Whitsunday Islands

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We arrived in Airlie Beach after an overnight bus journey from Hervey Bay. Got about 2 hours sleep, it was so uncomfortable, and just as I fell asleep the driver would decide to make a stop, turning all the lights on and announcing on his microphone that we were stopping, therefore waking everyone up even though it was 2am. He would also play strange films at loud volume, so I don't see how anyone is meant to sleep.

So, tired in Airlie Beach we checked into our hostel, Magnums, not the greatest place I've stayed by far. The kitchen didn't even have hobs, and there were no table and chairs to sit and eat. Anyway, we were so tired so we got an early night in our 10 people dorm. Unfortunatley we had 10 Irish people in the dorm above us and they had a party from 8pm until 5.30am. So, no sleep yet again. The next day we met for our Whitsunday Islands sailing trip. We were sailing on 'The Pride of Airlie'. We set sail at 2pm to the most beautiful islands I've ever seen. Just lying there on the deck with these amazing islands passing by was like paradise. Apparently there's a big Hollywood film called Fools Gold being filmed on one of the islands at the moment, so we kept a look out for the stars, no luck though.

We kind of cheated on this sailing trip, as we didn't actually sleep on the boat. We stayed at a lovely resort on gorgeous South Molle Island, where there was free access to a pool, tennis courts and golf course. At night we had a great meal followed by drinking games and dancing. It was like a holiday within a holiday. I had an amazing time there and wished I could have stayed there forever. So during the day we went sailing, stopping at Whitehaven Beach which has perfectly clear powdery sand. When you swim in the sea you have to wear stinger suits, as there are lots of jellyfish at this time of year. Stinger suits are very unattractive tight fitting wetsuits, but as long as they protect you from going into intensive care we embrased the embarrasement, sorry folks, no photos of me in one of these!

We did lots of snorkelling and saw some amazing fish, stingray and even a turtle, which we tried to swim along with, but one kick of it's legs and it was out of sight. It was so beautiful and graceful.

So, the end of our 3 days sailing trip sadly came to an end.

Sara, one of the girls I'm travelling with has an old school friend who now lives in Airlie Beach, so she invited us to stay with her for a night. She lived right out in the country in the middle of nowhere. Her 'house' was an open garage which a huge extended covered area. There were no doors, it was just open to the elements, she has a resident frog called Gay who lives in her closet. All sorts of animals are around, and the toilet and shower is outside. Going from living in an English City to living like this was amazing. It was so relaxing, and a way of life I had never thought of.

Next stop Magnetic Island.

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Photos

Whitehaven Beach
Whitsunday Islands

Snorkelling
This is where I saw the turtle