attack of the cashews

It isn't very often that I splurge and spend the money to take a tour, but when you're at Airley beach and the Whitsunday Islands are so close you can almost taste it (along with the beautiful Whitehaven Beach and amazing snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef) you have to suck it up and dish out the money. Because we are all on a pretty tight budget, we shopped around and found a deal for two nights and two days on a boat, plus two free night in a hostel (we got this through the tour desk at Beaches) which set us back $349 each (I asked around on the boat, some people paid $399 with no free hostel nights).

We were on Wings 2, which is not a “party” boat (you can find cheap boats that take you around the beaches and organize crazy drinking games all night too... but we thought that getting inebriated and the inevitable hangover would take away from the beauty of where we were) this boat was geared around diving (or snorkeling) sailing, and the beach (of course there was drinking as well, just not too excessive). The crew on board (there were three of them, the skipper, the dive instructor, and the cook) were all young (my age-ish) and fun, the other 21 guests on board were mainly aged between 18 and 30 (besides the one older couple... they were prolly in their 40s).

our boat

riding out to sea!

The trip was amazing (at least the first 3/4 of it). We sailed around (it was not a full sail boat, I can't remember what it was called, but it was more stable and spacious than a regular sail boat) chasing sunsets and sunrises (thanks to our friendly skipper), hitting as many snorkel spots as we could, and spending an afternoon at the beautiful world renowned Whitehaven Beach (apparently its the second nicest beach in the world... I'm curious what the first is because that place was incredible.. the sand is 90something% silica and doesn't burn your feet in the sun!). The weather was intermittently rainy and cloudy, and I am thankful for that... if it had been clear and sunny the whole time I think I may have gotten heat stroke (there was limited places on the deck that were out of the sun) we all got to cloud-tan and that was sufficient!

Kate, Alex, and me

Sunset

Whitehaven Beach

More Whitehaven Beach

The sand is really cool

From a viewpoint looking over Whitehaven

Snorkeling in the rain was a lot of fun... the sites we were taken to had the reef so shallow that you could easily chill at the surface and lazily watch the world underneath you (which was soooo cool... colourful reef, crazy looking fish, deep crevices... nothing I have dived before this was as interesting and colourful) but when it rains, the fresh water mixes with the salt water and makes it murky for the first two meters, so you are forced to dive down deeper to see all the good stuff. That's when you really feel like your doing something, holding your breath for as long as you can to swim beside that fish, or get a better look at that reef... that's where it gets challenging and fun! (and where I take a mouthful of saltwater because I momentarily forget that I am snorkeling not diving). The most exciting thing I witnessed underwater was a giant turtle eating a jelly fish (which apparently gets them stoned).

all ready to go snorkeling

In the evening the crew put together a slide show to show us where we had been that day, underwater pictures of the things we would have seen, and pictures of us that they had been taking all day. Then we were able to chill out on deck, have a few drinks, and watch the stars. I was surprised at how comfortable my sleep was (in such a teeny weeny bed)... the rocking of the boat was comforting like being rocked to sleep as a child (which was pleasantly surprising for me as I generally get sea sick).

watching the stars in the evening

Here's where the trip gets shitty... (get ready for the emergency trip back to shore)

My friend Alex has a nut allergy (which she CLEARLY stated on the form we filled out before we got onto the boat). The first night they gave us assorted cakes... right before Alex took a bite of hers she realized there were nuts in some of them (and they were all on the same plate). After that close encounter with nuts Alex took the time to explain her allergy in detail to the cook: what exactly she was allergic to (not peanuts, but all the other ones), what cross contamination is (duh), and how serious her allergy is (she could die). A few other allergy girls stepped forward to ensure she was aware of theirs as well (another nut allergy, and a coconut and pineapple allergy). The next morning there was pineapple on the fruit platter (pineapple girl was not impressed... no fruit for her). That evening we were enjoying our very yummy spaghetti bolognaise when the other nut girl stopped, looked at Alex and asked if she could feel it too. Alex's allergy takes a very long time to take effect (up to four hours) so she felt fine and thought maybe the nuts were in the other girls wheat free pasta (sometimes there are strange ingredients in things). The other girl went inside and soon after the cook came out, told Alex to stop eating immediately an come in. After investigating the ingredients, it was found that she had put tomato pesto in the sauce (which contains pine nuts and cashews).

don don don

The next couple of hours are a little blurry... it was stressful, it all happened at once, people were hovering and asking too many questions, and I was getting sea sick from staying below with my friend. Basically, because Alex's allergy can have such detrimental effects, knowing that it could be four hours before we know the severity of those effects, and the fact that we were two hours out to sea, we had to drive the boat in and get Alex to an ambulance. At this point, Alex was being her selfless little self and not wanting to “ruin everyone’s trip” (to which we told her to shut up, everyone will understand, and we are getting off the boat with her to take care of her) everyone on board was really supportive and kind (they were just going to go straight back out, so the only difference for them was they were driving through the night) the crew were great, the cook clearly felt awful (she was a really nice girl, just not properly trained to be cooking for 25 people... I mean, who doesn't know about cross contamination?? as well, she was new, and this was the first time she had dealt with allergies... personally, I didn't realize there were nuts in pesto... since I don't have an allergy, I don't notice those kinds of things... however, it IS her job to know) they were all very attentive and it was clear they all really cared about what was happening.

I was feeling very empathetic for both my friend and the crew... that is, until they made me sign something stating that I am voluntarily getting off the boat and am not entitled to any reimbursement of any sort (Alex and the other nut girl got full refunds, but as the friends, apparently we were supposed to stay on the boat and get drunk and go snorkeling the next morning while our friend is in the hospital) I don't think that I should have gotten a refund or anything, but I think it was pretty shitty that they had me sign that, I don't think they should have made money off of my trip, and I think that they should have done a little more to appease me. When we got off the boat, the manager of the company was waiting along with a paramedic. After checking Alex out the paramedic said that since she had people to care for her it would be more comfortable if we watch Alex for the night and phone immediately if things go south, rather than sit it a hospital all night waiting and watching. He insisted that we have a comfortable place to stay, and said that he would talk to the Wings management if we had a problem getting them to arrange and pay for that.

We were brought to a hostel and the Wings manger found someone to check us into a room, she told us that we had to pay a key deposit because she couldn't put that on her credit card with the rest (which suggested that she was funding our room for the night... you know, since her company poisoned our friend and we had to cut our trip short, and we had payed for a bed to sleep in that night). The next morning I went to sort out our accommodation (it was the same hostel we were getting two more nights in) ... that's when they asked for payment for Kate and I. ??? really ??? Alex phoned the company and gave them a piece of her mind (the girl was really rude) and after fighting with her, they agreed to pay for all of our nights (not without putting up a fuss because we had signed something saying we were not entitled to anything because we left “voluntarily”). When we went in to collect Alex's refund we got to speak with the owner. She was the first person to really apologies (besides the crew) but then turned around and stated that ALEX needs to be more careful with her allergy (???? really ????). And, we were entitled to nothing as the friends because the skipper didn't follow protocol (which is Alex should have left alone and taken an ambulance to the hospital and spent the night there... what ever happened to trying to do whats best for your customer?? Clearly going to spend the night in a hospital would have been far more traumatic than having your friends care for you... and who would stay on the boat when their friend is in a life threatening situation??)

We are really lucky... this could have turned out a lot worse. If there wasn't another nut allergy on board, Alex wouldn't have known. She would have eater four times as much as she did, she wouldn't have vomited up everything she ate, and she wouldn't have taken antihistamines (which we think is the reason she turned out to be ok). Basically, she would have gone into anaphylactic shock in the middle of the night and they would have had to get a helicopter to get her out of there. But, you know, according to management, Alex just needs to be more careful.