Posts
The Solway Lass and the Whitsundays Islands
The ship named in Scotland, was built in 1902 and has endured a rough history and being sunk and raised - twice, being used, lost and won back in both world wars and being sailed in oceans all over the world. In 1984 she was sailed to Sydney and rebuilt over the course of 2 years. it was eventually in 1999 she became an overnight charter ship in the Whitsundays area.
On board the Solway Lass... ARRRRR!
Most of the day was spent in a park waiting for the time to come to board the ship. here i got some pictures of cockerteals and met Solomano from Switzerland. Our standard issue green eco bags for our luggage made us stand out in the park.
Map
View Larger Map
Where Does the Ocean Go?
It was dark when we all boarded the ship with our army of green bags. We quickly set sail. - I say 'set sail' but we didn't actually get a chance to raise the sails until the last day due to the weather being so awesome and hot and calm over the three days!
That night we had pumpkin soup as a supper and watched as the Milky Way asserted itself in the night sky. Never seen it so clearly. We sailed for 3 hours before reaching White haven beach on Whitsunday Island. We arrived at 11:30ish pm. But of course we couldn't see it!
The bunks were surprisingly comfortable and the gentle swaying of the ship lulled me into a deep sleep for a good solid 8 hours.
White Haven Beach
The view from on the deck once we awoke was unbelievable. We all grabbed our snorkeling gear, frizbees and headed to the pristine white beach. - Picture perfect... The white Silica sand was fine quarts that had been spewed out of a fisher in the Earths crust near Whitsunday Island. Polished my Silver St. Christopher with the sand. The snorkeling was excellent. Third time lucky. Previous snorkeling experiences hadn't been too enjoyable. A tornado that had been along Australia's east coast several weeks ago had made the visibility in the water crap for the past few excursions the Solway had done, but we were in luck. The water had settled and I saw a new fish and coral every other minute.
Click here for Types of Coral
Click here for Animals of Great Barrier Reef
The beach was 7.5 km long. Me and Kelsey went for a quick walk to see if we could spot any familiar faces from the parties that were starting to land on the beach from other ships... the beach was more than big enough for us all. Kelsey was the first American I've properly met on my travels. She studied Marine Biology and had previously worked in Florida. But was from DC. A place I must visit and a face I must see again. :c)
We fitted in playing with our cameras and then a tug of war (Dudes vs. Dolls... We were grossly out numbered) before returning to The Solway for a fresh salad lunch and laughs provided by the very entertaining rope swing. I took this opportunity to jump into the hammock-like net on the front of the ship. This was with no doubt my favorite spot to mooch.
Shine on you crazy Diamond!
After lunch we set sail for Hayman Island - The most northern islands of the whitsundays islands. As we aproached the island i jumped at the oportunity to stear the ship for a good half an hour. loved it! Captain Tim took the welcome break to blast out some Pink Floyd music. As we approached the tip of the island a pod of whales passed the ship.
We dropped anchor in Blue Pearl Bay for the evening and once again the rope swing provieded entertainment for all ages! Me and Kelsey sat in silence as the vibrant colours of the sunset filled the evening sky. With no land and few clouds this was by far the most amazing sunset I have ever seen... beyond words....
later that evening we were visited by two dolphins which playfully swam around the ship as the evening grew darker.
Out of the Dark and Into the Light when the Morning Comes
Once again we awoke to the amazing clear turquize waters which surrounded us and an island with pure sandy beaches in the distance. Todays excursion was to a coral beach for snorkeling ona 'fringe reef coral'. Once again this was excellent. Here some people went diving too, but i've got to keep an eye on that budget!
After we'd all returned to the ship the crew moved the ship 30 minutes around the island to 'Black Island' which had a beach we once again littered with our green eco-bags. from here once again we watched as the sun set behind our favorite tall ship of unparalled adventure. We returned to the ship for our last evening.. :c(
Melting Moon
It was a feast of roast beef and veg for dinner. The chef (Maxie) had prepared us some top quality meals and snacks throughout the journey. It was also her last voyage... so theres a chef job going.. This got my mind racing. Once dinner was devoured it was once again back into the net at the front of the ship to watch as the stars put on their show. We waited as the moon slowly slid down towards the watery horizon. As it did so it became an intense orange colour. It looked as if the moon was melting as it apeared to come into contact with the ocean. Twilighty! This was an awesome evening of good champagne, good company, acoustic music and twilighty tricks.
Sandy Spit
The last day we spent on a sandy spit which stretched from an island. We did more snorkeling here, for the last time. This was the clearest snorkel yet. We were on the look out for turtles, but none were spotted.
We returned to the Solway for the last time and I finally got my turn on the rope swing. Good fun! We raised the sails and set course back to Abel point marina on Airlie beach.
Rope swing... My one-handed attempt was better.
Saying goodbye to people you quickly grow close to and get to know when travelling seems harder and sadder in someways than most goodbyes because of the likely outcome that you'll never see them again.. I know i will almost definately get to see my family and friends at home again.
Bless Facebook eh?!?!??! :c)
Links to photo albums below. click on photo to go to next
Solway Lass Photo album 1
Solway Las Photo album 2
If you ever get the chance to do this trip... Do it!
No comments:
Post a Comment