around with 1 or 2 glasses of wine and each learned how to cheers in each others language and exchange pleasantries and just got to know each other better, despite some language barriers. You usually find a common ground with everyone's English so everyone can understand each other, usually by changing the way you phrase something or changing your vocabulary. Charades is almost always involved too! I also got to practice some of my German from high school. See, it pays to stay in school.

The next day we awoke to a gorgeous day and I went for another dive and it was much better. The visibility was better and another cool thing happened on a dive - I got to pet a Napoleon Maori Wrasse! I was almost a meter long and he/she would swim up to us and then show it's belly for a pet. Four of us sat at the bottom and pet it for a few minutes and it was just so freakin' awesome! After the dive, we packed up and sailed back to Airleie Beach and this was sunny and nice, figures. The five of us girls were all heading to Fraser Island next, but with different groups and we were kinda bummed we wouldn't be traveling together to the island as it would have been really fun! Yolanda was kind enough to sneak us into her dorm room so we could all shower before our bus ride so we all felt tons better.



That night I had an over night bus ride. The Spice Girls were on it and I secretly asked God why I was being punished like this. Thankfully I got off at Hervey Bay and was immediately picked up for my 2 day, 1 night tour to beautiful Fraser Island. More on Frasier Island in the next post!

I'm in the surfer's enclave of Noosa and this is what I'm talking about. Good surf, clean, upmarket, nice shops (non of that 'backpacker hippie crap' anymore!) and a relaxed atmosphere. More to follow!