Babymoon Adventures: Sailing the Whitsunday Islands

Before I met my boss, I had no idea where the Whitsunday Islands were. But I soon learned that he had a 35' catamaran chartered there and before long I was keenly aware of this little slice of heaven tucked away along the Great Barrier Reef. You see, this boss of mine is possibly the most generous person on the planet. And what do you do when your boss offers you his yacht to sail the islands? Well, you call CaptainBrotherMan and say "Get thee hence to Australia and sail me pregnant belly around those turquoise waters, matey." And much to our pleasure, he did! Tom and Todd and some friends rendezvoused with us on Hamilton Island and for the next 7 days our cozy crew of 7 sailed around the Whitsunday's as Kings and Queens of Black Diamond.

The good people at Queensland Yacht Charters indeed treated us as royalty, which happens when you are friends of the owner.  See? It pays to be my friend! (Well, this one time it did, but really this is more the exception than will ever be the rule). Once at Airlie Beach we quickly got settled onto the boat and found a pizza joint at Able Point Marina to stuff ourselves. The following morning some of us went shopping to provision our supplies for the week, while others were oriented on all things Black Diamond from the staff. After being suited up with stinger suits, loading the boat, topping up the tanks, and waving goodbye...we motored Black Diamond away from the marina. Everyone was jittery and excited; pulling away from the marina is always such a thrill! 

 

It rained heavily the first couple of days, but this was to be expected in the summer wet months. We soon found that the rain wasn't much of a deterrent and even helped magnify the beauty of the waterfalls at our first anchoring point: Nara Inlet on Hook Island. The bright yellow rain coats provided not only shelter from the downpour, but spot-on Teletubby impersonations.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B: 

Ok, so. I'm really the only one that looked like a Teletubby, but at 7 months pregnant I suppose there are worse things I could be impersonating. I can't think of any, but. My self-esteem is plummeting as I type this. Moving on. In the late afternoon the rain had let up and we were taking in the gorgeous views, prepping for dinner, playing Bananagrams and whatnot when all of a sudden we heard a loud squawking noise from the top of the boat. A beautiful wild cockatoo had flown from the surrounding trees and was making his grand presence known. Diana, who we soon learned is not afraid of anything-at-all, started feeding the bird cashews. Suddenly the bird flew up and landed on her arm, eager for more! This was obviously not this bird's first experience crashing a catamaran party. We all took turns feeding the bird and letting it land on our arms. It was such a fun, unexpected way to start our sailing adventures.

That night we celebrated my older brother's birthday! Tom and I are only 1 week apart (plus 9 years) and I was honored to be able to celebrate with him in such a gorgeous surrounding. We made him a chocolate Wacky Cake from scratch, to make our mother proud and because in our family it's hardly worth celebrating a birthday without it.  Happy Birthday Tom! I love you so stinkin' much, Cap'n.