Wednesday, May 21, 2008

sailing + whitsunday islands

may 14, 2008
airlie cove resort
9:00 PM

today was a beautiful day - i sleepily awoke to my favorite michael buble song and prepared for my first sailing experience!

the shuttle to the maxi ragamuffin only lasted about 5 minutes and before i knew it we were boarding the boat.
it seemed a bit small for the 18 of us and the 2 couples who were there when we arrived, especially compared to the large ship from the day before. but our numbers continued to grow until there were about 50 of us on the boat-but somehow we all fit.

i loved sailing! there was enough wind to sail both to and from the whitsunday islands. i loved the vibrant green of the ocean's waves, the wind in my hair and the sun warming my skin. our ride back was an adventure since the waves tossed our vessel a far bit. i found myself on the "low and wet" side of the boat (in comparison to the "high and dry" side) which jon said was representative of my tendency to flirt with danger. =)

i enjoyed snorkeling today, but i think yesterday was my favorite. unlike yesterday though i was dressed in a very attractive, tight, full body stinger suit. the water was more shallow in the areas where we snorkeled but it was still beautiful. because the fish were fed while we were there, i got to be in the midst of swarms of them. one of them even managed to flop around on my back in its excitement to get food.

when we returned from our day of sailing, jodi, amy, reneca and i used some more of our bus passes and explored town while shops were still open unlike our last two nights. amy and i had dessert first-ice cream! we caught the bus back and enjoyed pineapple, toasted sandwiches, chips and hot showers. life always seems to improve when i'm clean and fed.

its hard to believe that our time in this country will soon be finished. i don't think i'm ready to leave-i've fallen a little bit in love with australia.

"what's the difference between a mars bar and a milky way?"
"why that's quite simple, alison. one is a planet, while the other is a vast galaxy." -tyler
today i learned that in australia, a mars bar equals an american milky way, while an australian milky way equals an american 3 musketeers bar. just as reese's peanut butter cups are hard to come by in australia, there seem to be an absence of 3 musketeers bars also.








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