Clare man Ciarán O’Connell has left Ireland behind to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime trip backpacking around the world.
This week Ciarán stops off at the Great Barrier Reef for a swim and feels like Hugh Heffner surrounded by swarms of hot ladies.
Dear JOE,
Flying through on week 15, still aware that our passage south was totally blocked by the floods that rocked south east Queensland, myself and my two new buddies, Charlie and Jody kept going slowly, hitting all the hot spots along the way south, in hope the waters would have resided by the time we reached the worst hit areas.
When I left you last week we were just on Mantic Island and it seemed that we were the only tourists there. One night we were the only three people in the hostel and this would be the case for the rest of the week. Every place was quiet due to the flooding, with the majority of travelers coming north from Sydney and getting stuck in Byron bay.
This didn’t stop us having fun and after taking the late bus we arrived in Airlie beach. Here we got a good night sleep for a change before starting on our three-day trip to the bay of Whitsundays.
The reef and bingo
The first day we were brought out 180km out to a one stop shop to see the Great Barrier Reef. Here the company has a presently anchored pontoon and a massive commercial area for all ages and level of diving. It even had a glass bottomed boat and an underwater viewing area so no matter what you could see some bit of the reef.
This was perfect for families and older people which explained the crowd that was there. Nothing compared to our previous experience and we just decided to do some snorkeling and got to swim with a massive, one-metre-long cod.
That evening we were dropped off at the Long Island Lodge which would be our home for two nights. As part of the trip we stayed on the island and chilled for the day. The highlight being feeding the fish and wait for it, BINGO!!
The night time was made even drearier by the lack of people at this resort which normally catered for hundreds, but now consisted of four families, a few couples and the three of us. I was only delighted to spend the next day enjoying free food and drink on a catamaran boat.
In the morning, after the joys of trying to fit in to the skin tight stinger suits (a massive danger in these waters) we did a bit more snorkeling where the crew threw food around us while we swam in the water and the fish swarmed in at a frenzied pace. That was pretty cool.
Grrrr
We headed around the many little islands that make up the Whitsunday’s and headed for the highlight of the trip, Whitehaven beach. This is a magical little spot of light blue sea lapping up against a 10km strip of the softest, finest, whitest sand you would ever see. It was one of the best, if not the best beach I have ever been on. Hopping back onboard, we finished the tour of the islands.
Shots in tea pots
We landed back in Ariel beach and headed out for a few drinks. Here, avoiding the infrequent down pours and a slightly few more people we discovered the new way of serving cocktail shots in tea pots! Yes you read correctly, the tiny silver pot were a novel idea and where else to be found but in the only Irish bar in the town.
The next day, slightly worse for ware we took the night bus south to Harvey bay in the hope to get a cheap tour (due to the lack of people) out to Fraser island, the second biggest island off Australia and consisting solely of sand. However, no matter what they stuck to their prices.
We had planned to do a three hour tour on a tag along self drive tour of the island (a tag along self drive is where you dive a 4×4 yourself but you have a guide in the jeep with you) This had come in to law only recently due to the vast number of accidents and deaths that were happening due to the stupid travelers thinking they knew how to master the dunes or even drive on sand for that matter.
Luckily for us, in the end, the trip was cancelled at the last minute and after a panicked rush to get a new one, we joined a crew of 11 doing a 4X4 guided bus tour of the island. So on the first day, as we cruised the bay on the 45 min trip to the island we got to see the first sign of the floods as the water was a really tick dirty brown colour.
After we landed and boarded our massive 4×4 bus and hit the 180km beach , you could see the effects more clearly, as the waves crashed on the beach making foam every time. Also we came across some debris, the worst being a massive floating buoy and the strangest being a computer screen still intact, but full of mussels.
It’s so hard to describe this island. It’s amazing, full of colour, wildlife, sand and not one bit of soil. We got to see it all from Lake McKenzie, Indian head to the massive sand split in the middle island too. The most picturesque was a sunken shipwreck which when the tide goes out you can walk up and around it.
Finally, to top the week off, I felt like Hugh Heffner as the backpacker lodge we were staying in had 20 guests and guess what, I was the only male in the whole place. The down side was the majority of the lovely ladies all had boyfriends. This is another aspect I could not get over, down the whole east coast; the amount of ladies travelling was massive and surpassed lads at least four to one. However 98pc of them having boyfriends, just goes to show how trusting lads are to let their girlfriends off on a trip.
Well I think that is about it for this week, bar the massive game of flip cup we played but I’ll tell you about that again. Next week I’ll keep heading South, down the East coast and experience “Aussie day”. I must keep going now.
See you soon kid.
Ciarán O Connell
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