Today I got out on the water with my good friend Eddie Safarik, one of the most brilliant photographers I know and conveniently the President of Queensland Sea Kayaking Club. He’s got a fleet of kayaks and very kindly is letting me test them on the water. Today we headed down to Manly, just south of Brisbane.

The weather was pretty perfect when we left the harbour, sun shining, no breeze and warm temperatures. The paddle across the bay to Green Island was easy enough, then we turned north and headed towards St Helena Island skirting around the reef systems which flank the islands. The occasional turtle popped its head up to see what the splashing was all about, the odd mullet jumped in front of us and everything felt good – not a bad way to spend the morning really.

We pulled up on to the beach at St Helena Island for a bit to eat, it’s tiring stuff this paddling you know. The island has rather a full and jaded history as for 60 years from 1867 it was home to hundreds of society’s outcasts, as on the land stood colonial Queensland’s foremost maximum security prison for men. The Island is rich in history and has a fascinating and colourful past. Eddie and I had a wander around the island noting the big information board which detailed the history and even as much as the names of the undesirables who were imprisoned here.

After careful examination I couldn’t believe my eyes – THERE USED TO BE A SOUTHALL HERE!!! Jonas Southall was one of the inmates on the island charged with the offence of Larceny (or theft to you and I) and sentenced to 8 months hard labour. I’m not exactly sure that I AM related to Jonas but my Mum is looking into our family tree to see if there is a link. As I find out more I’ll let you know.

With the wind starting to pick up we decided to make for home and headed down to the kayaks to ready ourselves. The passage across the bay was pretty tough, the headwind was blasting through at 15 knots and it took some concerted effort to get the hour crossing completed – I suppose I’d better get used to it, the next project for me involves ALOT of paddling. The reward for our efforts was pretty special – three dolphins rose out of the water just in front of our bows and dived below us – it’s moments like these that I live for!

St Helena Island is really worth a visit, the old buildings are a blast back into the past and make you totally aware of the circumstances under which the early prisoners lived, there is a daily cruise across from Manly to the island and tours can be taken to give you a better understanding of the islands history.

Since then I have emailed the Queensland Prison and Penal Historical Association for more information and they have been brilliant at supplying me with the information they have on the prisoner and it’s fascinating:

Prisoner No 583. Jonas Southall. Tried by the Chief Justice, Brisbane 18th May 1874. Crime: Larceny, Sentenced to 8 months hard labour. Build: Medium. Height: 5′ 6″, Complexion: Sallow, Hair: Black, Eyes: Brown. Age. 32.
Arrived St. Helena Island, Moreton Bay 16th June, 1874. Released 13th January, 1875. Native of: London. Left arm disabled, Religion: Church of England, Could read and write. Occupation : Miner.
Arrived on the ship ‘ SHACKAMAXON’

Who knows….I may have a family with a jaded past. Oh well we had to get to Australia somehow didn’t we!

Ben

Eddie was the official photographer for Tourism Queensland throughout the Best Job in the World and we always talked about the possibility of joining together at some stage for a paddle on the water as it’s a true love of his.

He owns a fleet of kayaks and so early on Sunday morning I jumped on my bike and raced across the city to meet him at his house. But halfway there disaster… a massive nail jams striaght through my tyre and….BANG…..PPSSSSTTTT….FLAT TYRE!! Darn it.

Plan no. 2 – jump on the City Cat and race along the river to meet him at Apollo Road jetty. He’s there to meet me in his superb Land Rover. Now I’m a die-hard fan of these great machines and seeing one there loaded up with boats was almost too much to take! The mission was on…

We drove up the coast to Redcliffe with me drooling at the feeling of driving in a Land Rover again (if you don’t know why then have a look at my trans-Africa website www.afritrex.com and you’ll understand – I lived in one for a year!) and pulled into the car park at Scotts Point and met up with a couple of Eddie’s friends from Queensland Sea Kayak Club. Once we’d unloaded the boats from the roof we ran through a few of the safety procedures and hit the water.

It felt excellent to be out there, the sun was out, the water was warmish and I could finally start to train ready for the expedition I’m planning for 2011 – to kayak the length of the Great Barrier Reef.

This is a winter’s day here in Queensland and there was no shortage of life around either with tiny fish all jumping at once in front of us, pelicans swooping low over the water and the occasional splosh as we caught a turtle off guard.

We paddled across the bay to Brighton into a pretty light headwind and then on the way back Eddie demonstrated his sail setup; something I will be using when it comes to my expedition as the prevailing trade winds will be behind me most of the way and will make the journey that much easier….hopefully!

It was a great afternoon and I learnt a heapload about how to fall out of the kayak and how to get back in afterwards, the basics of paddling effectively to conserve energy and lots more – brig on next week! So the next step for me is to join the Queensland Sea Kayak Club and to start attending some of their meetings, paddles and try to learn as much as I can. There are only 11 months until I hope to be on the water…

Back to work with the planning now…

Ben

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

bushed – 1. Lost or bewildered 2. very tired

semi – short for just about any word with the prefix semi-, but it is most likely to mean a semi-final competition (‘a footy semi’), a semi-trailer (‘he drives a semi’) or a semi-detached house

around the traps – Here and there; out and about: ‘We’re not exactly mates any more, but I sometimes see him around the traps’.

Location: Townsville, Queensland
Weather: Clear blue skies and sunshine, 30°c

Today’s the day I’ve been looking forward to ever since I knew sea kayaking was on the agenda two weeks ago. The idea of getting out on the water, doing some seriously hard paddling and exploring the coastline surrounding another of these amazing Great Barrier Reef islands gets my blood pumping and the heart racing!

An early start to the day in order to meet a journalist writing for a New Zealand travel magazine at the Jupiter Hotel, a quick half an hour interview and back to the Grand Mercure in time to meet Therese from Townsville Enterprise. Therese has been fantastic over the last couple of days, running here there and everywhere to ensure that I’m in the right place at the right time and she’s now turned into our driver to whisk us north to Dungeness, our starting point for the kayak adventure!

The winds gained in strength throughout the day so unfortunately the decisions been made to meet the group of kayakers we’ll been joining a little further up the coast than originally planned. Apparently the northerly winds too strong for us….shame I wanted a bit of a workout too!

Andy from ‘Calypso Spirit’ meets us at the jetty, armed with his 42 foot sports fishing boat fuelled and ready to whisk us up the coast towards Hinchinbrook Island to meet the team from ‘Coral Sea Kayaking’ who are already two days into their expedition. My experience is only going to be a taster of what’s actually on offer, normally the trip runs for seven days and travels up the eastern side of Hinchinbrook taking in the spectacular views that this very unique island has to offer.

Rugged Hinchinbrook

On the way we stopped off at Zoe Bay, a sandy little cove with a freshwater creek running into it – almost the perfect place to dive in the water and wash off the heat of the day…apart from the fact that there’s saltwater crocodiles in this part of the world. Tropical North Queensland promises a little extra excitement but this is one you don’t want to be messing with.

Hinchinbrook has a number of bush-walking trails across it and with limited numbers of people allowed on the island at any one time you can trek along them without seeing another soul all day. Our short hike took us up the rocks to Zoe Falls, a trickling stream running across granite rock dropping 65 metres into a freshwater pool below. At this time of year there’s hardly any water coming down but in the wet season this thing must seriously rage! Time was racing away and after a quick swim we headed back down the track to the boat.

After an hour cruising up the coast we drop anchor 300 metres offshore and spot six kayaks halfway up the Black Sands beach…this is what we’ve been looking for. As we’ve come up the coast of the island the scenery has been totally awesome and very, very different from any other I’ve visited so far – think Lord of the Rings, green forests leading up sheer sided mountains, rocky granite outcrops and then throw in a few sandy beaches along the way just to break it all up, it really is one of the most picturesque places I’ve been to so far!

Arriving on the sandy beach Dave, Craig and Michelle from Coral Sea Kayaking came down to meet us at the water’s edge, formalities out of the way it was time to work….no luxury five-star accommodation here, better than that we we’re in tents tonight and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me! After spending all of last year living in my tent as I travelled round Africa the feeling of waking up with the view through a tent’s window can’t be beaten. It was back to basics.

Beach camp

We’d missed out on the rest of the day’s paddling due to the northerly head wind and instead spent the afternoon on the beach meeting the other members of the expedition. I felt like a bit of a part-timer really, joining halfway through and also having to leave a day early. Trying to fit so much into this section of the Best Job adventure means only a taster of life on the ocean wave…for now.

Morning kayak park

As the evening drew in the smell from the busy kitchen started to percolate through the gum trees signalling dinner was ready and what a spread it was too…Moroccan lamb, cous cous and tabouli. Superb! Bush recipes, bush stories and bush flies gave me a taste of just how fantastic it is to be out in the wilds of Australia and, minus the bites, became the perfect end to another perfect day in paradise.

Spending the night under canvas means one thing, waking up with the sunrise and the very start of a new day. A dash down the cool sand to the edge of the ocean, a sharp intake of breath and a dive into the glassy, clear water – now that’s the way to wake up!

The kayaks are four metre ocean-going two-man expedition boats complete with storage lockers and a wide base providing masses of stability for even the least balanced paddler, I’ve used similar types in the UK but as they were only half the width wobbled all over the place leaving me fearful I’d stay dry. These are balanced and great fun.

We continued the paddle north making surprisingly good progress averaging nearly 6km/h and two hours later the call came from Dave that we’d arrived at our lunchtime stopover…or at least I thought it was just a stop for lunch but no, that was it for the day…how disappointing I thought we’d at least power on through the afternoon until our shoulders were burning.

After another great night’s entertainment and sleep it was back to the journey and paddling towards our final destination for this adventure, Cape Richards on the north western tip of Hinchinbrook. As we rounded the end of the bay I wished we could go on forever, slowly making our way along pristine coastline discovering new places to hop off and explore, but this chapter was done…..for now.

Kayaking has ignited the desire to do more in the future, much more. Once this crazy Best Job adventure is over my next project will involve more paddling (lots of it) and the Great Barrier Reef once more. Watch this space for developments.

If you enjoy the great outdoors, sleeping night’s under the stars and getting back to basics then you have to try this out. It rates up there with learning to sail as my best experience so far as the Island Caretaker!

Distance covered: 23kms by kayak. Awesome.
End of day location: Cape Richards, Hinchinbrook Island.

• Cockie/cocky – A small scale farmer. A cow-cockie is a dairy farmer
• Spear, get the – To be sacked
• on One’s Pat – Alone (Short for ‘on one’s Pat Malone: rhyming slang)

Location: Heron Island

Weather: Scattered white clouds and bright sunshine. Perfect day in my mind. 24c

There’s deserted islands….and there’s real deserted islands.

If I conjure up the image in my head of exactly what one would look like, I think white sandy beach, thick green scrub, clear blue sunny skies and a crystal clear ocean all around. That is Wilson Island.

...another stunning national park

As we neared the shore, half an hour after leaving Heron Island, Bec carefully navigated through the reef, which was becoming more obvious on the outgoing tide and powered us to a halt on the coral sands. Our hosts Nathan and Lynda met us (the local Island Caretakers) and what an office and back yard they have!

Back to a tent Ben!

‘Isolation’ is the name of our accommodation, a luxury safari-style tent on the western end of the island which overlooks the ocean, has our first hammock of the trip and gorgeous goose-down bedding. Somewhere, somehow I’ll fall asleep here, no problems.

There’s a maximum number of guests catered for on the island – 12! Each tent provides a sumptuous sleeping area for two people and there’s a communal day tent too overlooking the water.

The beauty of Wilson is the individuality of the place, you feel personally catered for the moment you arrive and even more so when you gather in the Longhouse for dinner – a hardwood open-sided building and the focal point to the evening’s entertainment where Nathan and Lynda conjure up a gastronomic delight with the limited kitchen they have available; two gas stoves, a gas-powered fridge and awesome wooden counters, plus the grandest of dining tables hewn from dark hardwood.

This is the 5* I like!

Where magic is made...

The Capricornia Cays, of which Wilson is one, support 84% of Australia’s Pisonia forests, which provide cover and shelter for breeding birds hence why they choose this island to bring up their young.

However during the flowering stage of the Pisonia tree, the buds are particularly sticky and this coincides with the Noddy, Shearwater and Heron hatchling season when the young wander from the nest, get caught in the sticky goo and die of starvation there. The body eventually falls to the ground acting as a natural fertiliser for the Pisonia tree. Cruel but extremely necessary for somewhere as nutritionally deficient as a coral cay.

Sunset drinks are tradition here as guests and the host gather on the western shore to share conversation, cheese and a glass of bubbly – awesome. It’s at this time of night that the immediate foreshore becomes a hive of activity too with a bait-ball of small fish racing up and down the beach furiously pursued by small reef sharks and game fish, the occasional group of them jumping clean out of the water in shimmering silver splashes.

Over dinner Nathan told us that on the sand cay in the distance there’s a catamaran which slipped its mooring in Fiji/Samoa, has drifted across the ocean and come to rest here on one of the hundreds of cays on the Great Barrier Reef – its been plundered of all goodies but remains there for now. I wish I had the energy to paddle the sea kayak there to investigate further – real pirate stuff!

Days can be spent as leisurely or actively as you want, the overwhelming feeling to sit on your ass and do nothing is something I initially struggled with – being the sort of person who can’t sit still though means Wilson becomes a playground instead. I tire myself out instead of just relaxing; head for a swim, then have a paddle, a walk around the island, a snorkel, work on the blog and then finally it hits me…….the urge to relax, arghhh at last! Slumped in my hammock Bre awakes me for dinner. The siesta is perfect.

Activities abound; sitting on the beach, kayaking around the island, bird watching and of course snorkelling – something Wilson is famous for.

Off snorkelling....looking like a right poser!

Almost like underwater fungi

The Wilson Bommie sits around 70m offshore and is well worth the swim from the island. A huge golfball shaped coral reef towering above the seafloor bustling with life; rays, turtles, squid and all manner of fish going about their individual business!

After an hour of snorkelling downwind, taking in everything below me, I’d chilled myself to the core and made for the island, looking up to search for Bre who’d joined me on the kayak. Where had she gone? I spot her in the distance a good 100 metres away, so I swim towards her and after a while look up again. This time she’s further away and not even paddling – I call out but there’s no response. Interesting what’s going on here!??!

After a good 10 minute swim I finally grab onto the handle at the back of the kayak, “What the hell happened Bre?” I ask. She turns round with a face like thunder “I couldn’t paddle this thing into the wind, so I gave up and was about to abandon ship!”

We look at each other and burst out laughing – I love her little stroppy moments! Clambering on board I grab the other paddle and together we make for the island, now a few hundred metres away, powering against the wind and swell we finally make it to the beach and lay on our backs soaking up the sun’s rays and laughing long and hard.

“Bye Bre” becomes the phrase of the day!

Fact about the Black Noddy Tern – it extends its wing in hot sunshine to kill the parasites on its body and then when it gets too hot changes to the other one. It has a white head to stop the brain overheating! Very clever.

Having lived last year in my roof-tent travelling around Africa I felt a huge connection and instant love for the accommodation here on Wilson; zipping up your door, watching the stars from the hammock, feeling the wind and air flowing through the tent, falling asleep to the sound of the ocean and awaking to the sound of the birds – all slow down the pace of life to what it should be, a pleasure not a grind.

Some people will say 'Boring island shot'; I say so what

If Robinson Crusoe had been lucky enough to wash up on the shores of Wilson Island and found it as we did, he’d still be there now absorbing it. Tom Hanks (in the film Castaway) would have joined him some years later of course – and finding it already named Wilson would have to choose a different name for the volleyball he befriended!

No need to tell the outside world where you are, far from telephone reception and with the ability to just disappear. The world and its problems can wait…..

Transport on and off the island

Of all the experiences and islands I’ve been lucky enough to spend time on over the last few weeks this was the hardest of the them to tear away from. As we stepped onto the boat and pulled away for the shore towards Heron Island, we sat and watched Wilson Island, our spiritual home for the last few days, get gradually smaller – wishing all the time we were just arriving, instead of departing.

End of day location: Heron Island

Distance travelled: 15kms