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Location: Coral Sea Marina, Whitsunday Islands
Today, we had another early wake-up at 6:30 and a delicious breakfast at 7:00 provided by our accommodating boat staff, Tom and Mal. Tom and Mal have both been accommodating and positive during our stay in the Whitsundays. From helming our ship, the “Eureka,” to providing delicious charcuterie boards, they have made our stay incredibly enjoyable. After breakfast, we dinghied over to the nearby Whitsunday island for our 5-kilometer hike. The hike brought us to the highest point in all of the Whitsundays, and it certainly felt like it. It took over an hour to get through the steep jungle, however, it was well worth it. The top of the mountain provided a beautiful panoramic view
f the nearby islands and the ocean. We soaked in the view and the sun for a little while, then began our descent down the mountain. The hike took us nearly 3 hours, and we certainly earned our lunch of sandwiches, egg salads, and tuna. Once everyone had eaten (and digested), we began our sail back to the marina for our last night on board. The sail was surprisingly peaceful, given the recent weather, and we made it back without any big storms. Once we were back, we docked, did laundry, and showered for our dinner in town. We dressed up for dinner, the girls in dresses and the boys in polos, where we all enjoyed our respective meals of burgers, steaks, and salads. We were met with a light rain shower on our walk back to the boat after dinner, but Steph and Amanda had the brilliant idea to run a final load of laundry through the dryer so we wouldn’t pack any wet clothes for our travel day tomorrow. We are now all relaxing in the galley and packing. Signing off for now, Skyler Brozyna.