Salty lips and spiritual tips

(FYI: Again, this entry was posted closely on the heels of others, which you may have missed. For those of you wishing to follow along chronologically, you can find them through the Blog Archive menu on the left. Select the month of May and then scroll down through the entries until you find where you left off.)

Okay, next on the docket: the Whitsunday Islands.
Thursday, May 7, Bex and I flew into the Proserpine Airport and hopped on a bus that took us to Airlie Beach. We checked into our cruddy hostel (Koalas - where I could have showered with a frog if he hadn't hopped out of the hole in the window's screen), checked in with Whitsunday Sailing Adventures, and checked out the little beach town for the rest of the afternoon. The forecast wasn't looking good for the next few days - and we ended up seeing very little sun during our time on the water. But there was also very little rain so it wasn't too bad. We met our sailing companions and the crew of Wings 3 (our boat) at 1:00pm the next afternoon as the rain intermittently fell around the covered walkway that was our meeting point. Forms were filled out, briefings were done, and then we were welcomed onboard. After another briefing or two given while we ate our first provided meal, we were finally shown to our assigned sleeping quarters. I gloriously ended up having a double berth to myself (thanks, Bex!), which made up in part for the fact that we were each limited to one 30-second shower a day. No, that's not a typo - a 30 second shower. With 25 people on board for 2 days and 2 nights, there's only so much water they can store. Domestic details out of the way, we were soon on our way, slicing through the water, headed for Luncheon Bay. Slicing and bobbing...and rolling and weaving...the water was quite choppy, with swells larger than my tummy liked. Although it didn't strike me as quickly as many of the others, seasickness finally found its way into my stomach after an hour and a half. We all sat - silent and unmoving - outside the main cabin, near the back of the boat and were quite relieved when we finally arrived at our destination.
People started gearing up in their wetsuits. We were in the Great Barrier Reef, after all, and people were anxious to get in, to dive and snorkel! I knew I'd regret not going, but I wasn't feeling too well thanks to the choppy journey. One of the dive instructors told me that I'd feel much better once I was in the water, but I wasn't convinced. Instead, I compromised. I decided I'd don my wetsuit and get a lift in the dingy to the nearby beach with a couple of other people. I figured solid land would help my stomach settle and if I decided to go for a refreshing swim, I'd be prepared with the wetsuit. The wetsuits are a must anytime you go in the water. Also referred to as stinger suits, they offer protection from jellyfish, whose stings can be fatal. Even the ones that are about the size of a fingernail can cause excruciating pain if not death. And, given my location, you were worried about me encountering sharks! I never saw one shark, thank goodness, but apparently the threat of jellies is much more immediate. Yay for the stinger suits! (Helped prevent sunburn too.)

Anyway, we got dropped off on the beach and I decided almost right away to get into the water. I started swimming around and, with the reef a mere few feet away, I realized how foolish it was not to have brought a mask and snorkel with me. What had I been thinking? But Dave, our captain, was one step ahead of me - he had gone back to the boat and returned with a set for me just as I was regretting my lack of foresight. And oh! The fish! The tropical fish and the colorful corals! I'm sure I was trying to look everywhere at once. It was magnificent, even if the sun wasn't there to light up the reef with its yellow beams! Over the course of the trip, I was able to snorkel all three days and, among many others for which I have no name, I saw multi-hued rainbow fish, deep orange clown fish (Nemo!), chocolate-dipped damselfish, blue-spotted cod, and the backend of a huge maori wrasse named Priscilla. I became one with several schools of black and white striped fish, and had fun interacting with a Christmas Tree worm (I love these little guys!). The first night we anchored in a sheltered cove called Baird Point.

The second day, and our first full day, brought us to the Whitsunday Islands National Park and what we thought was the beautiful and famous Whitehaven Beach. But it didn't quite look like we expected. Rebecca discovered later on that we had actually been just north of it, at a place called Betty's Beach. We snorkeled later that same day at Maureen's Cove, then sailed our way to Blue Pearl Bay which was our second overnight location (as well as our final snorkel and dive site for the following morning). I gave our captain a fright that second night: we had still been motoring along, enroute to Blue Pearl Bay, when I wandered up to the front of the boat to gaze at the stars and dark water. As I stood there, with a firm grip on the rail, it occurred to me that it probably wasn't a good idea to be up there all alone. If I fell overboard no one would notice. So I carefully returned to the back of the boat and to the company of everyone else. What I didn't know was that Dave (the captain) had seen me head up front from his post in the steering room - but didn't see me return. All he knew was that when he next looked out, I was gone. He immediately slowed the boat and had the crew do a passenger count, worried that I HAD gone overboard! Whoops! However, it was very reassuring to know how cautious and observant they were. And to sing their praises even further, the food prepared and served by the cook was great. The evenings were quite enjoyable. Anchored in the water, the motor was shut off: no seasickness. Both evenings we had a dolphin or two gliding through the water near the back of our boat, drawn by the fish that were attracted to the blue underwater light.
We'd be relaxed and happy after our diving/snorkeling adventures. An impressive spread of food would be laid out for us (even by non-dairy, vegetarian standards). And as dessert was served, we would get to see the comically-narrated pictures taken by the crew throughout the day. As we departed the boat that last afternoon (with lips raw from all the salt-water), they had one more surprise for us which I thought was a nice touch - while they would be heading back out to sea within the hour with another group, they had reserved some tables for us at a local bar, complete with drinks and nibblies. Cool, huh?
It was a good trip. I can't say it was as spectacular as we had anticipated, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. And I got to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef!!
We returned to Airlie Beach and checked back into the creepy-crawly Koalas hostel for one more night (it was cheap and I wasn't convinced many of the other hostels in town would be any better). We ended up switching rooms, though, because there were so many things broken in the first room we were assigned. Once in the new room, I thought I spied the head of a snake peering over the ledge of the high bathroom window. I had two of our other dorm-mates take a look and they concurred - it was a snake. They headed out shortly afterwards, while I stayed huddled in my upper bunk reading (I was exhausted and figured I was safe enough up there). Fortunately, they ran into their friend, the only male in our room, and told him he needed to come back and get rid of it. I was still in the room when he returned so I explained where it was. I heard him shuffle up onto the toilet seat for leverage and he came back into the room I was in. With a look of amusement on his face, he wanted to show me the snake. What we had believed to be the head of a snake was actually the back end of a black, smoothly-shaped disposable razor! Laughter and relief - such a great combination, yes? So with the threat of the snake removed, the only remaining problem to deal with was the terrible after-effect of sailing - of trying to get my land-legs back! My inner equilibrium seemed to be shot. My brain and internal organs felt like they were still sloshing and swaying about. I felt somewhat dizzy, somewhat light-headed. It was a weird sensation. I wondered at one point if that's what it felt like to be on drugs. I had some food, and some much needed sleep and was happy the next morning to find that most of the tilting had faded away. But with that morning also came the realization that Bex and I would be parting ways again. I was heading back to the Proserpine Airport that afternoon for my return flight to Sydney while she stuck around, with a plan to do more travelling down the east coast of Queensland.

In a vein similar to our skydiving finale in NZ, albeit much more tame, we decided to go for spiritual readings together. The mini-brochure I saw read "Spiritual Reading / Tarot: Time for a new understanding. Questions & Answers & Future direction." Hmm...we could both use some of that. What can I say? I was cynical but we were curious and figured, why not? I won't share the entire reading with you but, according to my third eye (or sixth) chakra, I apparently need some work on my creative visualization, my spirituality, my belief and experience in the higher senses. And my base (or first) chakra reflected a great fear - of what, I haven't figured out yet. It's supposedly related to my survival/body&health/finances/material things/how easily things come to me. On the plus side, I welcomed her words regarding several other chakras, which she said were "lovely": those involving the health and strength of my relationships and emotions, my communication skills, and my ability to give and receive love. Go me! She also had me pull a Tarot card and an Angel card. The tarot card indicated that I will travel quite a bit (hmmm...), and both cards indicated that there is a Divine Plan for me (again: hmmm...) - something big which, once it happens, will change things very quickly. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

And that brings us to the close of yet another blog entry. Thanks for joining me. Stay tuned for the next episode, when yours truly sets foot once again on Canadian soil. Ta for now!