Kicking Back...

YOU ever seen people that come back from holidays in need of a holiday?

You know the type: they've spent their entire holidays travelling to some exotic destination, researched all the major sites then spent the whole time trekking from sight to sight without relaxing properly, which always seemed to me to be the whole point in going on holidays in the first place.

In honour of this - and some fabulous weather - I am proud to announce that I spent my first couple of days staying at Base Magnetic Island doing pretty much nothing.

Actually, that's only semi-true. I arrived on the Saturday and simply had to get out to watch the Queensland vs Auckland rugby semi-final. The guys on the desk were kind enough to point me to a sports bar about 20 minutes walk away, where the good guys (the Reds) won to set up a fantastic few days.

The next two days were spent basically reading and sleeping. Base Magnetic Island is located right on the beach, so I had the choice of sitting in a hammock and swaying myself to sleep; or grabbing a chair right outside my room and going through the books I'd bought at the Airlie Beach Book Exchange.

Night times were a little more exciting, with a V8 supercar on site Sunday to help promote the Townsville 400 the following weekend. Monday was time for Bar Wars, where teams did everything from a scavenger hunt to tossing water balloons to musical chairs with a difference...

Tuesday I decided to actually get off my bottom and grab a bicycle for the day. There's plenty to see on the rest of the island, including any number of bays and an old World War II fort built to help protect the Townsville shipping industry.

Unfortunately Magnetic Island is a wee bit hilly, meaning that the first part of my trip up to Horseshoe Bay was largely spent pushing the bike up a 14% incline and swearing and cursing that I hadn't hired a scooter instead. About the only things that kept me going were the stunning views around every corner and the knowledge that while 14% is hard to ride up, it's also a lot of fun to ride back down.

One sore bottom and a memory card full of photos later it was time to relax as Will gave us bingo with some bango - a funny way to finish a great stay on Maggie.

A great place for a proper holiday!

Islands To Island...

ONE of my brothers has a saying: "I know boats".

Naturally this comes into conversation at completely random times when he deems it necessary. Whether he actually knows boats, or is just Facebook friends with a boat is unknown, but after four days sailing and one ferry ride, I reckon I know a little bit about boats now!

After all the fun and excitement of sailing the Whitsundays, it was time to reacquaint ourselves with solid ground and see if we could walk without the ground swaying from side to side. It was a sad goodbye at the docks as some people had early buses to catch to destinations north and south.

For me it was time to check in with "Shazza", my trusty steed for this trip. Given she'd been sitting quietly while I was away I decided to take her for a spin out to Shute Harbour, something I can definitely recommend for any photographers out there! Tree-covered islands sitting peacefully in crystal-blue waters as boats blissfully sail past... Heaven!

This was pushing on for mid-afternoon though, so it was back to Base Airlie Beach for a snooze before heading to the Down Under Bar to meet the remaining crew for some food, drinks and dancing. After that it gets a little hazy...

WAKING up with a hangover is never pleasant, especially when you're due to drive 300km that day. After several cups of tea and swearing never to drink again it was time to head north to Townsville, drop the car off and jump on board yet another boat.

The drive up to Townsville passed through some unusual terrain. Given Airlie Beach is pretty much a tropical paradise I'd expected more of the same heading north: rainforests lining the way. What's there instead is a lot of brown plains, the kind you get travelling inland rather than along the tropical coast. Along the way I stopped in at Bowen (and the Big Mango just before the town itself!) and Ayr (birthplace of golfer Karrie Webb), both picturesque towns that had a very chilled vibe on this particular Saturday.

Nothing could detain me for long though, as for only the second time since leaving as a toddler, I was heading into Townsville! Actually, just passing through really, although I did manage to get lost and getting to know South Townsville (my tip: don't do this). Eventually I found my way to the Sunferries terminal to head over to Base Magnetic Island.

On another boat.

My Whitsunday Sailing Adventure...

HIGH winds that never stopped; choppy seas that led to more than a couple of mouthfuls of slightly salty sea-water; occasional rain periods and the ceremonial regurgitation of food off the edge. Sound like fun to you?

Try wiping the smile from my face though!

My trip through the Whitsundays began with a run out to Cannonvale to pick up essential supplies like contact lens solution, sunscreen, and a couple of boxes of goon. Had I half a brain I probably would have picked up some sea-sickness tablets, what with all that wind about and my being so susceptible to motion sickness that I nearly threw up watching The Bourne Ultimatum at the Sony Centre in Berlin one time. But yay, goon!

We met the crew of the Emperors Wings down at the marina, climbed on board and were treated to a lettuce, cheese and ham wrap just to kick things off. After going through the safety with our captain Stu we were introduced to dive masters Pete and Steve and hostess Harriet before setting sail for the Whitsunday Islands.

Even at this early point we could tell we were in for some rough seas. Standing on the front of the boat was always interesting, if only to see which unlucky sod would get drenched by the next wave we crashed through! Most of us got through ok though before arriving at our first dive stop on Hayman Island. A number of punters took the chance to make their very first scuba dives while the rest of us took advantage of the smooth bay to do a spot of snorkelling. Either way, all of us came out comparing what we'd just seen - corals that ranged from miniature "trees" to giant boulders; clownfish that scooted in and around sea anemones; and being completely surrounded by schools of fish, all quite happy to pop in and say g'day to the mysterious wet-suited things floating around their habitats.

Of course the hot tub on the boat made things even better again!

Day 2 saw us pop over to Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island. This beach is regularly voted one of the best in the world, with its 98% silica sand. Most of the group went out and explored a bit while some of us took the chance to enjoy a nice sun-bake...

A few funny photos later and it was back on board for the journey out to our next dive stop. Most people went snorkelling this time, with the hot tub again proving a hit once we'd finished. That night we parked up at Hook Island in preparation for our big day sailing.

And what a day that was too! It took us a few hours through choppy seas to get to the outer reef, where you could see the water breaking over the outer edge of the reef. The diving here was spectacular; the snorkelling much harder work - especially if you float like a brick! A few mouthfuls of water convinced me that the hot tub would be more appropriate...

After a couple of hours it was time to head back to shore for one last night on board. By now most of us had figured out the best way to avoid sea-sickness was to lie down somewhere. This works best though if you can fall asleep for most of it instead of nodding off for 20 minutes. After sitting up the back of the boat for a couple of hours I felt brave enough to grab a party pie, only to find that it didn't want to be digested and had in fact encouraged the banana cake I'd had earlier to join it in a mad dash for freedom!!!

Half an hour later we pulled up into a sheltered bay for dinner, drinks, Mega-Uno (don't ask) and pictionairy - a great way to end a great few days.

Still can't wipe the smile from my face!