Back to shore…

Back to shore…

Airlie Beach, Australia, Australia

I woke up today on the boat for the last time and had to start packing up my things. We were setting sail for Airlie Beach at 7:30am and our bags had to be packed and in the library ready to go. I had a quick breakfast in the dining room (the best banana and cinnamon muffins ever!) and then we were all called to the top deck. We were finally going to have a chance to help sail!

This boat has three sails a small one in the back, a huge one in the middle and a medium one in the front. Luke had pulled up the small sail in the back, but they asked for help to pull up the middle sail. Four of us took a hold of the rope and pulled as had as we could and got the sail up within about 4 minutes. It was definitely a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but we got it done. They then asked for a volunteer to help with the front sail and i had a bit of energy left, so i stepped forward. I hadn’t realised that this was a one man task and I was going to be doing it on my own. I couldn’t very well back down at this point, so I grabbed a hold of the rope and pulled as hard as I could. I got the sail all the way up on my own, but I was left with a monster callus on my hand to remind me about it. There was definitely something satisfying about seeing those massive sails catching the wind and knowing that I helped to get it there.

It took about two hours to sail into Airlie Beach where we got to take some pictures as a group and got some of the crew as well. We disembarked the ship, collected our bags and said our good byes. Some of us were going to be meeting for drinks at 3pm when the crew finished their work on the ship, so I had a few hours to kill before that. I checked back in to my YHA hostel and grabbed a bite to eat and Mango Jack’s again so I could use their free wifi. It was weird being on a boat for three days with hardly and contact with the outside world. Some people said they liked being cut off like that, I disagreed.

I headed back toward the marina at 3pm and met the crew and a few people from the boat for some drinks at Sorrento’s. The owner brought out a few free pizzas for us too, and they were some of the best pizzas I have ever tasted. I think it helped that the owner was from Sicily, so they knew their way around a pizza!

We had drinks till about 7pm and I headed over to Hog’s Breath Cafe to meet T (Thiru) and R (Renuka) from the ship for dinner on their last night in Airlie Beach. Chris and Manuella came along for dinner as well, and then we all parted ways after dinner. I am back at the hostel now relaxing and thinking about the last few amazing days we had on that ship. It flew by! Tomorrow I have a day to relax in Airlie Beach, so that will be nice. This life is so stressful, I need a break!

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