My Bikini Vacation - The Synopsis
Okay, I'm finally back and in the land of the living. Although the land of living has a sore throat and a stuffy nose, but I can at least keep my eyes open for more than 10 minutes now......
So, I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but a friend from back home came out to visit/have a whirlwind vacation in Australia and I tagged along up to Airlie Beach (one of my favourite holiday spots in Oz) for FIVE full days. Count em: FIVE! And funnily enough, they all seemed to inspire me to sing various songs (okay - except for Day 1....
Day 1 - aka Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Perhaps I should add ferries to that list seeing as that was the first mode of transportation I missed....
It was all about timing last Saturday. I needed to check in at the domestic terminal before catching the shuttle over to the international terminal to meet my friend, then shuttle back to the domestic terminal to get her checked in - all within a very short time frame.
The night before I had it all planned out - catch the 9:15 jetcat, catch the 9:35 train - be at the airport and checked in by 10 am - half an hour before my friend's plan even landed! So much time.
Well, it would have been had I read the ferry schedule right. Apparently 9:15 was the time the jetcat was to arrive at Circular Quay - not leave for it. Sigh. So had to catch the 9:30 ferry, which meant I didn't get to the trains until 10, then the train was delayed - so didn't get to the domestic terminal until 11am, an hour later than scheduled....
So, I was stressing - not a good start to the vacation. I should never try to schedule.... it doesn't make me anymore on time and only makes me anxious. When I finally got to the international terminal - she was all ready there (and laughing because she knew I'd be late), but thankfully I built in cushion time.
But it was all worth, because by the end of the day we had worn shorts, we had caught some rays and we had topped it all off with a drink in the pub.
Great start.
Day 2 - On the Road Again
Okay - the responsibility for finding a place to stay was mine. Hmmmm, maybe it shouldn't have been. Not to worry though - it all worked out for the best - we moved to a new place (swankier and closer to the heart of Airlie) AND we got it at the standby rate - meaning that we paid about half of what we would have, had we booked before we went.
All good.
Spent the rest of the day doing touristy type stuff: browsing through shops, lounging by the pool and having a few drinks at the pub. We even managed to catch up with someone I used to work with who is now an Airlie local.
Nice caz day. Perfect.
Day 3 - A 3 Hour Tour
One of the best things about Airlie Beach is that there's wonderful sailing among the Whitsunday Islands, there's Whitehaven Beach - one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and there's plenty of snorkeling and/or diving off the Great Barrier Reef. So although neither my friend or I dive, I was all up for visiting beautiful Whitehaven and also doing a little snorkelling, so we booked ourselves into a one-day sail trip.
I haven't chosen the Gilligan's Island theme song for no reason.....
The boat was called the Camira - and I gotta tell you - the picture of Camira 'blowing like the wind' on the main sail looked more like he was 'blowing chunks'... Perhaps the first omen that all was not going to go right that day?
And perhaps the second omen was that the boat was purple. Yes I said purple. An unbelievably ugly purple.
But it was a beautiful day - a little chilly to start off with , but not a cloud in the sky. The crew were nice, brekkie was good and the wind was setting up to be a great day for sailing.
The main sail was put up and things were going swimmingly. A second sail was put up (I'd tell you what it was called, but seeing as I've no sailing experience, I have NO idea what the second sail is called...) and we really started to fly. The boat was a catamaran that had nets up front that you could sit on, so as we were going through the waves, some people sat on the nets for the rollercoaster ride. I sat up front but stayed off the nets. Good choice seeing as the people on the nets got drenched... all in good fun until this sound:
Crack.
And from where I was sitting, I could see a huge purple board fly away under the nets. Then this sound:
Crack.
Finally the crew cracked on (sorry - couldn't help myself) and they dropped the sails as quick as they could.
It was done. And while they were trying to make it seaworthy enough to get us back into shore, they punctured the $95,000 dinghy life boat.
Can anyone say 'ooops'?
Oh, and did I happen to mention that the huge ugly purple boat was worth $4million and had only been launched 4 months ago?
Good one.
Well - in the end - we spent the day out on a boat in beautiful weather, but alas, no snorkelling and no beach so we got our money back. So we tried again...
Day 4 - It's Raining Again
You remember the Supertramp song don't you?
We made Whitehaven beach this time. Just this time we had to go through a major storm to get there...
But sailing the Whitsundays is wonderful even in the rain! Our crew were super friendly - telling bad jokes - so it made the day.
Day 4 - Part 2 - This Must Be Love
Okay - I'm really reaching back for these songs - I must have been regressing while I was away... Anyway, think Phil Collins.....
Although we went to the pub every night - it wasn't until our last night there that we met anyone of interest. (Or should I say, anyone over 22.... same thing really....)
And just so there's no confusion - the love is not coming from me... but having said that - I do have a date tomorrow night. Me! A date! First time for everything....
Day 5 - Eight Days a Week
Really should be 25 hours in a day but I couldn't get Eight Days a Week out of my head, so I went with it...
In at 3:30, up at 6:30, breakfast, beach, and flight home. Got in at midnight. Where did the day go??????
So that's my bikini vacation in a nutshell (pretty big nutshell - sorry about that....). And I didn't even ruin it with all the cookies and chocolate I ate the week beforehand as I mentioned here earlier
So, I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but a friend from back home came out to visit/have a whirlwind vacation in Australia and I tagged along up to Airlie Beach (one of my favourite holiday spots in Oz) for FIVE full days. Count em: FIVE! And funnily enough, they all seemed to inspire me to sing various songs (okay - except for Day 1....
Day 1 - aka Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Perhaps I should add ferries to that list seeing as that was the first mode of transportation I missed....
It was all about timing last Saturday. I needed to check in at the domestic terminal before catching the shuttle over to the international terminal to meet my friend, then shuttle back to the domestic terminal to get her checked in - all within a very short time frame.
The night before I had it all planned out - catch the 9:15 jetcat, catch the 9:35 train - be at the airport and checked in by 10 am - half an hour before my friend's plan even landed! So much time.
Well, it would have been had I read the ferry schedule right. Apparently 9:15 was the time the jetcat was to arrive at Circular Quay - not leave for it. Sigh. So had to catch the 9:30 ferry, which meant I didn't get to the trains until 10, then the train was delayed - so didn't get to the domestic terminal until 11am, an hour later than scheduled....
So, I was stressing - not a good start to the vacation. I should never try to schedule.... it doesn't make me anymore on time and only makes me anxious. When I finally got to the international terminal - she was all ready there (and laughing because she knew I'd be late), but thankfully I built in cushion time.
But it was all worth, because by the end of the day we had worn shorts, we had caught some rays and we had topped it all off with a drink in the pub.
Great start.
Day 2 - On the Road Again
Okay - the responsibility for finding a place to stay was mine. Hmmmm, maybe it shouldn't have been. Not to worry though - it all worked out for the best - we moved to a new place (swankier and closer to the heart of Airlie) AND we got it at the standby rate - meaning that we paid about half of what we would have, had we booked before we went.
All good.
Spent the rest of the day doing touristy type stuff: browsing through shops, lounging by the pool and having a few drinks at the pub. We even managed to catch up with someone I used to work with who is now an Airlie local.
Nice caz day. Perfect.
Day 3 - A 3 Hour Tour
One of the best things about Airlie Beach is that there's wonderful sailing among the Whitsunday Islands, there's Whitehaven Beach - one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and there's plenty of snorkeling and/or diving off the Great Barrier Reef. So although neither my friend or I dive, I was all up for visiting beautiful Whitehaven and also doing a little snorkelling, so we booked ourselves into a one-day sail trip.
I haven't chosen the Gilligan's Island theme song for no reason.....
The boat was called the Camira - and I gotta tell you - the picture of Camira 'blowing like the wind' on the main sail looked more like he was 'blowing chunks'... Perhaps the first omen that all was not going to go right that day?
And perhaps the second omen was that the boat was purple. Yes I said purple. An unbelievably ugly purple.
But it was a beautiful day - a little chilly to start off with , but not a cloud in the sky. The crew were nice, brekkie was good and the wind was setting up to be a great day for sailing.
The main sail was put up and things were going swimmingly. A second sail was put up (I'd tell you what it was called, but seeing as I've no sailing experience, I have NO idea what the second sail is called...) and we really started to fly. The boat was a catamaran that had nets up front that you could sit on, so as we were going through the waves, some people sat on the nets for the rollercoaster ride. I sat up front but stayed off the nets. Good choice seeing as the people on the nets got drenched... all in good fun until this sound:
Crack.
And from where I was sitting, I could see a huge purple board fly away under the nets. Then this sound:
Crack.
Finally the crew cracked on (sorry - couldn't help myself) and they dropped the sails as quick as they could.
It was done. And while they were trying to make it seaworthy enough to get us back into shore, they punctured the $95,000 dinghy life boat.
Can anyone say 'ooops'?
Oh, and did I happen to mention that the huge ugly purple boat was worth $4million and had only been launched 4 months ago?
Good one.
Well - in the end - we spent the day out on a boat in beautiful weather, but alas, no snorkelling and no beach so we got our money back. So we tried again...
Day 4 - It's Raining Again
You remember the Supertramp song don't you?
We made Whitehaven beach this time. Just this time we had to go through a major storm to get there...
But sailing the Whitsundays is wonderful even in the rain! Our crew were super friendly - telling bad jokes - so it made the day.
Day 4 - Part 2 - This Must Be Love
Okay - I'm really reaching back for these songs - I must have been regressing while I was away... Anyway, think Phil Collins.....
Although we went to the pub every night - it wasn't until our last night there that we met anyone of interest. (Or should I say, anyone over 22.... same thing really....)
And just so there's no confusion - the love is not coming from me... but having said that - I do have a date tomorrow night. Me! A date! First time for everything....
Day 5 - Eight Days a Week
Really should be 25 hours in a day but I couldn't get Eight Days a Week out of my head, so I went with it...
In at 3:30, up at 6:30, breakfast, beach, and flight home. Got in at midnight. Where did the day go??????
So that's my bikini vacation in a nutshell (pretty big nutshell - sorry about that....). And I didn't even ruin it with all the cookies and chocolate I ate the week beforehand as I mentioned here earlier
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6:37 PM
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