WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS, AUSTRALIA
Another awesome day in the Whitsundays. And it's 4/20! :-)
By morning the sharks had all gone, but we went snorkeling anyway after breakfast and got to meet "Elvis," a four-foot blue-and-green Maori wrasse that lords over this particular bay. Like all Maori wrasses, he's absolutely huge and kind of funny-looking, with a giant bump on his head, and he's curious enough to swim right up to you and let you pet him! He would also swim up to the surface and eat bread out of Matt's hand, although it seemed like a minute later he would always cough up the bread and other fish would eat it. (Maybe that's why he was always being followed around by about a hundred other fish.)
After that, a few of us did one last snorkel at the next bay over, Manta Ray Bay. We didn't see any manta rays, unfortunately, but this location had the nicest reef, with tons of soft and hard corals, lots of fish, and giant clams. The resident Maori wrasse here was "Wally," who like Elvis swam right up to the zodiac to be petted and fed.
We had been staying close to Hook Island because the seas were still a little choppy, but after lunch our crew decided to move on and sail for the largest island in the group, Whitsunday Island. Again, the ride was pretty bumpy and wet, and I got more than a little seasick, but we eventually made it there by sunset. We moored off Whitehaven Beach, probably the most famous destination in the Whitsundays, as it was recently ranked the #3 best beach in the world(!) When we arrived, Andy grilled steaks for dinner, which of course I had been craving since Rockhampton. A sailboat with a grill--you gotta love it!
Another awesome day in the Whitsundays. And it's 4/20! :-)
By morning the sharks had all gone, but we went snorkeling anyway after breakfast and got to meet "Elvis," a four-foot blue-and-green Maori wrasse that lords over this particular bay. Like all Maori wrasses, he's absolutely huge and kind of funny-looking, with a giant bump on his head, and he's curious enough to swim right up to you and let you pet him! He would also swim up to the surface and eat bread out of Matt's hand, although it seemed like a minute later he would always cough up the bread and other fish would eat it. (Maybe that's why he was always being followed around by about a hundred other fish.)
After that, a few of us did one last snorkel at the next bay over, Manta Ray Bay. We didn't see any manta rays, unfortunately, but this location had the nicest reef, with tons of soft and hard corals, lots of fish, and giant clams. The resident Maori wrasse here was "Wally," who like Elvis swam right up to the zodiac to be petted and fed.
We had been staying close to Hook Island because the seas were still a little choppy, but after lunch our crew decided to move on and sail for the largest island in the group, Whitsunday Island. Again, the ride was pretty bumpy and wet, and I got more than a little seasick, but we eventually made it there by sunset. We moored off Whitehaven Beach, probably the most famous destination in the Whitsundays, as it was recently ranked the #3 best beach in the world(!) When we arrived, Andy grilled steaks for dinner, which of course I had been craving since Rockhampton. A sailboat with a grill--you gotta love it!
posted by John Kuge at 9:22 PM
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