Ahoy from blogland!

And a hearty g’day from Brizzy, the second stop on the Farewell Tour! I must say, things have gone swimmingly (pun mildly intended) since my last update from the seventh rung of traveler’s hell. I can account this mostly to the fact that I spent three full days sailing the Whitsunday Islands, but you know how it goes. Allow me to elaborate.

Saturday morning marked the beginning of my three days of buccaneering. Woke up on the earlier side, packed my bags, and headed down to the travel place to drop off my suitcase. Made my way back to Koalas from there, picked up the rest of my gear, czeched out, and wandered down to the marina. I ended up getting there about a half hour early… after previous travels, I’ve now become overly wary about when I’m due to be somewhere… and spent my time at the bottleshop picking up a cheap bottle of coconut rum (hey, it was a pirate cruise) and eagerly awaiting boarding the ship. We were met by the captain sometime around 9:3o, and escorted to the Pegasus, our new home for the next three days. After a brief debriefing, we were put in our cabins. Now, whatever image you may have of a “cabin”… divide that by ten, and that’s what I was staying in. My bed was half the size of a normal single, and there would be no standing of more than one person at one time in the ‘room’. A closet would’ve been more spacious. I’m not complaining, though, just describing. Being below deck wasn’t really my thing. So after dropping off my stuff, I headed back up top and proceeded to contemplate what, exactly, I was going to do with myself for the remaining 72-odd hours. I quickly found the best option was to lay on the deck and put some serious work into my tan, interspersed with a bit of reading here and there. Relaxation was key, and I think I achieved it pretty well.

Our very first mission as Pegasus Pirates was the royal salute. Dale, our skipper, gave us our duties as he saw an approaching ship. Now what, pray tell, is a royal salute? Well, for the boys, it’s the bums, for the girls, it’s the boobs, and for the crew, well, it was full frontal male nudity. Needless to say, I was a bit taken aback when I turned around and saw the captain’s full-on wedding tackle. Nine kinds of hilarious, this I promise. I mean, picture it, a 23 passenger pirate ship flashing/mooning an oncoming ship of unsuspecting tourists. That’ll teach ‘em to mess with the pirates! Not that there was any real messing to begin with, but that’s beside the point. All in the piratey spirit, and certainly a grand kick off to the trip.

Our first stop was a snorkel about two-ish hours out into the Whitsundays. We were given lunch, then stinger suits, snorkels, masks, and fins, and were dropped off in a gorgeous little reef just off a sand bar in the middle of the ocean. I saw another sea turtle, as well as heaps of other fish, big and small, and all sorts of coral. The Great Barrier Reef really is spectacular; I highly recommend seeing it for yourself if you have the means. After tiring of swimming, I snorkeled my way to the sand bar, did a bit of lounging, and walked to one of the islands from the sand bar. So cool. Swam back to the boat afterwards, and became quite engrossed in lounging and reading my newest book ‘The Toyminator’… hilarious. As the sun started to set and we continued cruising about, things started to get a bit more piratey. First to go were the two English boys, Max and Mase, who emerged from the hull with hats, eye patches, swords, even a parrot, and, of course, a bag of goon to top it all off. From there, pretty much everyone started getting piratey and drunk. A substantial portion of the boat was drunk before dinner. I decided to bide my time (and my rum), and only smack the goon a few times among the sipping of my own drink. I did, however, get piratey. Surprise, surprise. I still had on my pirate bikini and black shorts, and put on my black hat, grabbed a sword, and was given a pretty intense skull and crossbones by Mike, as well as two war marks under my eyes. I’d like to think I made a pretty good pirate. After a decent amount of pirate partying had gone down on the ship, the skipper (who, in retrospect, I probably should have asked to marry me… he was Australian, 1o+ years older than me, a ship’s captain, a pirate, and a lover of Frank Sinatra) informed us that we’d be invading a local island. So, donned in our best pirate getups, all 23 Pegasus Pirates were shuttled to land, where we went on a shoeless (pirates don’t wear shoes) bushwalk to some random eco-resort in the middle of the Whitsundays. We proceeded to cause major havoc (as pirates do) and generally harass the poor people staying at the resort. Highlights of our evening on land include (but are not limited to): the skipper’s dugong impressions, which basically consisted of him assaulting me and two other girls, smash-o ++, failed thumper attempts, the goon gun, varied stories, and generally befriending the study abroad kids from UNSW. Despite being the only sober one of the crew (a decision I was later very, very happy I made), I still had a blast. When we got back onto the boat, we partied a bit more, but I was beyond exhausted, so I grabbed my hoodie and laid on deck watching the stars for a good hour and a half before retiring to my cabin and abruptly passing out. All in all, a very successful first day aboard the Pegasus.

Day two was off to an early start. We were awoken a bit after seven for brekky, and on our way for a second day of sailing shortly thereafter. I made the terrible mistake of attempting to shower pretty much as soon as we hit the rough seas area. Combined with the one minute shower restriction and the fact that I had a day’s worth of sea salt and pirate paint all over me, this made for both the best and worst shower of my life. Changing in the cabin resulted in a bit of queasiness, but it didn’t last for too long. Nowhere near as bad as some of the poor souls who had those awful goon hangovers. Not drinking, although it made me slightly less of a true pirate, was definitely a good idea.

We cruised for a while, with our second destination being the famed Whitehaven Beach. Facing scattered storms, I wasn’t sure how everything would pan out, but it ended up being an excellent trip. Shortly after lunch, we jumped on the dingy and were taken to shore. I went on a kilometer-long bushwalk to get to the top of the hill to the lookout, did a bit of climbing on things that shouldn’t be climbed, and of course, took some photos. I picked up two of the German girls amidst my walking, and we wandered down to the beach together. Even though the weather wasn’t the best, Whitehaven was still absolutely gorgeous. The sand was so white, and so, so soft. It was amazing. I split my time on the beach between taking pictures, climbing some more rocks, lounging in the sand, and wading in the crystal clear waters. Spectacular… one of those places where the pictures don’t do it justice, and all you can do is just sit on the beach and think ‘wow’. After about an hour and a half on the beach, we made our way back to the boat, where more deck relaxation and reading took place. There’s something about cruising on the ocean, the combination of the sun and the breeze, with the occasional sea splash… there’s nothing quite like it.

Another snorkel session commenced after a short cruise; not as good as the first one, but still quite amazing. I chased quite a few fish, dove through a cavern-like structure once or twice, and had a fun little dip in the drink. Like before, I spent some time lounging on land after thoroughly paroozing the reef, this time climbing a decent-sized rock (which did a number on my feet) and almost falling asleep in the warm Queensland sun. After swimming back to the boat, more lounging commenced before and after my second (and arguably more successful) shower, and dinner. The food on the Pegasus was surprisingly awesome. I was definitely happy about that aspect of the trip. The evening was one of the more spectacular ones I’ve ever had, both in Australia and anywhere else. I gave myself permission to hook my iPod up to the boat’s speakers, and spent the evening talking with my new friends, jamming to my favorite tunes, attempting to catch sharks, hanging the poor legless pirate, and cruising along the Whitsunday Islands while occasionally sipping rum. The best part had to be when the skipper put on Frank, and I had a combination of four of my most favorite things in the whole world—being on a boat, the Rat Pack, pirates, and Australia. It was absolutely amazing. After another long day at sea, I fell asleep under the stars with my pillow and blanket, lounging on the deck with the American and British kids. It was fantastic, and well worth the bug bites I now have from it. Ahh, to live the permanent life of a pirate. I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Our third and final day at sea wasn’t as much of a day at sea as the previous two had been. We did some more cruising, and I did some more lounging, but we spent a good part of the day on South Molle Island, one of the 74 Whitsunday Islands. I think I made it onto four of the islands? Sure. The day was spent mostly lounging in and beside the pool, and playing Frisbee/volleyball with my new buddies. Towards the end of our stay, I opted to get a $5 virgin daiquiri and sip it beachside. This, my friends, is how you live the proverbial life. I know I enjoyed myself. We reboarded the Pegasus sometime around three (honestly, I’d lost all track of time during the three day trek) and, sadly, made our way back to the main land. The weather had started to get a bit inclement, but aside from brief showers and looming clouds ahead, we had good weather for 9o% of the trip. However, as soon as we pulled in to the marina and the skipper shut off the motor, the skies opened up. After bidding the crew and my new friends adieu, I waited out the storm undercover, then walked back into town to collect my bags. Another ten minute walk landed me at my hostel, where I showered, assessed various burns (I’m actually not all that bad, considering the fact that I was out at sea for three days), and chatted with my English roomies. I barely made it through the series finale of Californication (honestly, not all that great, considering how fond I am of the series) before falling asleep.

Writing off today as mostly travel, I got up on the earlier side, called Sam to say happy birthday, gathered my things, and hung out in the very chill Backpackers by the Bay for the morning, awaiting the bus to the airport. I just barely made the shuttle bus to the airport, where I was surprised to see Sam, one of the guys from the Pegasus, taking the same flight as me. Chatting with him definitely helped pass the time, and before I knew it, I was here in Brisbane. No lost luggage this time around, thankfully. I hopped the airtran into the city, accidentally got off a stop early and thus had to walk quite a ways, but found Tin Billy without too much difficulty. Czeched in, dropped off my stuff, had a bit of an evening stroll about Brizzy, and booked my events for the next three days. Tomorrow I’m jumping out of a plane from 14,ooo feet over Byron Bay. And, of course, Thursday is the one and only inaugural Steve Irwin Day at the Australia Zoo. Yes, as if my travels have not been insane enough already, this is what I have to look forward to. Ahh, I love my life.

As for the rest of the evening, I just had dinner, and Rach is somewhere… apparently at the cinema, maybe, so I suppose I’m on my own for the time being. Perhaps we’ll rendezvous later to swap stories and get some dessert, in true Rachel and Kirstin form. That’s all from me for now, so until next time, later days travelers!

+K+