The Vacation Part

We are now back from vacation. The Munns having been here for two great weeks, they have recently returned stateside. We all traveled to the islands of Queensland and then to "the Red Centre" over the first week, then I returned to work while they saw Sydney for a week. It was great.

Somehow I lost internet service on the open water and amongst the islands. Who knew? The blogs have had to be stored until we got back on land, and when I had time to catch my breath. Those Munns ran like mad. I hope they got to sleep on the plane!

I have a few entries, entered while holed up in my below-deck cabin, listening to the waves gently slosh against the boat. I will spread them out over a couple of days.

Sunday, August 02, 2009

It is the end of the first day of our three-day, three-night sailing adventure amongst the Whitsundays, and by we I mean Amenia, Joey, Hudson, and myself.

Yesterday we caught an early flight out of Sydney to Townsville then drove down to Airlie Beach, where we stayed at the Whitsunday Lodge Bed and Breakfast. After a little shopping, returning the rental car, and providing some medical care to a trauma patient, we hiked over to Abell Point to ship out for an evening sail out to Hook Island, where we are currently anchored and bobbing, much to the chagrin of my inner ear.

The trauma patient was an interesting one. You just never know when these moments will arise. I was milling about the central shopping area of Airlie Beach, buying some swimming shorts, checking out T-shirts as the Munns were returning from Abell Point when, as I crossed the street and stepped onto the sidewalk, I heard a rather large thud, as though someone had dropped something onto the concrete. In actuality, they had, but what this 17 year-old had dropped was his head! He had fallen from standing height off the curb into the street, striking the back of his head with significant force. He then seized for about 30 seconds, was out of it for about another 90, then gradually came around while brewing a fair subdermal hematoma, though he did donate a bit to his hair and forehead. The ambulance pulled up quickly enough, and he was off, though I was concerned for the level of care provided in these parts.

It turns out that he had a vasovagal response about 5 minutes after having his tongue pierced.

As for the trip, I think we have been really fortunate, for the most part. The B&B was in itself nothing spectacular, breakfast mediocre, but the people were great, the setting was nice, quite green, and well off the beaten path. Furthermore, Mother Nature has played along well, and the weather here in Queensland quite agreeable to both the Texans in their reprieve from summer and myself enjoying a bit of warmth.

The boat has been a good find, though this seems to have been due to luck. The husband of the woman who runs the B&B is a city manager and thereby indirectly oversees the health department, so he spoke with knowledge when he confirmed that we had chosen one of the better boats, and more importantly, one of the more reliable crews. On the flip side however, somewhere along the line some errors were made in the choosing of the cabins. I had intended for us to have the nicest cabin for Amenia and Joey, and a pair of bunkbeds for Hud and myself. Instead, we got the second best cabin, then the tiniest of double beds—better dubbed a generous single—down in the tail end of the bottom deck of the boat. Now the first I can live with, but the second was a rather poor result. Bed is fair sized, bathroom just next door and for only this cabin, though the entry is out in the hall. But we are here for the adventures, not as much for the sleeping arrangements, so I expect that this will still be a great trip. Hudson is currently collapsed upstairs with his parents, barely able to make it through the main course of dinner. Nothing to do witht he cabins, mind you, just that the time change still has him by the pituitary. For a single person, this cabin is not too bad.

Explanation of photos:

1. Boarding the Pacific Sunrise, the largest wooden vessel built in the southern hemisphere, they say. Darn good food and a fun crew.

2. The four of us above Whitehaven Beach, a gorgeous and large bunch of sand with the purest concentration of silica, 98%. Hence the only permitted removal has been for the construction of the Hubble telescope's lens.

3. Abandonment or a Jimmy Buffett album cover? Actually, Tim was leaving us at the shore for the above hike to Whitehaven Beach.

4. These crew members get to seet this stuff on a regular basis! Unfortunately this stuff includes gulls, Tim's nemesis, as their loitering results in dinghy dung.

5. Best three sunsets I can recall: off the shore of Baja California on the bike ride, bridge climb this week (saved for a later blog), and this photo.