Mutiny on the Magic

Happy Easter!
Hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing time off with beautiful weather and chocolate. I know we did!

This weekend was our long awaited trip to the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands. For Easter, Paul got Friday and Monday off, so it was an extended vacation, which is why I did not update on our Monday. This was one of our favourite vacations yet!

Thursday: We left for the Sydney airport at 5:30 AM (I hate early mornings!) and arrived in Macay, Queensland airport at 12 PM. From there, we took a Greyhound to Airlie Beach, where we were to pick up our cruise ship. We stayed in a hostel-like place but had a private room. Then, Paul and I decided to go on a little hike through a rainforest! It isn't nearly as exciting as you would think...rainforests are hot and humid. Plus, the one we went to was hit by the cyclone that came through a couple weeks ago. The destruction of that cyclone effected everything, including the part of the reef we visited. After our hike, we bought some food from the grocery store and proceeded to cook..without help of any pans or utensils...we apparently had to rent that separately. Either way, our meal of chicken kebabs, croissants and corn on the cob was satisfying enough...even if it was all cooked on a hot plate :)

Friday, we met up with our friends Sarah and Chris and boarded the Whitsunday Magic! This isn't a regular cruise ship in the sense of large, white boat with loads of other people. In fact, picture a pirate ship. That's what it looked like! It was so unique and we only had 30 people aboard. Paul and I loved it, especially the food. Our chef, Dan, made some amazing food. I really liked that we made new friends and that the experience was much more intimate.

On this day, we also were prepped for our introductory scuba dive by our instructor, Thierry, the most hilarious Frenchman ever. He made us feel so comfortable, despite all our fears of killer jellyfish and unexpected surprises that may arise during the dive. It is disconcerting when you see warning signs everywhere on the coast telling you not to go into the water or you'll get stung. And what to do if you get stung. Also that they supply vinegar on the beach...really disconcerting. But apparently there are very few times people go to the hospital for stings so said our Aussie friend Prue who works at a hospital. Good.

Anyway, back to our adventures, our bathroom was so tiny! Our shower was the toilet and sink.
Our Friday was spent relaxing and enjoying the wonderful, clear weather on the high seas!

Saturday: SCUBA DIVING!! Our morning started really early when the captain (Paul) started the engine at 5 AM..ugh. However, the voyage was rough going and my Paul started getting a little woozy. I myself was not affected and tried to sleep longer, but I had to go hear about our scuba diving experience. We made it out to Bait Reef, on the outer part of the reef. Paul and I were the last and only couple in our group, so it was really nice to have the personal attention on our first dive. So, while we waited, we snorkeled on the surface. I have never seen such awesome coral and such beautiful fish! My favourite fish was the parrot fish...it looks like it got stuck in the 80s with hyper colors! We also saw starfish and
A SHARK!!!! I saw the big shark, Paul saw the little shark, but it was really cool to be following one and at such a close proximity! Sarah and Chris had a digital underwater camera so, we will definitely post them once we get them from our dear friends.

After our fabulous diving experience, we had a relaxing day, which included a glorious nap and another dive, but with not so many exciting fish like the first time.

That night, we stayed outside and found some squid in the water...and then dolphins chasing them! Something about watching dolphins brings out the kid in everyone because the sounds our boat was making in awe of these creatures was hilarious. After a nice look at the stars, Paul and I went off to our night in Hades...

Apparently, the Germans/elderly couples were complaining about the noise of the air conditioner and so one of the newer crew members turned it off...which also turned off the A/C in our room. It felt like 100 degrees and I could not have been angrier at 2AM. We were roasting and then, I got so disgruntled that I took my pillow and went up on the deck to chill out in the open air. And I would've stayed there too if Paul didn't say how uncomfortable it was on the deck chairs. Should've brought my blankets to cushion! Back in the depths of despair, Paul left our door open so that some breeze could make it down, but it still felt quite miserable and we slept very little. I don't wake up happily and couple that with lack of sleep, you get a very aggressive Rachel. Sarah and Chris made it a point to not say too much to me.
At least our captain made it up to us with free chocolate bunnies! Excellent!

Sunday: This day, we went to Whitehaven Beach, which has the purest sand in all the world. It's so pure that they use it to make the lens for the Hubble Telescope. Very cool. That's where a lot of our neat photos came from. Hill's Inlet which is right there is where all the swirly sand pictures were taken and it was gorgeous! We didn't like the intermittent rain, especially the deluge when we were traveling from the ship to the shore. Oh well! On the way we at least saw a sea turtle. He was huge! It was a pleasant day, especially after a good air conditioned nap.
Monday: Our last day on the boat! We were all very sad to see it end. We did a touch more snorkeling and found a starfish and a huge clam. We also trekked through a rainforest, but didn't see anything too wild. Turkeys are populous here. At 1 PM we disembarked sadly and made our way back to Sydney. It was so sad to see it end,
but it was amazing while it lasted.

Our next couple of weekends are not the most interesting, but who knows? We could always spontaneously go somewhere so keep checking up on us. Our next really big trip is Tasmania!!!!!!

So sad, but now I have to start thinking about our move back to the States. Hopefully, everything will work out for us in terms of finding a place to live and me getting a job! EEK! So, keep us in your thoughts, especially in June. Anyway, let us know what is new with you. Cheers.

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