A few posts back I went on an incredibly fun, active sailing trip around the Whitsundays onboard Maxi yacht Ragamuffin. It was one of those awesome days with sun, sea, diving and a whole load of adventure!
Cameron and the guys from Getaway China joined us as we headed out for a days sailing. They were putting together a travel programme all about the Whitsundays. They’ve gone to air on China and have very kindly released the footage so I can show it to you here on islandreefjob.com
I’ve been back from my trip to the USA for a few days now, the coverage the Best Job campaign still receives is excellent news with the media interest focusing on:
“So now that it’s all over – how was it? No really how was it?!”
“Tell me how do you follow the Best Job – surely nothing comes close?!”
They’re all the standard questions but everyone wants to know the answer of course and I honestly tell them it could never be matched, well maybe the next eighteen months won’t quite match it but if the first one is anything to go by then it’ll come pretty damn close!
The P.R. value achieved through the TV and radio appearances go a huge way to reminding the public about Queensland and the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef but the other side of the tour is the presentations I’ve been making to the travel industry in each of the locations I’ve visited.
These are targeted at the most important part of that industry, the travel agents. For it’s them that help convert a customer’s mere thought into a booking, which is what we’re all aiming for.
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I’ve set myself another goal for 2010 and that’s to get properly fit again. If there’s one thing that the last six months have done for me (apart from the obvious good stuff) it’s drop my fitness back down to a level I haven’t seen for five years.
Completing my Afritrex expedition around Africa involved running five marathons and to do that I needed to be fit….really fit and the pinnacle of this challenge was the Comrades Ultra marathon in South Africa. 56 miles or 89 kms of running hell…
Comrades Route Map
…so I thought I’d set myself the daunting task of doing it again this year.
Why you’re probably wondering? I’m not 100% sure really; I love the idea of trying to mentally battle through the 10 hours of hell that the race is, taking it through the pain barrier and pushing myself to my limits once more.
The race takes place on May 30th between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in South Africa and I’ll be taking some time off work to attend two weddings and to run the race.
But in order to up my fitness level to anything barely resembling that which I’ll need, I’ve been hitting the streets of my new home city, Brisbane. There’s a huge network of tracks, cycle paths and boardwalks covering the city and the sights and sounds of an urban environment are actually very interesting to run in – coming from the countryside of Hampshire I thought I’d never say that!
Brisbane's boardwalk
I’m also trying to find somewhere to live in this great city, getting to know and recognise new places and suburbs is tough when you don’t have a car so combining my training and a reconnaissance mission were the order of the day on Saturday as I took to the streets to investigate further:
To prepare for the Comrades I have to find at least one half and one full marathon between now and the day of the race in May. I’ve already decided to head back to my old stomping ground on Hamilton Island at the beginning of May to run the descriptively named ‘Hamilton Island Hilly Half Marathon’ which should be a stern test.
Hilly Half route
Half marathons are never easy but this one goes up and down the many steep sections of the island and heads off road for a good part too. I’ve trained on these hills and love them…but they hurt.
Why not enter yourself? Combine a week away in paradise with a testing, gruelling run – further details for the event can be found here:
Hilly Half details
To download the PDF of the event please click here
With only 4 months to go I’m trying to find another full length marathon in Queensland which I can enter – does anyone know of one?!
Back soon with some outtakes from my original Best Job application last year…
Weather: Puffy white clouds and blue skies with sunshine. Let’s skydive!! 32c
Skydiving over the Whitsundays
This was the BIG ONE – the one I’d been dreading for ages and had tried to put off for as long as possible. Bre however has been nagging like an old fishwife every since the offer was made back in August. I’d managed to deflect her requests to throw myself out of a plane with excuses of ‘too much wind’ or ‘the cloud cover means they won’t be running today’ but the day had arrived when nothing would stick.
Now it’s not that I really can’t do heights at all, I mean I climb mountains and I did do the worlds highest bungee jump last year. It’s just I seem to develop Frozen-Leg-Syndrome when I go close to the edge of cliffs, on suspended walkways etc and Bre knows this.
My contact over the last few weeks had been Sooz, the girl who seems to do everything and run the operation, and as we stomped up the ramp off the Fantasea ferry she was here to take us the short ten minute drive to the airport. The big sign welcoming us to the Whitsunday Airport loomed large with the words ‘SKYDIVE’ emblazoned across it…well here we go then.
My jumpmaster was called ‘Dawsey’ – abbreviated in the traditional Aussie way of course! (shorten it and add an ‘ie’, ‘y’ or ‘o’ on the end) First job of course was to sign my life away, if it all ended in disaster I would have no one to blame but myself.
Next to don the sexy looking jump trousers and harness, ball jerkingly tight but better that than to fall out I suppose, and run through the briefing on how to fall out of the plane’s door once we hit the ‘dropzone’. I’ve always loved that phrase – it just sounds so totally rad man, very Point Break!
So far I’m doing ok, no nerves, just a gun’ho attitude which Bre seems to adopt and does here ok. Maybe I’m learning from the Master here? If I can take this on and do it, it’s another personal challenge out of the way. I have completed a parachute jump before but I was 16 and that’s a seriously long time ago now and it was a static line jump.
A little explanation:
Static line parachute jump – you jump yourself from the plane with your own parachute which is attached to a point inside the plane by a small cord. As you exit the door the cord pulls out your chute automatically deploying it. Usually from about 3,500ft.
Tandam freefall – you’re strapped to a jumpmaster who deploys the parachute for you both after freefalling through the heavens for about a minute. Takes place from 8000ft + and we jumped from 14,000ft. THE way to do it!
Bre and I clamber into the rear of the little plane with Dawsey and Matty, our jumpmasters, handing out the instructions. There was no going back now. Sat between their legs we taxied down the runway and the plane climbed above the Whitsundays giving a superb view through clear skies below.
We reached our jump altitude of 14,000ft ten minutes later and suddenly the time was upon us, no chickening out, just a mad adrenaline ride all the way to the ground.
Bre was first up, Matty and her slid there way into the door and five seconds later were gone!
Me next – well here goes nothing. Hanging out of the door, feet tucked under the plane, the overpowering sound of the wind racing past my face as we travelled at over 150km/h forwards…and then we were out, dropping at over 200km/h straight down!
The G-forces were biting at my face forcing a huge teeth-filled grin across my face as we dropped like a rock towards terra firma far below – in fact not that far! We fell and fell for what seems like no time at all, the ground racing to meet us as we dropped through light cloud – the light mist cooling our faces as we fell.
And with a snatch akin to a trouser jerking wedgie, suddenly we were hanging there underneath the now deployed canopy, floating 3000ft above the airfield below. The sound of the rushing wind gone, replaced by a serene congratulatory silence, broken occasionally by Dawsey talking to me.
That was nothing short of incredible!!! As we slowly dropped towards the landing zone I took hold of the controls and steered us down in big twisting turns assisted by Dawsey of course until he gave the command to lift my feet and legs up in preparation for landing.
A final approach towards the awaiting team and we’d done it – my first freefall jump over and I’d actually loved virtually every moment of it!
As I turned around on the runway Bre was about to make her landing and I could hear her almost before anything, WAHOOO’ing as only she can, arms flailing and legs out wide.
Once unhooked we made our way back to the office and traded stories about the experience, you know quite how amazing something is when you’re literally stumbling over each other to get your side of the story out!
I didn’t think I’d actually enjoy throwing myself out of a plane but it was flippin amazing and I’d go straight back tomorrow if the chance was there – thank you to all at Airlie Skydive especially Sooz for making it all happen.
End of day location: Right back where I started – terra firma
Location: Dent Island (Hamilton Island Golf Course)
Weather: The sun has come back out after a few days of wet, humid grey stuff! 32c
Well the fun has been continuing in full effect. I know it’s supposed to have finished in theory this wonderful Best Job in the World gig but there have been a few offers which have been made since July which Bre and I have had to take up before leaving Hamilton Island!
I think I first saw one of these awesome machines back in the UK about ten years ago and have always wanted to jump on to see what they’re all about. When we visited Tangalooma resort on Moreton Island a few weeks back there were a few of these futuristic looking contraptions racing up and down the sandy beach and the temptation increased…
Segway Green info
When a guy called Eric from Tours Plus contacted me and suggested having a trial run on one of their Segways I jumped at the chance. So yesterday morning Bre and I made our way down to the Fantasea ferry to meet Eric and Louise who’d made it across from the mainland with a fleet of four Segway X2’s – the off-road version of their commuter model.
Tours Plus offer eco friendly tours throughout the Whitsundays and these machines can go so many places I wouldn’t have imagined; over long grass, through pretty deep sand and up fairly steep slopes too. It was time for us to learn a new skill…
We run through the basics; how to stand on them, leaning into turns, tilting forwards and backwards and then we’re off – on a small patch of concrete just to make sure we can handle them (in ‘turtle’ mode – the slowest pace to start off with). It’s such an awesome feeling once you’ve got the hang of it and one which really does feel really natural.
Ok these things are superb but you can’t legally drive them on the roads in Queensland, in fact in any of Australia. They’re legal in all but four states of the USA and by all accounts as a means of transport they work – environmentally friendly, no need to jump in a huge car as one person in a city, simple to operate, great for a sunny climate and above all FUN!!
I’d love to see people commuting in a city on these things – imagine it people! The future is here. Bre did bring up a good point though…if people starting using these instead of walking/cycling to work then surely it’ll mean a lot less exercise and a therefore higher obesity rates!
After an hour of familiarising ourselves with the machines it’s time to turn the heat up a bit – ‘turtle’ mode is replaced by ‘rabbit’ mode and the fun really starts…these things move I tell you, all of a sudden were racing not riding. I could get to work so much quicker if I got one!
This is not a blatant sale for Segway – this is really a chance to say there’s a few places here in Queensland that offer the chance to trial out these machines by taking a tour with them. Their environmental footprint is close to nothing, they are virtually silent in operation and the mark they leave on sand is even less than my print from my foot.
If you’re here in Queensland then have a go at any of these places:
The end result of this little experiment is that I now really want one, I also really want the people who can make the changes in positions of power to ride one of these to see quite how good they could be worldwide in reducing our reliance on the motor car, the direct use of fossil fuels, driving vehicles with one person in and even the long lines of traffic we see in cities far too often.
If, and it’s a big IF, rules and regulations change I’d love to ride one of these into the office in Brisbane!
As we’re out on the ocean the Aussism’s have been dropped in favour of some nautical terminology, pay attention please!!
Between the Devil and the Deep – in wooden ships, the “devil” was the longest seam of the ship. It ran from the bow to the stern. When at sea and the “devil” had to be caulked, the sailor sat in a bo’sun’s chair to do so. He was suspended between the “devil” and the sea the “deep” a very precarious position, especially when the ship was underway.
Starboard – The Vikings called the side of their ship its board, and they placed the steering oar, the “star” on the right side of the ship, thus that side became known as the “star board.” It’s been that way ever since.
Three Sheets to the Wind – We use the term “three sheets to the wind” to describe someone who has too much to drink. As such, they are often bedraggled with perhaps shirttails out, clothes a mess. The reference is to a sailing ship in disarray, that is with sheets (lines not “ropes” that adjust the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind ) flapping loosely in the breeze.
Took the wind out of his sails – Often we use “took the wind out of his sails” to describe getting the best of an opponent in an argument. Originally it described a battle maneuver of sailing ships. One ship would pass close to its adversary and on its windward side. The ship and sails would block the wind from the second vessel, causing it to lose headway. Losing motion meant losing maneuverability and the ability to carry on a fight.
Weather: Very light winds, blue skies and a few puffy clouds – lets go sailing!!
Mum and Dad were visiting me for the last few days of the Best Job in the World experience and I’d been harping on about sailing around the Whitsundays and how damn amazing it was when I did it back in August during Race Week here on the island.
So there was no better way to demonstrate exactly what I’d been going on about than to actually get them out onto the water to try it for themselves. Mum is known for being a little bit prone to seasickness so I prayed hard the night before for a calm ocean and sunshine…
Result! Perfect conditions for sailing – a mirror like ocean greeted me from the balcony of the Blue Pearl with ‘Simpsons’ clouds punctuating the otherwise infinite blue skyscape. I’m going to miss this view you know – it’s the biggest and best TV screen I’ve ever had and so much more rewarding than sitting in front of an actual television!
We’d caught the first Fantasea ferry of the day across the Whitsunday Passage and Vanessa from Whitsunday Rent a Yacht was there to whisk us the incredibly short 750 metres around to their offices and pontoon where we’d depart from. I’ve cruised into Shute Harbour on countless occasions and dreamily gazed across to the fleet of modern looking yachts with their telltale blue and red ensigns wondering exactly what goes on there…we were about to find out.
Having just a smidgeon of experience on the water before really didn’t fill me with the overwhelming confidence I’d need to take out one of the yachts for an overnight cruise. So we’d been given the option of having a skipper come out with us so we’d have a more relaxing time – this was just what we needed. Think about it – me in charge of a $750,000 boat really wasn’t the sort of responsibility I needed just yet.
Mike and Nancy would be our impeccable hosts for our ‘far-too-short’ trip – usually you’d need around a week to explore all of the hidden gems around the 74 islands of the Whitsundays but with Christmas just around the corner we only had an overnight trip. Well Mum and Dad were chuffed just to be onboard.
‘Chantilly’ – the pride of the fleet would be our home for the next day, she’s a pretty stunning looking catamaran from the outside and that’s before even climbing the stairs up her hull and into the luxurious cockpit living area.
Being a Beneteau she’s kitted out for a very comfortable lifestyle with an outside hospitality area right next to where the captain sits and behind the extensive glass windows is the smartest lounge area I’ve seen on a sailing boat. Why tip over on a mono-hull when you can cruise level on a catamaran?
Downstairs the smart theme continues and there’s space for my family and loads more, in fact ‘Chantilly’ has space for ten people to stay and each of the rooms even has an ensuite bathroom with shower and more than enough room to swing a cat too.
I’ve always wondered who would be cruel enough to actually swing a cat around just to size a room – bizarre words and phrases we use aren’t they!?
Back on deck its all about relaxing this time around, previously I’d been learning about sheets, grinding, knots etc but Mike has everything under control and can literally sail the yacht sat in his chair. The electric winches, jammers etc operated by the flick of a switch all within easy reach. Amazing.
From the moment we got on board I knew food wasn’t going to be a problem here; Nancy has been furiously working away in the kitchen with the vast array of gorgeously palatable food that Whitsunday Provisions have supplied for our mini-expedition and round after round of cheese, fruit, cakes and chocolate keeps appearing from nowhere. The time to diet is in the New Year – not now.
As we head across the Whitsunday Passage the wind starts to pick up just enough to fill the mainsail and after an hour or so of moving under motor the sound of the engine goes quiet and we’re finally cruising by perfectly natural means…that of the wind.
It totally transforms the experience and for the first time in a few weeks I grab my book and head to the foredeck to catch up on some vital reading. It’s times like these that have been few and far between over the last few months and with the backdrop of the Whitsundays on offer it really does feel like a holiday at last.
Mum and Dad are in their element too. Dad has taken the wheel for the past hour and under the watchful eye of Mike is carefully steering us into one of the many sheltered channels around Hook Island in time for lunch – another meal already.
We spend the afternoon cruising around the picturesque islands and decide, with the northerly winds, to head to Tongue Bay just short of Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach – ready for an early morning assault on the tourist destination. Our dinner under the stars is superb, the BBQ is fired up and we watch the glowing fiery orange ball drop behind the horizon as dinner is served. There is nowhere I’d rather be in the world right now…
Mum and dad haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the iconic sight of Whitehaven Beach from the viewing platform by Hill Inlet and so Mike drops us off in the rubber duck and we prepare to climb over the crest of the hill. Seeing the white silica sands from up high gives you an idea of why so many people walk this route every day – 350 on average.
With the morning disappearing fast we get back on board and start the final cruise around the southern tip of Whitsunday Island before turning north towards Hamilton Island and home. It also gives us a chance to see Blue Pearl just one more time from the water as we cruise by slowly, struggling to make headway against the strong tide which rips through Fitzalan Passage.
Mooring up in Hamilton Island marina we clamber onto the pontoon after a perfectly relaxing couple of days with Mike and Nancy; the perfect hosts onboard a perfect yacht….if I use any more ‘perfects’ I’ll turn into a cat. What I’m trying to say is I actually relaxed for once and loved it!
Next time around my sailing skills will be adequate enough to take one of these beauties out for myself – maybe not around the world but definitely around the Islands of the Whitsundays. Why not try it yourself?
End of day location: Hamilton Island
Distance covered: 107kms on the water
As the weather headlines from around the world hit the news with tales of floods, humungous snow storms, travel delays and Eurostar blockages I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas from here on Hamilton Island as we bask in the glorious summer weather of Queensland! Goodness that almost sounded horribly smug didn’t it, sorry.
Santa has been already – in fact this year I helped him to deliver his presents but we left the reindeer at home as you can see from the photo below:
After what has been a truly amazing 2009 working in the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef as the Island Caretaker, next year looks to be equally as exciting and challenging as I promote this great state around the world and also try and get further under the skin of Queensland.
The ISLANDREEFJOB.COM website will continue to be updated to cover these travels so stay tuned in!
Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year from Ben, Bre and my Mum & Dad
Now that we’ve been on Hamilton island for a few months we’ve had a chance to do loads and loads of the incredibly good fun things on offer. You have to have a sense of fun, adventure and love adrenaline to take full advantage of everything and here are just a few of our favourites:
Target Sports - Wanna feel like Dirty Harry? Fancy shooting Magnum PI’s gun? Well this is the place to come and do it! Bre and I headed to the far south side of Hamilton Island to enjoy one of the louder and more exhilarating activities. First thing ear defenders – there’s no way with two rifles and eight pistols going off I’m going to have my eardrums blown out and these things are damn loud!
Mark sets up the first target and it whizzes out to the far side of the shooting range ready to take some bullets, we load up the Ruger rifle and take aim…bang, bang, bang x 10 until the magazine is spent and, hopefully, the target looks like a colander. Once the target has been brought back it’s Bre’s turn – how will she fair against me…the pressure is on!
There are a range of weapons to fire here; Ruger pistols and rifles, a Glock, the Magnum 357 and the Big Boy…the Magnum 44!
A cracking morning doing something I never thought I’d do and actually ended up enjoying…oh and I beat Bre!
Quad Bike rally – When my friend Josh arrived on the island a few weeks ago we had to try and find something really exciting and interesting for him to do, I only met him a year ago for a few days at the Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa but from the moment we met we hit it off. He’s got a get up and go attitude that I like and so we thought we’d all head out and tear up the dusty back roads of the island….or should I say carefully investigate the other side of Hamo.
Jet boat ride – Every so often when I’m sat out on the balcony working away the sound of a roaring engine comes round the corner followed by a series of WAHOO’s and screams. Hamilton Island Watersports have one of the most awesome boats in the marina…a bright red jet boat! It leaves the calm waters of the harbour and races out into the Whitsunday Passage in the skilled hands of Mark, as he raises his right hands it’s time for the spins to start and the fun to begin. It’s bumpy, it’s exhilarating and it’s brilliant!
Koala Gallery – I’ve been down to this little zoo a few times now and never get bored of it at all, this morning I headed down to meet Barbie Defoe and her family (my Island Caretaker helper who’s been out in Australia for a few weeks now enjoying the delights of Queensland). ‘Breakfast with the Koalas’ is literally just that, whilst we sat and chatted about our adventures the happy Koalas (including my old friend Waldo) munched away on their favourite eucalyptus leaves preparing for the photo session they were about to be subjected to. The kids love them and to be honest so do I – Koalas are such an iconic part of Australian culture!
Go Karts - If you think that the Quads aren’t good enough and you need some closer wheel to wheel racing then drop into the Go-kart track for some superb tarmac action. Bre and I love a bit of competition and what better place to test each others’s mettle than with these single-engined little rocket-powered rollerskates. We’d spent the day filming with Beyond TV and ended it off with a quick head to head around the track…except that I’d been set up well and truly with the slowest accelerating car in the garage. Bre took the title.
Of course time back on the island, in between the trips up and down the reef, is also time to catch up on the blog and do the usual household chores….like doing the washing:
Location: Long Island, Whitsundays
Weather: Sunrises, sunsets and sunshine
We made it back to the mainland for what would be Jon’s last morning before departing back to the UK but I had one more fun activity for us to do before he finally left. Kayaking.
Salty Dog Sea Kayaking operate out of Shute Harbour and with their fleet of brightly coloured sea kayaks they run trips around the Whitsundays from half to a few days on the water. Today we’d only be having a brief taster of what was on offer – perfect for Jon to go home raving about but just another teaser for me as I mentally prepare for my own kayaking expedition sometime next year.
Once we’ve had our PFD’s (Personal Flotation Device), paddles and dry bags issued we slide our sleek machines down and into the clam, blue waters of Shute harbour. My image of a harbour in the UK is one where there’s boats moving in and out the entire time on grey/brown water – this is very different, there’s fringing reef (coral reef that’s all around the Whitsundays) almost as soon as we leave the slipway, clear blue waters with the occasional turtle popping its head out of the water and beautiful islands dotting the horizon!
Our trip takes us out into the Whitsunday Passage with the destination being White Rock (after trying to find White Rock on Google Maps it appears that the photo which was taken actually has another group of kayakers there already!) a few kilometres to the southeast, the smooth waters making it easy progress for our group of novice kayakers, all of who seem to be having a great time. As we put the final few paddles in the sound of our hulls on the coral strewn beach signals our arrival, we clamber out of the kayaks and make our way up the beach for some shelter from the baking sunshine.
It’s a great perspective on the islands travelling like this – moving along the shoreline closely and slowly which allows you to hear, smell and see everything up close in comparison to sailing or cruising past. The stable kayaks perform well in the hands of the beginners even when the waves start to get up as we join the windward side of the islands.
A morning session can fly by and before we know it we have to head back to the HQ at Shute Harbour, leave our kayaks behind and walk to the ferry. Jon’s part in my great adventure is over for now and we bid a sad farewell as he gets on the ferry back to Hamilton Island where he’ll catch a plane later today.
End of kayak location: Shute Harbour
Distance travelled: 10kms by kayak
…AND LATER THAT DAY…
Location: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach
Weather: Sunshine but the winds increasing! 28ºc
After a quick bit of shopping and my three-monthly haircut in Airlie Beach Bre and I raced down to Abel Point Marina (where we seem to have been a thousand times in the last few weeks) and prepared to board a very different type of vessel for a night away on the water.
Forget backpacking, forget 2* accommodation, forget bunk beds and hammocks – this is THE way to travel when on the ocean – The Descarada is a 70ft motor yacht spread across three levels of luxury living, there’s jetskis and kayaks strapped to the upper deck, a massively comfy double bedroom to stay in and staff who make you feel very at home from the moment you walk down the pontoon!
The Descarada was originally designed to cruise around the world by a very rich man who never ended up doing it – why would you build something like this then back out, very bizarre. As a result she has huge 14,000 litre fuel tanks which would have enabled her to travel from Australia to Canada without refuelling – can you imagine doing that journey, what fun!
After a quick RIB ride out of the marina to meet the Descarada Ken, Adrian and Heidi gave us a quick tour of the boat, everything’s so smartly trimmed and luxurious from the teak-look decking to the plush thick carpets which makes you feel like your riding a Rolls-Royce of the ocean.
DescaradA-Boat-Levels
The standard trip onboard goes wherever the client wishes throughout the Whitsundays and usually happens over either two or three days but we’ll only have a night to enjoy the pleasure it offers. Ken powered up the two 150hp engines and set a course due east towards Hook Island and as the sun went down Bre and I headed to the fly bridge to watch the it drop below the horizon feasting on the nibbles we’d been brought to enjoy.
What’s on offer here is a sedate, relaxing type of cruise which allows you to unwind, take in the natural beauty of the area and kick back – book reading, blog writing and sunbathing are the order of the day. However if you want something a little more energising then the kayaks can up the pace, or for the next step up there’s the jetskiis.
Heidi cooks up a storm in the kitchen sending smells through the lower reaches of the boat which entices us up from our room in time for dinner. On the menu tonight are nothing less than huge green-lipped New Zealand mussels in a white wine sauce, rib-eye fillet steak and to finish up crunchy-topped crème brulee! Again I have over eaten…
The wide screen TV provides Bre with the entertainment she’ll need for the night as ‘Blood Diamond’ becomes the focus of her attention as I battle with the latest script for the blog trying to summarise the last few day’s entertainment. As the credits roll so are my eyes in a battle to stay awake so we trudge downstairs to our perfect little room and bed.
Sunrise is just after 5am and as the first light penetrates the porthole I clamber down the ladder and out onto deck. This is the perfect start to the day, Ken the skipper silently cruised us into a sheltered inlet off Hook Island last night and dropped anchor and there’s a beautifully picturesque start to the day.
Breakfast is served on the rear deck consisting of a full fruit platter and Eggs Benedict. Our morning is to be horribly short as its time to head back to the mainland ready to head off on the next chapter of the Best Job adventure – can’t we please stay just another day here onboard?!
As we slowly cruise into Abel Point marina the end we say our goodbyes to the crew and once Ken has expertly guided the Descarada into its berth we make our way up the pontoon…the end of another luxurious experience.
End of day location: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach
Distance covered: 65kms through the Whitsundays
I’ve just got back to the Blue Pearl after a fantastic inaugural Hamilton Island Triathlon which finished earlier this morning. It’s was the first such event on the island with some very famous names and around 100 people entering making it a superb morning’s work!
The week of sporting activities started off with a series of workshops hosted by some of the sporting world’s greats including:
Miles Stewart: Former World Triathlon Champion and duel World Record Holder. Miles can be found in the Guinness book of records for the fastest triathlon time in the world
Stephen Widmar: Former Australian Swim Coach of the year and coach to Olympian Jessica Schipper
Michael Bohl: Current Australian Swim Coach of the year and coach to Olympian Stephanie Rice.
Victor Popov: Sports physio to Stuart O’Grady, Robbie McEwan, the Brisbane Lions and now the Russian Cycling team.
Brad Hiskins: Ten World Championships with the Australian Triathlon Team. Four Olympic Games with two of them as Head of Service for Soft Tissue
Louise Bell: Nutritionist to the 2008 Australian Olympic Team
Dan Atkins: Queensland Junior Elite Head Coach and QAS Metro Coach
I stupidly decided to go waterskiing last week and in the process caught a ski and ripped the abductor magnus muscle on the rear of my right leg resulting in some heavy bruising and making it almost impossible to walk up hills. This would obviously have massive repercussions for my triathlon event.
After consulting the man himself, Victor Popov, he told me I’d be able to compete in the swim section of the tri but not the bike or run. Damn it, I’d been training for a while for this.
It left me with the 750m Ocean Swim on Whitehaven Beach as a practice for todays event, dragging one useless leg wouldn’t be easy so I opted for the shorter race instead.
I did ok for a first ocean swim you know, there were real Olympians, triathletes and fitness gurus all around so my level really would have no impact on the podium positions but I did manage to win my category of 30-39 males!
It was a cracking day out with perfect weather and around 130 swimmers, all of whom made it to the end of the course and looked happy but tired at the end. The 750m swim was won by Luke Henry with a time that was 5 minutes quicker than mine. Wow and well done!
The 2km event which was for the real athletes took the winner 23 minutes and 11 seconds to complete – Oh my goodness I have along way to go!
Onto todays event, the sprint distance triathlon made up of a 750m swim, a 20km bike ride and a 5km run, which I still entered but only the swim section. I’d managed to recruit a great cyclist, Evan Coddy and a Hamo runner, Sophie to make up the sections of the event which I now wasn’t allowed to do and so suddenly we all were one of the mixed entry teams in the competition!
After a superb swim to start the tri of 750m (which I completed in a minute less than at Whitehaven on Friday) I handed over the timing chip to Evan who raced away on the bike gaining on the field with every turn of the pedals! The handover to Sophie went perfectly and after a strong run down the sandy finish she came over the line to huge applause from the crowd.
The location of Hamilton Island is perfect for a sprint distance triathlon such as this, the course offers a warm water ocean swim, a testing bike circuit (the only one of its kind which utilises an airport runway for part of it) and a gruelling hill climb run. Next year the event will be even bigger and better but a huge thank you and well done to all involved in the events conception and delivery – I loved it and have vowed to be back next year to compete in the entire event.
First of course a few facts and statements about helicopters and flying:
The only time you have too much fuel is when you’re on fire
When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No-one has ever collided with the sky
Never fly the ‘A’ model of anything
Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there
If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it’s probably a helicopter – and unsafe
If helicopters are so safe, how come there are no vintage / classic helicopter fly-ins?
A helicopter is a collection of rotating parts going round and round and reciprocating parts going up and down – all of them trying to become random in motion
There are a few things which really get my blood pumping, the adrenalin flowing and the cold sweat trickling down the back of the neck….the anticipation of flying in a chopper is one of them…the anticipation of actually flying the chopper does ten times that! Taking up the other two seats in the helicopter were the journalist Ian Woods from Sky News and his cameraman….be afraid boys be very afraid!
After a short postponement due to Hamilton Island Race Week getting in the way of the previous engagement my meeting with this beast of a helicopter, the R44 Clipper, was back on. I drove down to the offices of Hamilton Island Aviation where Des from Heli-Biz was waiting for me and as I made my way out onto the runway other belly-poppers (as the B.F.G. used to call them) were swooping low over the tarmac, the pilots all expertly maneuvering their machines around…time to perform Ben.
I climbed into the cockpit of the R44 and strapped myself in, the sun beating down through the vast glass area adding to the unnecessary heat my body was already suffering from in the build up to my big moment. Des went through his pre-flight procedures meticulously, started the air-con much to my delight and wound the rotor blades of the chopper up to operating speed. This was really it….
As we left the surface of the runway Des turned to me and started to go through the instructions….”this is the cyclic, hold the controls lightly in your fingers, keep the ball between the two lines and head in that direction” – ‘What me…now” came my none-too confident answer.
I held the controls and gently worked the stick until I had the balance of this great flying machine, slowly bringing up the height of the chopper as we cleared the boundaries of Hamilton Island leaving it getting smaller in the distance. As we made over the Fitzalan Passage, Whitehaven Beach started to come into view (voted Queensland’s best beach and understandably as it’s amazing!) and I adjusted out flight path to make for it….this was turning out to be a much longer go at the controls than I first thought….wicked fun!
As we cleared the end of Whitehaven Beach Des again too the controls, gained around 1000ft in height and told me to hang on, here comes the demonstration! We commenced a tight sweeping spiral turn coming back around onto ourselves three times dropping the nose down towards the ground each time with my stomach and head were spinning and the fast approaching ground – this was the way to fly a helicopter, incredible.
Back at the controls now we turned back towards the mainland and gained height over Whitsunday Island passing the highest ridge before the ground dropped away into the ocean once more. As I settled into the role Des turned to me and said “Ben maybe you could grip the controls slightly lighter than you are now?”, I checked my hand and the whites of the knuckles were showing clearly! It’s totally weird trying to control something so powerful with just your light fingertips….I changed my hold but ten seconds later was back to the old ‘fish-strangling’ position!
Ten minutes later we were passing up the passage to Shute Harbour and across the mangroves which signalled the approach to Whitsunday Airport, our destination for the end of the flight.
Now they say that the hardest thing about flying a chopper are the take-off and landing….I was about to find that out. With Des still reluctant to take the controls back from me he talked me through the basics of hovering this lightweight bumblebee. It’s a combination of three different controls just to hold it in one place!
You know the game where you rub your belly whilst patting your head??? It’s like that but with the added bonus of trying to keep a football up in the air using your feet at the same time….i.e. Damn difficult.
A couple of minutes and tail drops later Des came to his senses and took control of our chopper and gently brought it to rest on the ground outside the hanger – one day I will learn to fly one of these for real but for now this one will have to do….
