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Published: March 26th 2007
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After a horrific 13 hour nightbus, where I was forced to watch Dr Dolittle 3, we finally arrived in Airlie Beach.
We got our free shuttle bus to our hostel (Koala's) and at 9am all we wanted to do was go to bed. However with a late check in time we headed out for some breakfast and a nose around.
Airlie beach is a small place with most backpackers using it as a stop over before and/or after a trip around the Whitsundays Islands. In between the beach itself and the main high street there is a gorgeous man-made lagoon, where you can go for a dip anytime.
The morning that our boat departed we had a very brief briefing, we headed off to the harbour. With our stinger suits, scuba gear and goon in hand.
When it eventually came to getting on our boat it started to rain, and somehow in the crowds Jen and Alys almost ended up on the wrong boat.
The boat (Pride of Airlie) looked really nice but at first glance looked a bit full with the 60 odd people who were there. After our safety talk and a lecture about not putting
tampons down the loo that seemed to go on for hours, we finally set off.
After finding ourselves and our new friends Laura and Katie (from London) a spot to sunbath all was fantastic. We were tucked away underneath the back sail, and although we couldnt stand up it was great!
We headed for South Molle island which was where we would be staying for the next few nights. It was happy hour when we arrived so obviously we got some drinks in, and started to play some new games that we had picked up along the way. After dinner the bar turned into a dance floor and we spent most of the evening there.
However the next morning we did all regret our decision to stay up late. Today we visited Whitehaven Beach which is one of the most famous parts of the Whitsundays. This is the beach where people take their jewellery to polish it in the sand...or so im told.
The sand is so white I felt like I needed to wear sunglasses to look at it!
After a day of chilling on and off the boat we headed back to the resort
where we went for a dip in the pool. I headed back to my room and as I was sorting through my things I found the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. My bed had bed bugs and lots and lots of them! It was sick! I went to reception to complain and eventually managed to get our whole dorm upgraded even though mine was the only one with bed bugs.
Me and Jen ended up in a double room with an ensuite, although we ended up sleeping on Alys and Lauren's floor as Ronnie (mine and Jens pet lizard) started to freak us out too much!
After a night sleeping on a solid wooden floor, we got back on the boat and headed off to our snorkelling destination. We jumped off the boat and in the process Lauren's snorkel sank.
Me and Lauren both got really freaked out when we could feel fish swimming around us and one of the crew members was attracting them even more buy feeding them. So Lauren quickly swam to shore whilst I jumped into a smaller boat. Once I had seen the fish and I realised they were small and very pretty
I wasnt as scared so I got back in the water. Shortly followed by Lauren who managed to conquer her fear of fish, in the end after a slight panic we did all really enjoy ourselves.
That night we were back in Airlie Beach so we went out for a drink and ended up bumping into a friend of ours (Harriet) who Lauren and Jenny had gone zorbing with on our way to Brisbane.
The rest of our time in Airlie was spent hanging about by the lagoon, before getting a long day bus to Cairns. This was our last Oz experience bus.
When we eventually got to Cairns we checked into the YHA which is lovely and located right opposite a shopping mall. Yes I have bought a new dress, but it was in the sale so that makes it ok!
I woke up the next morning to find that Lauren and Jenny had booked a skydive 5 minutes before and we needed to leave immediately! We threw on some clothes and jumped in the minibus, seeing the float back down to earth and watching their hilarious DVDs has made me want to do it even
Me in my sexy stinger suit
Yeah i know i look awful but i looked better than most! more!
The rest of the day flew by and we booked a snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef for our last day in Cairns.
We had to get up pretty early to catch our boat to the reef. Our first stop was near an island which was 90% populated by birds (there was millions!!!) and we were one of the few boats allowed to snorkel in this area. We were snorkelling for a couple of hours which was amazing and we saw lots of colourful fish and loads of coral, some of which us geography geeks did recognise! We swam back to the boat and ended up at the front of the lunch queue, which then enabled us to have first pick of where to sunbathe!
We the headed off to our 2nd destination which was literally in the middle of the ocean (which was pretty scary) I think it was called paradise reef. We found nemo and his daddy brushing through the anemone. And we also saw what i believe to be called Hump head parrot fish (Olly may correct me on that one) which we all remebered learning about in Geography.
It was so amazing to
actually see it in real life especially after watching so many videos and its so sad that in 10 years it may not be there anymore!
Once we got back we got ready to go out for a meal as it was our last night in Cairns and for Lauren pretty much the end of our trip together. (And also because we wanted an excuse to dress up).
Were heading down to Sydney for a few days before we all jet off to different parts of the world again!
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