Boats, Island, and Surf
What a ride! Its been 10 days since we left on our sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands, we've done loads of things in that time so I'd better get started.
THE WHITSUNDAYS WERE AWESOME!!
I've wanted to do this trip since the moment we booked our flight to Australia, actually since the first time I heard about it 6 years ago. You can imagine we were all pretty excited when we arrived in Airlie Beach for our 3 day, 3 night adventure. Once there, Nicole, Kendra and I were joined by our old travel buddies Karl and Petra, and we all headed to meet our crew and see our boat, the Anaconda III.
What a boat! A mega yacht over 100 ft, one of the biggest ones we saw on the trip. This is an important point as for some strange reason we had trouble finding the damn thing in the marina. Anyway, once we were on board, the crew quickly showed us our triple share cabin at the front of the boat and gave us a celebratory glass of champagne. We were introduced to the crew and our fellow passengers by Pablo, the first mate, who happens to be Irish...go figure. Our fellow passengers numbered 29 with not a single other Canadian but plenty of Germans, "Guten Tag".
We boarded the boat just after sunset and immediately made our way out to the Whitsundays. The Whitsundays, as part of the Great Barrier Reef, are a group of 74 islands surrounded by beautiful beaches and coral reefs. We were scheduled to visit some of these islands and beaches and then head out to the outer reef for some diving and snorkeling. Only a few boats are legally allowed to make it out to the reef which is one of the reasons we picked Anaconda III.

Karl, Petra, Kendra, Me and Nicole on the Anaconda III.

Kendra and I basking in the sun on deck.

A view of the islands from the boat, not bad at all.

The forward cabins on the boat. We were the one at the end on the left.
That first night was a bit tough, the seas were a little rough and it became dark soon after we left the marina. Neither of these things helped with sea sickness as several people found themselves hugging toilets, or hanging over the deck. Luckily Kendra, Nicole and I avoided any intimate porcelin adventures and were able to enjoy our first time out on the sea. I'm not sure why but the crew didn't pull out the sails that night (probably to help the seasickness victims), so unfortunately we went to our first stop under engine power. We anchored for the night in a sheltered bay after the 2 hour ride from Airlie, you could hear several sighs of relief once the boat was stopped.
Early on the next day we discovered that despite what we had signed up for back on land, our itinary would be determined based on the Captains interpretation of weather forecasts, tide reports, years of experience on the open ocean, his parrot "mini-me" and the aching in his wooden leg. OK, he didn't have a wooden leg but besides that and the lack of an eye patch this guy looked the part of a sea captain. Not sure how someone so obviously meant for hard work at sea ended up working on a tourist boat, but he was a great guy with lots of stories as would be expected from an old sea hand (maybe thats why he got the job).
Our first stop was Whitehaven Beach. An amazing white sand beach with crystal clear waters. While we were there everybody who had never tried SCUBA before was offered a free introductory SCUBA dive in shallow water. Nicole decided that it was an offer she couldn't refuse and took the plunge along with Karl. She did well, especially considering that not only was this the first time that she had tried SCUBA but also the first time she had been in the ocean...impressive. Good on ya Nicole! Meanwhile Kendra and I lost a sand castle competition and wouldn't get 2 free beers that night...crap. Karl said we should have won but then he said something in German to Petra that made her laugh...a little suspicious I would say.

Whitehaven Beach from the boat.
After the beach and a great lunch by the on board chef, Michelle, we finally got underway with the sails. Karl and I helped pull up the main sail with calls of 2, 6, heave from the first mate. It felt great to be working on a sail boat and it wasn't long before we were running to starboard to check out the dolphins, sunbathing on the bow, drinking in the stern, and diving from the tender...just like real sailors! I have to admit though that the captain never did turn the engine off and have us strictly under wind power, not sure why, I was going to ask him but he glared at me with his glass eye so I went back to watching the dolphins. Anyway, it was a bit disapointing.

Raising the Sail!

The Sail we raised!
On that note, I might as well get the disapointing stuff out of the way all in one go. First, Kendra wasn't allowed to dive as she fearlessly admitted that she had a minor asthma problem which checked out in Thailand but didn't check out on the boat. We were both pretty upset as we obviously were looking forward to diving together again. I would be diving without my dive buddy! Second, despite a valiant 1 hour attempt at getting to the outer reef, our captain turned us around back to the islands due to poor conditions. Major bummer! Nobody would get to see the reef on this trip! Of course us land lovers had to respect the captains decision as, after Karl tried to take over the helm, they cut off his right middle finger and fed it to the sharks...terrible. The attempt was pretty exciting though as we were out in 2.3m (thats what Pablo said) swells, a great ride.
OK, so we didn't get out to the reef, instead we spent more time on the islands. We spent an afternoon at Luncheon Bay where everybody got to snorkel and dive. Nicole, Kendra, and Petra, never missed an opportunity to snorkel, and Karl and I never missed an opportunity to dive. The sea life was amazing. Compared to Thailand the coral itself was way more colorful, bright blues, yellows, greens, purple, pink, and every other colour you could imagine. The fish were equally beautiful, Kendra and I were both impressed. We were also impressed with Nicole who took to the ocean like another fish, she spent as much time as she could snorkeling around the corals showing not the slightest discomfort in being surrounded by fish, corals, deadly sharks, jellyfish, stingrays, and fearsome turtles (OK, just fish and corals, there was a stingray though).
So despite a few disapointments, oh, and the Bed Bugs (thats a whole other story) the sailing trip lived up to expectations. I am now in total love with the ocean and sail boats.
OK, OK, I can't hold back any longer, speaking of LOVE, on Thursday after a beautiful time at the Sydney Opera House (I'll get into that later), I asked Kendra to marry me and she said "YES!". Thats right, we are engaged! and both very excited. I found it next to impossible to get a ring without Kendra knowing about it, so I proposed without one and we went to look for one in downtown Sydney right after she said yes. It worked out great and we've picked out a ring that Kendra and I both love...OK, have a look.

Wow, don't stop reading yet, I have to get back to our story. As I said, the Whitsundays was amazing but when we got off the boat on the 20th there was no time to rest, the three of us had 5 days to drive 2000km, take some surfing lessons, and check out the famous Sydney Harbour. So we got in the ABBA van and headed south. We made it to Brisbane where we had enough time for Nicole to spend some time with an old Australian friend she was roomates with in Calgary, and for Kendra and I to have another great visit with Debbie, Dom, Ron, and Donna, our Australian home away from home.
Our next stop was Byron Bay, famous for its surfing and laid back atmosphere. Byron welcomed us with a perfect day for the surf. Kendra and Nicole signed up for their very first lesson and I rented a board to join them in the ocean. What a morning we had. I forgot how fun surfing was, even though I was falling left right and center I couldn't get enough. As for Nicole and Kendra, well check out the photos.

A picture is worth a thousand words!

A great shot of Nicole enjoying the ride. Don't worry she was up and surfing on many occasions, this picture just seemed to capture the moment.

Heading out to the surf.

A short break before another session.
Too bad we didn't get the photo when Kendra faked getting hurt so she could flirt with the instructor, feeling a little guilty now aren't ya Kendra (just kidding... of course I know she'll always be a flirt...haha...kidding again...oh, when does it stop).
After surfing we found that Byron wasn't completely done with us yet. We went out to the lighthouse viewpoint over Cape Byron and the most easterly point on the Australian mainland. The views were amazing, and much to our suprise we spotted two Humpback whales heading south in their yearly migration (confirmed by a local watching alongside us), beautiful.

The Cape Byron lighthouse.
And finally we made it to Sydney where more great things were to happen. With Nicole we spent a day exploring Sydney Harbour and Manly Beach. We took a guided tour of the Opera House (we tried but failed to get tickets to the current Opera), walked through the botanical gardens and explored downtown and Darling Harbour before taking in a movie and heading back to the hostel. And just like that after a 16 day whirlwind tour of Australia, on Thursday morning we had to say goodbye to Nicole. We had a great time with her and couldn't have been happier that she joined us for her vacation. (Oh and thanks for the boats...wink).

Do I have to explain this one?
Warning: For those of you who can't stand cheesy love stuff you should skip the next paragraph. For those of you who don't mind a bit of cheesy love stuff here's how it went.
Once again Kendra and I were alone. Luckily we had managed to get tickets to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra matinee show of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony at the Opera House. We couldn't have been happier as we strolled up the steps with our tickets, elegantly dressed in cargo pants (Me) and flip flops (Kendra) ( in fairness she wore her nice dress), and took our seats directly behind the french horns (the only seats left were behind the orchestra). We spent 2 hours mesmerized by the beautiful sounds and setting of the Opera House. When the performance was over we stepped outside where I worked up the courage to ask her to marry me. Most of you probably aren't very suprised, but somehow in the moment Kendra was (she new I didn't have a ring yet). It was great to watch the question register on her face before she could say yes...what a moment. Afterwards we picked out a ring together and went out for a great dinner forgeting, for a while, that we were supposed to be travelling on a budget.

Our view from our seats at the Symphony.
And now its Friday, and while we're still a little high on the moment we're back to travelling again. We've booked our flight to New Zealand and have two weeks to go back up the coast and get in some surfing. See you next time.
Mike and Kendra (Hand)
20 Comments:
Kendra / Mike,
Congratulation - At last you did it. Wish you all the happiness.
Regards
Aslam Durrani
Mike, you've made us very happy. We didn't even mind being woken up at 6:30 am to hear the news.
Kendra's happy parents
Mike and Kendra,
Congrats on the news, I'm happy for both of you, that's awesome!
Have fun during your last fews weeks in Australia and with your new adventures in New Zealand.
SR :)
Congrats on the engagement!
From Mike, Liz and Tony
Thank god Kylie is going to finally get to be a flower girl..she has been waiting her whole life! No pressure though..I mean if you guys had someone else in mind ;)
Love you lots, Jer, Car and Kylie!
PS I love the ring!!!
Congratulations to both of you! We knew it was just a matter ot time and timing!
Sure sounds like Nicole is more like her more than I thought. Remind me to tell you about a Hawaian beach sometime!
The ring looks beautiful! Can't wait to see you both!
Love elf
Kendra/Mike,
What can I say but congratuations! It will be hard for both of you to top future blogs with this installment. By the way, Danuta and I had the same type of sailboat experience at Arlie Beach. They don't actually let you sail without the engine and everyone gets sea sick the first day.
Kei
Fabulous diving and sailing adventures. Beautiful locales. Romance and engagements in a foreign land. Are you guys actually traveling or are you filming a movie of the week?!
Congratulations! I'm so happy for you guys! Can't wait to see the hardware in person.
Tracy
Congratulations, that is great news! I'm very happy for you guys.
We miss you guys, enjoy NZ; I'm sure it's going to be awesome.
Roger
p.s. Laurel sure was excited to hear from you Kendra; she screamed so loud my ears are still ringing.
Kendra and Mike...
Ok, it honestly took me 5 minutes to stop the joyful tears streaming down my face while reading your wonderful news. Congrats you two. We miss you, and are so happy to hear what a great trip/adventure you have been able to share with eachother.
x Lacie
Mike & Kendra
Congrats to you guys... that's great news! Drink a Lion Red beer for me when you get to New Zealand.
Bryan
Now that's a travel memory you'll never forget! Congratulations
Good-on-ya Mike, quite the romantic bloke you are! :)
....terence
"Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter."
- Izaak Walton -
Congratulations!!!
That's one of the best engagements stories ever! It's a beautiful ring and journey, can't wait to read more!
Kelly
Hi Kendra I am very excited for the two of you, congratulations.I also love the ring and sorry it took me so long to leave a comment, I didnt know that you could.
Love Alana and Jeff
Eeeeeeeee!!!!
Congratulations Kenny and Mike!
We are so excited about the great news...although we can't say that we are surprised ;) After such incredible traveling experiences, you guys will be able to conquer married life with no problems!
Many hugs,
Gayle & Chris
"... and they lived happily ever after."
What an epilogue for such a wonderful jurney.
Congratulations and God bless you both.
Jorge
Congratulations! It has been a little while since we last checked out your blog (always a little jealous!!), but we were so happy to hear the news! How sweet and romantic, we couldn't be happier. You guys make a lovely couple, and your adventure will be remembered as an even more special time. Good luck with your next chapter,
Love, Amy and Angus
A big congrats! So happy for the two of you. Take care, O.
Hey there Mike and Kendra
Just wanted to send a huge Congratulations from Shannon and I. That is awesome news. All the best and can't wait to hear all your stories in person.
All the Best
Bully and Shannon
Mike & Kendra:
congradulation! it's a wonderful trip. I've just looked pix and your story, esp. in Beijing. Actually I've just came back from Beijing two weeks ago.
I wish I could do the trip!
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