Skipper, Gilligan, and Maryanne too

My sister and I spent a few days living on a sailboat called "The Hammer" and cruising around the Whitsunday Islands. The boat consisted of 22 twenty-something year olds from all over the world ranging from England, Germany, France, Holland, Poland, Israel to Taiwan. It was very intriguing to share everyone’s experiences, backgrounds, cultures and stories. There were such vast differences in everyone and their lifestyles, but we were all sharing a common ground, Australia, this boat, and our desire to travel the world and enjoy this same very moment in life.

Having slept on the boat, we arrived very early on our 2nd day to Whitehaven beach; ahead on the rest of the tourists who sail out to visit this beach later in the day. Our boat dropped us off on the bay side of the island, so we had to take a short hike to the beach. There were a few trails, one in particular leading you to a lookout point. The view from the lookout was spectacular, and everyone was taking picture after picture, and of course I took a few but really Melissa and I were just itching to get to the beach!

The beach was practically empty, and for that short time, it was as if we were on a secluded island with no worries....able to soak up every moment and ounce of its beauty. The sand is almost as white and soft as flour and the water was a beautiful turquoise and as crystal clear as running water from a faucet. The sun beaming down made this magnificent turquoise ocean shine bright against the white beach. I truly believe this was heaven and if this is, I’m okay with leaving this earth tomorrow…

You know the saying. pictures speak 1,000 words, well I think these pictures speak many more then that.

The Whitsunday Islands are on the beginning stretch of the Great Barrier Reef, and I began to understand why this was part of the Seven Wonders of the World… Our next excursion was to travel farther north, to Cairns to see more of the Great Barrier Reef and the Rainforest (or Bush as the Aussie’s refer to it) Stay tuned…