The poor skipper had to stay on deck to drive the boat but he did have full waterproofs on. Luckily, we'd remembered our coats so when we arrived at Whitsunday island at around half 7 it didn't bother us too much to venture outside and be brought ashore by the little motor boat. A few of us took cover under trees until the rest of the group were ferried over. Once all on dry land we set off up a path, through the trees, experiencing more of a rainforest than a desert island. About halfway along this path the skipper stopped and invited us all to lick an ants bum. These ants were red with a green inside. The skipper held the ant by the head so it didn't bite us (or him) and touched the bum to our tongues. The reason for this was because it had a sour lime kind of taste. Odd but interesting. Makes you wonder who discovered this though.
Finally at the top of the path we arrived at a view point that looked down onto Whithaven beach and the hill inlet. Even with the grey sky and drizzle this was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It didn't look real. The turquoise water shone between the bright white sand and this continued up between two tree covered hills (the hill inlet). I would advise everyone to try and see this view at some point in their life (or just google it). Maybe it was because I wasn't really expecting it but I was rather blown away. We walked down onto the beach after and enjoyed being barefoot on the sand. We were told it wasn't actually sand but silica which was why it was so white (the whitest beach I've ever seen) and if rubbed on your skin it works as an excellent exfoliant and when rubbed on silver it cleans it beautifully. I tried cleaning my silver, even rubbing the sand on my earrings. I'll be honest, I didn't notice any difference but it was fun to try. After a stroll along the beach (the rain had stopped) we waded thigh deep into the clearest water I have ever seen and looked at some stingrays that seemed to be napping on the ocean floor.
We had a couple of hours on the beach before climbing in the little boat and motoring back to our big boat. As I was in the first ferry back to the big boat I had some time to turtle watch. The bay that we were parked in was a known sea turtle breeding ground so I managed to see three pop their heads up from a distance and then one huge one swam right by the boat, almost parading himself in front of us. Sea turtles are super cute. They may be my favourite animal so I got very excited by all of this.
When we were all back on board we set off for a snorkel spot, having lunch on the move. Lunch was pasta and potato salads with meat pies and coleslaw. It was heaven and I thought my papa would very much enjoy this trip, especially the food. I probably ate too much (we were taking advantage of all the food) so was happy that it would take us a couple of hours to get to the snorkel point. However, just after we'd eaten we stopped as we'd seen some whales! There was a mummy and a baby swimming around, throwing their whole body above the water and then slapping back down, making the biggest splash I've ever seen. They were quite far away from us but they were so big (they were humpback whales) that we could see their outlines very well. You could normally tell when they were about to surface as there would be this great big spray of water into the air which I thought looked like a puff of smoke. I've never seen whales before (or if I have I can't remember) so this was another incredible sight that I won't forget easily.
We all had a little nap on deck after seeing the whales as it was getting a little warmer. Thank goodness it was getting warmer because I didn't fancy getting in the water if the weather had been like this morning. We were told this snorkel spot was a lot better than yesterday but it wasn't the best (we were going to the best after). After being ferried over I jumped in the water and had to swim a bit to warm up. Everyone was saying that the water was warm at 22 degrees but I know that swimming pools are at least 28 degrees and they feel cold! However, it felt warmer than yesterday and the fish here were way cooler. The first hand who was driving the little boat threw some bread into the water right beside me which created a fish frenzy. I was a little scared when dozens of fish swam right at me but it was amazing to have all the tropical fish swimming around me. They didn't seem bothered that we were snorkelling and so swam right along beside us, a huge one even swam right up to Matt and posed for him.
Either we didn't snorkel for very long or the time went super quick. I must have been enjoying myself! Back on the big boat we had a cuppa and warmed up slightly before we arrived at the next place half an hour later. This place was part of a resort (although I saw no resort nearby, it looked like a deserted island) so for years the fish had been fed, meaning there were thousands of them. It was a small bay with a nice enough reef so when we'd been ferried across I was kept entertained with all the lovely fish. Somehow, Matt and I had separated from the group slightly (they were looking for Nemo but we'd seen him in the Philippines) and thank goodness we did. Right down below me as I was swimming was a sea turtle. It wasn't as big as the one we'd seen this morning but it was so close to me I could nearly touch it. I didn't want to scare it so after I'd got Matt's attention we swam along above it and managed to get the most incredible picture. If you're going snorkelling in a beautiful place you should invest in a waterproof camera. Seeing this amazing creature just made this boat trip all the better and it's a moment I will remember forever. Sea turtles are the coolest. Another girl had swam over to us (apparently she was swimming away from a shark) so she got to see the turtle too but I felt special because I was the one that spotted it first.
We must have stayed at that spot for around half an hour before we were back on the boat and enjoying another cuppa with a biscuit. An amazing hawk flew over the boat so the first hand whistled to it for some reason. He then went below deck to get a sausage and came back up to whistle again with the sausage. The hawk came nearer but not too close. Alex, the first hand, through the sausage out to sea and the hawk dived ridiculously quickly, catching the sausage just before the sea. It then flew off with it, probably back to it's nest. I've never seen such amazing wildlife in one day!
Finally dry and changed we all chatted until we anchored not far from a bay and tea was finally ready. Tea for tonight was beef sausages in buns with cheesy onion mash as well as salad and veg and more coleslaw. The mash was super good and once I could no longer eat anymore I had a couple of glasses of wine and chatted some more. The people on the boat really were lovely and I've started to realise that the people are what make these tours better. I went to bed around 10pm, a little sad that the boat trip was almost over.
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