Which means it’s been a full year since I was at Hamilton Island for Race Week. So I asked, begged and pleaded with my lovely boss to let me go back there to enjoy some time on the water honing my sailing skills and of course working at the same time.

“Ok Ben you can go if you do some work as the Tourism Ambassador whilst you’re there” came the reply.

Sounds like the perfect deal to me. When I get to the island in a few weeks time I hope to get out on the water with the professionals onboard Wild Oats XI – the four time winner of the Sydney to Hobart Race. I will of course be armed with my camera ready to film the action!

Hamilton Island Race Week is part of a much bigger campaign that has been recently launched by Tourism Queensland entitled:

Season of Sailing

It encompasses five events that take place along the Queensland coastline from early August taking in the following events:

• 6-10th August – Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race
• 12-19th August – Airlie Beach Race Week
• 20-28th August – Hamilton Island Race Week
• 3-7th September – Magnetic Island Race Week
• 22-24th April 2011 – Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race

There is something very special about being out on the water even if you can’t sail particularly well – just like me!  I’ve was lucky enough to gain my Competent Crew qualification with ‘Explore Whitsundays’ back in July 2009 onboard Another Fiasco. You can read all about it here

Then just before Christmas 2009, when Mum and Dad came to stay, we all cruised the stunning waters of the Whitsundays with ‘Whitsundays Rent-a-Yacht‘ – that blog can be found here

You don’t have to be qualified to do it and there are loads of places to try it yourself for the first time – I just hope I don’t look like a total prat when I head out with the big boys later this month.

Happy Sailing everyone!

The Whitsundays – picture perfect location and a sailor’s dream for the weather. Add to the mix one of the most famous yachts in Australian maritime history and you’ve got the perfect ingredients for a superb day on the water.

It’s been a busy week, so far we’ve hosted media from three different countries and today is another one, not so bad when you think we’ll be out enjoying their company from the deck of an old time racing yacht.

We all make our way across the Whitsunday Passage onboard Fantasea’s fast boat. Arriving at Shute Harbour we disembark and make our way along the jetty to where Ragamuffin leaves from. As we arrive we spot her straight away, she’s an imposing figure in the marina and easily the largest of all the yachts moored here, measuring in at 24 metres long.

George the captain is equally as imposing – with a huge Merv Hughes-style moustache his tough exterior soon melts away as he welcomes us onboard. The rest of the crew run through the basics we all need to know, the shorelines are thrown off and we motor out into Shute Harbour ready for a day’s adventure.

With 25 other people on deck there’s load of room to enjoy the sunshine and the usual crew tasks are handed out to us. First thing and most important in order to propel us to our first destination of the day, is hauling up the sails and Cameron (the host of China’s Getaway holiday program) and I have been picked out as the likely candidates for bumping the sail.

On more modern racing yachts this operation is done using grinding winches to take up the slack of the sheets (ropes to the rest of us!) but here on Ragamuffin it’s those good old tools known as your own hands. We take it in turns to haul in as much as we can until the sail is right at the top of the mast and ready to fill with air. Now that’s one heck of a feeling – shoulders burning, heart racing and the satisfaction of providing the power for today’s sail. Well almost.

The sail across the Whitsunday Passage is awesome, the wind is right up, the sun is out and we are flying! Spray breaks over the bow of the boat and we’re heeling over dangling our feet over the side to provide ballast – just like every professional sailor does.

The wind is still pumping so we head to one of the more sheltered bays on the leeward side of Hook Island, the second largest of the Whitsundays, and drop anchor to check out the conditions. They’re virtually perfect.

Ragamuffin offers the chance to SCUBA dive, which is unique for a day trip sailing adventure out of the Whitsundays. We stop in Mackerel Bay and get dressed up ready to head overboard and down into the depths below. I’ve dived here before with Islandive and it’s a good introduction into what the fringing reef of these islands has on offer.

We spend 45 minutes filming for the Getaway program which is great, the idea of bringing the media out here is to showcase the spectacle that is the Whitsundays gaining publicity for the area and hopefully making people think about it a a holiday destination.

The afternoon draws to a close far too soon and before we know it the sail is flapping in the wind and our course has been set for home. The sound of the water lapping on the hull is one of those things that’s so perfect about sailing, a noisy diesel engine just doesn’t do the same for me!

Once we’re tied up at the marina we bid our farewells to the crew and thank the for a very memorable day out on the water. Time to head back to Hamilton Island.

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

Distance travelled: 14,000ft straight down!

‘Frocktails’ Fashion Show – Friday night. Unsurprisingly I’ve never been asked to be a model at a fashion show before…with my super skinny legs (designed for speed and not looks!) and not-exactly model looks, I’ve been to watch a couple but never strutted my stuff on the catwalk. Tonight was to be very different as Bre and I had been asked to open the event taking place in the luxurious surroundings of Waters Edge apartments  where we were lucky enough to be staying and representing one of the fashion shops in the town, Airlie Beachworx who’d been kind enough to kit us out with some new threads ready for our modelling debuts.

With around 300 people in attendance the nerves were jangling a bit as we took our first steps down the red carpet, especially as at the last minute I’d been ushered into the make-up and hair chair to be worked on…..have a look at the photos and tell me what you think!

Sand Sculpting competition – Saturday morning

When I spotted this little challenge on the itinerary I shouted to Bre “we need to make a sand castle – what on earth shall we do?” Suffice to say we spent the next hour searching Google images for some inspiration and decided to try and construct a ‘Saltie’ or Saltwater crocodile….armed with a couple of printouts we descended on Airlie’s sandy beach front at 9am on Saturday morning armed with the desire to win! On arrival it seemed we’d got it a little wrong from the start….everyone had started bang on time and all we had was a pile of sand in front of us.

Around turtles, crabs and mermaids were already starting to take shape constructed by kids and parents all armed with buckets, sprayers, shovels and trowels – these people meant business and all we had were our bare hands! With three hours to prepare something we set about the task and formed the outline of our creation, built a huge pile and made the legs and tail but the problem came when we started to ‘finish’ the sand…hands do very little, sticks are just as bad and we struggled on until eventually our next-door neighbour leant us some equipment so we could finish the job off properly…now that’s a friendly proposition!

Once the time was up we felt we’d done ok….here’s some pics of the attempt. Sunday was the announcement and…by jove we won the adult section of the competition giving us a free dinner for two at Airlie’s top sushi restaurant. Perfect as it’s Bre’s favourite food!

Reef Festival Street Parade – Saturday afternoon

Fresh from the sand sculpting competition we brushed ourselves down, grabbed a change of clothes and made for the assembly area at the yacht club end of Airlie Beach where the trailers and floats were starting to mass ready to commence the culmination of the weekend’s activities….the carnival parade! Now as we’re filming a documentary for National Geographic throughout the Best Job experience the Producer and Cameraman James occasionally wants to throw something unusual into the mix to create a slightly more interesting program…today was to be no different.

I would be driving a golf buggy during the parade – not to represent Hamilton Island where buggies are the usual means of transport, but instead for Big 4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort where I’d been lucky enough to stay a few weeks earlier and who were sponsoring the event. This however is no ordinary golf buggy…this one has a massive frog head on the roof which is the logo for Big 4…then add to that the inclusion of a fancy-dress costume and I’d be passing through the streets of Airlie dressed as King Neptune with Bre as his mermaid. Enjoy laughing at the pictures of what was a brilliantly fun afternoon:

End of day location: Waters Edge resort, Airlie Beach

Distance travelled: 80 kms by helicopter, 250m on the catwalk and 3 kms by golf buggy! Very different!

An exhausting but brilliant day…

I’ve been staying at Big4’s Adventure Whitsunday Caravan Park for the last couple of nights and have had a grand old time since I arrived…from the moment I checked in and was driven down to my accommodation in the golf buggy. This is not just any buggy, oh no, this is one with a huge frog on the roof – the logo of the resort!

My condo is one of a number of types of accommodation available on the site but the vast majority of people choose to arrive in their own vehicles towing either a caravan or trailer tent. As I walk into my luxury Condo I instantly think how much my sister and her family would love to stay here, with a family of three this place would be perfect.

Around the site there’s so much for kids to do too with the focal point being a swimming pool and waterpark, there’s tennis courts, jumping pillow (try bouncing around on this thing for a while!) and in the evenings open-air movie screen and a children’s disco, at which I was the adopted DJ for the night.

At the beginning of my contract I’d asked Tourism Queensland to try and enter me in as many running events as they could during my time with them so I could maintain my fitness and today was one of those days.

‘Run the Whitsundays Great Walk’ has been organised for a few years by the Mackay Running Club and takes place in the Conway State Forest, located inland from Airlie Beach. It’s 29 kms of forest path with considerable rises and falls which mean the course can take around 1.5 times as long as a comparable course on the flat.

It’s an early meet in Airlie before coaches take the 100 competitors up into the forest to the official start of the race. I’m a little nervous for the first time in a few races as my training has been next to nothing over the last few weeks and the course is rumoured to be a pretty challenging route.

As we clear the start line the pack breaks up quickly with the front runners disappearing off into the distance, the tracks only wide enough for two runners and I pair up with a guy called Geoff who’s running at a similar pace to me…pretty slow; a cautious move to conserve energy for the inevitable tough parts of the race later on.

What a scenic run! Over creeks, through clearings, winding up the side of ridges and dropping down steep dusty paths – this is the sort of running I like. The km’s slowly tick by and I’m out there enjoying myself on this Sunday morning.

I leave Geoff behind and up my pace feeling more confident in my abilities as the race goes on. By the time I read the 25km sign everything’s going brilliantly and the downhill track starts back towards Airlie Beach, the site for the finish, I’m racing past other people here and bar the cramp which hit me in my calf as I dropped down the hills, it’s the best race I’ve had in ages even finishing the final kilometre at sprint speed.

My finish time of 2hrs 52 mins is just about as good as I could have hoped for as this is my first long distance race in a while, all in all, a very satisfying day.

End of day location: Airlie Beach
Distance covered: 29.5kms running through the forest