Ocean Rafting through the Whitsunday Islands

As I'm doing this trip on a budget I decided to skip the classic backpacker three day booze fest on a boat through the Whitsunday Islands, having done similar things in Greece and Kenya, instead opting for a day trip to the main places.

Quite honestly I don't think I could have made a better decision! I booked with a company called Ocean Rafting who took you out in a boat to snorkel, hike and have lunch on Whitehaven beach. Having woken up more or less at the crack of dawn to eat and head out I was already excited. I couldn't wait to see Whitehaven beach as I heard so much about it. 

Once we were all fully briefed and sitting in the boat off we went with the music blaring and stunning views whizzing past on both sides. After an hour of amazing snorkelling, well amazing apart from my first encounter with an Aussie jellyfish who proceeded to sting me all down my arm, we were taken to a lookout point. A mere 15 min walk uphill brought you to a place where you could see the whitsunday islands and the miles and miles of silica strong white sand. The sand here is 98% silica (most sand is about 30%) which means you can use it to polish your jewellery, exfoliate your skin and apparently remove the stains from teeth and nails. It's also proctected and taking it from the beach results in some serious fines. 

Whitehaven beach is miles of white sand and beautiful blue sea. Strangely the high concentration of silica means that regardless of how hot it is the sand itself won't get hot. Which I found amazing considering the amount of times I have had to hop into water after finding my feet burning on the beach. It also sounds like fresh snow crunching under your feet, another concept it was difficult to get my head around. The beach is patrolled by rangers who are on the lookout for people stealing sand which, according to the one I met, happens everyday. 

After a couple of hours on the beach it was onto our final tour of the islands where we passed several including Hamilton Island, home to the rich and famous. 

To end the day the guys driving the boats thought it would be a laugh to see how fast we could go over waves and knocked us about a bit. There were three boats in total so you can imagine the chaos when all three states crossing paths and driving over the waves, swerving in and out of each other's wakes. It was brilliant, though I'm not sure the German girl next to me thought the same thing as she was hanging on for dear life!