Whitsunday Adventure Day 6 - we are family

It’s the final day, and while I miss my family, and can’t wait to see them, it has been easy to adapt to a different life, and I’ve become accustomed to my sailing digs and my fellow travellers.

I’ve never done a group activity like this before, with people I didn’t know.  I would usually travel with friends, or more often than not, solo, and not in a group.  I was never a Contiki kind of gal, and went into this with some trepidation.  As someone who doesn’t mind their own company, and finds social interaction exhausting, this was something of a challenge for me.  Travelling with my friend Rachel eases that challenge somewhat, as she often acts as a buffer for me.

We met most people prior to departure as we all sat at the meeting point at the marina.  The first person we met was Diane from the Gold Coast, who was travelling with her friend Jan-Maree.  Next were 3 friends who worked together about 30 years prior in Canberra, but who now lived in Arana Hills (Qld), Albury (NSW) and Noosa (Qld) - Anne, Natalie and Mette.  Then a group of 5 from Ballarat - husband and wife, Steve and Pauline, Steve’s sister Kerryn, their sister-in-law Leanne and Kerryn’s workmate, Bernie.  A couple from the Gold Coast, Carla and Greg, friends from Melbourne Christine and Julie and finally Monique from Jervis Bay in NSW.  

As always, I found myself on holiday with the profession I am surrounded by every day!  There were 3 nurses on the ship, a pharmacist, a dental hygienist, other government agencies and a number of very happy retirees.  I was blown away by how friendly people were, and how well we all got along - there was no bickering, everyone got along, and I couldn’t single out a single person to send to the brig, although that may be because I was the one that they wanted to push overboard - who knows!

Everyone was so generous sharing their stories, listening to others’ stories, and we found ourselves sitting with different people all the time, or walking on the hikes with different people.  Kerryn and I explored the flaws in the healthcare system during COVID on one walk, Greg and I talked about our lives in the public sector (and realised we had a number of mutual friends) on another.  Rachel and I discovered that Anne, Julie and Jan-Maree had all walked the Camino in some capacity, so we spent a lot of time picking their brains and asking heaps of questions to get an understanding of what is ahead of our 2023 adventure.  I’m sure they were over it by the end of the week, but they never showed it.  The Ballarat crew introduced me to Heardle on Spotify, and I now enjoy the challenge of identifying songs from 1 second of playtime each day.  

Steve also enjoyed his fair share of dad jokes, which were actually quite good, but don’t tell him I said that - I don’t want to be seen to be encouraging him!  He and Pauline also showed us their dance moves in the evenings.  Leanne told us all about Yeeha Tours - an awesome initiative where they take horses and their owners out into the highlands to show what their horses are capable of, particularly those who would normally be involved in dressage etc.  Her family also enjoys deep-sea fishing on their boat and they also work the family farm.  

Bernie and I geeked out over Cape Canaveral memories and I am extremely envious of the fact that she got to see a rocket launch while she was there.  Christine and I spent a bit of time discussing Trump and the decline of society including the overturning of Roe v Wade, Carla and Greg regaled us with stories from their many travels and it seemed like everyone had kids and grandkids to talk about, and of course I told them all about my little family.  Diane and Jan-Maree in particular were very curious about the last 18 months, and were so giving in their response to our stories.  Monique played DJ one night, sharing her playlist as we sang our way through hits of the 70s and 80s.  Mette shared stories of her Danish heritage and the nursing home she works at as an activities director following her short retirement.

Then there was the crew.  Ably led by Captain Dan, the crew who assisted in ensuring everything was ship-shape (pardon the pun) consisted of bosuns Adam (who is an absolute fount of knowledge about all things Whitsundays) and Thommo (who successfully treated my Gympie Gympie stings with glue) bartender Izzy (who kept us all at a level of happy as required) and host (and expert cook) Taylor.  All of the crew is responsible for day to day ship work, running the tenders to and from the islands, assisting with mooring, anchor drops, guiding the walks and teaching about the area.  It was so great to see the passion that these guys brought to their work - it was evident in the way that they did everything they could to ensure we had the best holiday possible.

Oh and I’ve forgotten probably the most entertaining member of the crew.  Captain Dan has a gorgeous, but feisty Macaw named Pickles.  He is absolutely gorgeous, but not appreciative of new people, so we were warned to keep our fingers away from his cage.  It was so sweet to hear Pickles chatting away and singing to himself every morning as we waited to eat our breakfast.

So as we made our way back to the Marina it was with a twinge of sadness that our journey was coming to an end.  These people who we had shared so much with over the last week would go back to their homes, and life would go back to how it had been beforehand.  But thanks to Kerryn and her Solway Lass What’s App group, we now have a great way to share our memories and stay connected as we make our way to our various homes.  I also connected with Taylor on FB, as we had discovered a mutual appreciation for The Vampire Diaries and in particular Ian Somerhalder!

The crew thanked us before we left the ship, and they assured us that we were the best guest group they had had, largely for the fact that despite the far from perfect weather, and the many changes of plans required over the course of the week, we had remained positive and not taken it out on them.  The previous night we had written a note of thanks to the crew and also passed the hat around to show our appreciation.  

Off the ship, hugs from Izzy, Taylor and Adam, and we were back on land.  Unfortunately my middle ear is not aware of that yet, and everything continues to rock when I stand still long enough.  As we made our way back to our hotel, we made our sad farewells at each drop off, but also knew we’d catch up later that night for dinner and drinks.  

We had to wait a couple of hours for our room to be ready, so spent the time walking round time - where it was fun to bump into our travel mates and the crew as they made their way round town.

Best moment was having a shower.  I can’t remember if I had already mentioned it, but with 45 second showers in a small toilet stall, this pokey shower in our cabin was like a 5 star spa resort.  After 5 minutes of deep soaking, lathering and scrubbing feet that just never seemed to be clean enough, it was time for a massage to try to free up my shoulder.  Still can’t lift it, but it seems to have eased the muscles up, so here’s hoping for some further recovery in the days ahead.

Then to our final dinner together.  KCs Bar and Grill on the main drag at Airlie Beach was the place to be, where we even had the chance to catch up with some of the crew. This rowdy bunch sang Happy Birthday to every crew member as they walked in, successfully embarrassing them all, particularly Captain Dan.  Following a hearty meal and a number of cocktails, we adjourned to the Beach Shack club for more drinks and much dancing, joined by the crew.  

Many shots, many songs and many laughs later, it was finally time to drag ourselves away to get some much needed rest before our morning flight.

So to the 21 people I’ve just spent the last week of my life with, thank you for your kindness, your generosity and your support.  I can’t wait to see what adventures you all have over the years, and know that if you are ever in Brisbane, I’d love to catch up with you and buy you a beer at my local and spend some time reminiscing about an absolutely magical week away. After all, it’s not goodbye, it’s just see you later.