We departed Sydney, for now, and flew to the Whitsunday coast, more specifically, Arlie Beach. The Whitsundays lie in the Coral Sea on Australia's East Coast. We arrived about noon and were able to check-in to our short term rental. The internet was not working, bummer. That's why this post is a double edition. We walked into town to scope out the meeting place for our snorkel trip to the outer reef (southern part of the GBR).
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| harbor view |
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| IAAM - It's All About Me |
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| rain clouds gathering |
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| rain clouds |
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| changing room near the municipal pool |
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| parrot |
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| more parrots |
After that moment of discovery, we walked back to the apartment stopping at Woolworths for provisions. If you were paying attention in an earlier post you will know that Woolworths is a large food store chain in NZ and AUS.
Our apartment has a wonderful view which translates into a very steep walk to our Airlie Beach home.
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| view from our apartment |
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| apartment view |
Randeen went back down the hill to the CBD for a swim in the municipal pool. I attempted to get our devices to hook up to the internet. No luck! Also, the TV had many channels that were "audio only"; they were not radio stations but TV shows sans video. More to ponder.
We attempted to reserve a taxi online for our 7 AM trip to the marina. It seems if you don't have an Australian phone number you cannot reserve a taxi online. No problem, I'll just call to make the reservation - they do speak English - sorta. The call from my US mobile phone was met with a message indicating they do not yet service the area from which I am calling.
Now, we are on Day #28. So, we walked the 28 minutes to the marina. It was raining very hard for more than 28 minutes. Yes, even with rain jackets, we were soaked. Almost enough discomfort to consider buying an Australian phone. After checking in at the marina, we were given a "stinger suit" for protection from jelly fish. It is the season. After about an hour into the trip, it was determined that the conditions at the outer reef were not conducive to snorkeling. The waves were enough to break over snorkelers, filling the snorkel with sea water. We opted to snorkel 5 reefs situated in the Whitsunday Islands. The snorkeling was good. I have no photos to post about the snorkeling as I shot only GoPro video which I'll put together when I get back to Austin.
It rained very hard all day, 8 AM till 4 PM. We walked home in the rain, stopping at Woolworths for our evening repast. All of today's clothing is currently being washed and dried for tomorrow's sailing excursion.
Hoping for less rain tomorrow..
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