Whitsundays!!

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Got up and packed up for the boat trip. Lucy and I had our first major row which was basically over the amount of make-up she wanted to take on a 3-day sailing trip! We were about 45 minutes late checking out and left the hostel in a complete mood, stormed down the road to leave our luggage at PeterPans, then had some breakfast by which time we'd sort of made up.

We met our group (10 girls and 2 lads) and got on the boat at Shingly Beach at 2pm. I think we were all expecting something a bit grander of the boat, it looked like a fishing boat! but apparently Marilyn Monroe once sailed on it, and if it's good enough for her ... Lucy and I had a "private twin" which meant we were sleeping right at the front of the boat, where the anchor is kept(!) in 2 minute little bunks that are tapered towards the end so that our feet met, and there was a hatch above our heads (which you'd always forget to shut when it started raining so your stuff got soaked!), but we were actually really lucky because some others were sleeping in the lounge area. It was all really cramped but good fun for a couple of nights, after that i would have wanted to kill someone.

We set sail and all sat up on deck chatting and trying to get our sea legs! Spent the night at a quiet bay called Shark Bay (apparently a hammerhead breeding ground) and had barramundi filets and salad for dinner which was the nicest meal I'd had in ages - cooked by Stefano the Italian captain/chef! I did all the washing up in the world's smallest sink and got a round of applause afterwards! Then we sat around on deck drinking beer and looking at the stars ... The other girls on the boat were all lovely and we all got on really well. Then off to sleep in our little den that was actually rather comfy!

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