The End..

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The boat trip to the Whitsundays was the perfect way to end my trip!! Was relaxing compared to the madness of Fraser Island.

Had to get an overnight bus to Airlie Beach. Wasn't too bad and managed to sleep most of the way. Got Airlie at 7am. Had nothing to do, so just wandered about like a homeless person until Travel Bugs opened so I could ditch my bag there and use their free Internet. After a bit Nat and Kim arrived too so wandered with them for a bit. Went to make an emergency doctors appointment as the foot had swelled up and was looking gammy yet again. Appointment was for the day I got back from the boat trip. Had to say goodbye to Nat and Kim :'( Will hopefully see them when they get back to the UK at Christmas. Then walked to the harbour to wait for the boarding of my boat. Eimear and Macha, two lovely Irish girls from my Fraser trip, were booked onto this boat too. Woop! It was beautiful. We went snorkeling that afternoon on the reef. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed, the reef wasn't as colourful as I was expecting and their didn't seem to much life about. Only stayed in the water about 10mins as it was windy and so cold!! Got out and sunbathed instead. The boat had 24 people on and 3 crew to look after us. Chris was the skipper, Fiona did the dive instruction and Katie kept us well fed. The food was amazing. As we ate our dinner on the back of the boat, two wild dolphins splashed about in the lights. Was magical! Looked for shooting stars, didn't see any. The people on our boat weren't exactly the life and soul of the party. Me, Eimear, Macha, Tasha and Lauren were the only ones that stayed up to have a couple of drinks. Everyone else went to bed at half 9! We didn't stay up too late though, and it's a good job too. We were all up and about at half 6 the next morning. Unfortunately 6 of us had to sleep in the kitchen. Me being one of them. The tables folded down to make beds and I had a bunk. Was fine as there was more room than down in the cabins. Although it meant when one person was up and wanted a cup of tea we all woke up. The next day we went to Whitehaven Beach. The sand is 98% silica, so super fine. We had a spa morning and exfoliated our skin and hair. So soft! It gets everywhere though, and for the second time this trip it had got stuck in my camera. Bugger. Macha fixed it though.. We also spent the morning taking silly pictures, jumping out of jars of vegemite and making human pyramids. Was fun. That afternoon we had the chance to go snorkeling. Me and the other girls really couldn't be bothered so spent the time in the sun chatting instead. Very enjoyable. No dolphins that evening 😞 On the last morning I went snorkeling at the new spot. So glad I did. It was gorgeous. The reef was so colourful and there were so may fish. Then we motored back to Airlie Beach. Cancelled the Dr's appointment as foot looked a bit better.

Had to hang about to wait for the next thrilling overnight bus at half 8 that evening. Luckily Eimear and Macha were on it too, so we kept each other entertained. Airlie beach at night had a wiff of the Magaluf about it. Was glad to leave! The next bus took us all the way to Cairns. Got in at just before 6am. Felt awful! Sat in pie face and downed two coffees. We then decided to see if the girls could check in to their holiday inn. They very kindly said I could stay with them instead of checking in to my hostel, which was a party place we're sleep was not an option. We had a nap as soon as we got into the room. Cairns was lovely. Really hot. We wandered round a market then went back to the holiday inn to chill by the pool. Perfect. Went out for a gorgeous meal that night. Had a proper holiday feel to it. Drank a couple of bottles of wine between us. I was knackered and had a headache so left the girls to go out and I went to bed like a loser! Was very conscious that I had to get up at half 5 the next morning to start my epic trip home. The girls got in at half 2, so I made the right decision not to go out, although I would have liked to have spent a bit more time with them. We've already arranged a reunion though, so it's not too bad!

I'm now in Hong Kong airport. Nearly home!! Can't wait to see everyone.

Big loves to all.

Xxxx

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