RIB

Rigid Inflatable Boat.
Imagine driving on the bumpiest of terrains when you feel the livers are being shaken out of you.
Now multiply it tenfold and you get a pretty good idea what chasing the waves  in a RIB is.
The first half an hour is exhilarating.Then it is NOT.And I had an hour of the NOT ride  there and  an hour and a half of the NOT  back.Where was it,you may ask.To the Whitehaven beach.
Now, I cannot swim,I can barely float,I sank in the Dead Sea where it is impossible to sink.But I did. My swimming is akin to my dancing.
So I never book a tour where a beach is involved, even though I love walking on the warm soft sand and where it is possible to walk to a beach,I do so.But the Whitehaven beach,one of the best in the world, I could not resist,thinking  the Ozzies keep it in a pristine condition [they do not,maybe because hardly any-one goes there.]
Only we docked in the Airlie Beach  port,where tenders had to be used. Why do the massive   ships go to ports where tenders have to be used,is beyond me,when there are hundreds of  other beautiful  ports  to visit,that  the big ships can dock in comfortably.There we were,the longest tender ride I have ever been on, 40 or so minutes from ship to shore.And The Queen Victoria absolutely not capable of handling this simplest of the operations.
We were an hour and a half late  to begin our "tour."That was unpleasant enough, And after the most torturous boat ride I was  hoping for  something wonderful to happen.What followed was   a  very unpleasant walk to the viewing platform from where the enchanting vista  of the Whitehaven beach opened up before me.Awful "ecological" toilets.Another most unpleasant walk back to the RIB.Quick  lunch.I had  an overcooked potato salad and overcooked  fruit de mer I could not stomach and handed back almost untouched. Luckily I took several pieces of red melon and pineapple,but there were far too few on offer and I did not go back for more knowing others may want some,too.Then I went on the beach,spread the towel and for 11 blissful minutes  soaked the sun trying to dry my completely wet shorts [I stepped from the RIB into the water up to almost my waist.]Several other people left the boat, most remained seated, waiting for us to turn  back.And that was the  promised  2 hours on the Whitehaven beach.