Australia

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A continental was served from 7.30am with a hot option from 8am. We could already tell we certainly weren’t going to go hungry on this trip. After eating well, the anchor was raised and we set off around the corner for our first snorkelling stop.

Thierry, the French dive instructor, was hilarious and had us in fits as he rambled on about safely when snorkelling. Matt had been tempted to go out for a dive but had decided to hang back and wait til we got to the Barrier Reef itself, seeing as the coral at Lady Musgrave Island hadn’ t been that impressive. It was lucky that we’d brought our own fins because we found out that the Magic was an eco boat which meant that they don’t provide fins in order to protect the coral (we were allowed to wear our own though so long as we were careful not to kick the coral).

The snorkelling was to be done from a little beach at Luncheon Bay and we weren’t the only ones with the same idea. There were already plenty of boats dotted around the bay transferring their passengers in little dinghies. Our transfer boat pulled up alongside the Magic, and one by one we descended the ladder into the rubber boat with our arms full of snorkels, sunblock and towels. We were decked in our attractive full length stinger suits which were really just long wet suits. They’d already warned us that without them we wouldn’t be getting in the water.

The short boat journey was a hot one. The sun was beating down and it didn’t help that we were in our wet suits. We became more eager to jump in by the second. As soon as the boat left on us a small patch of rocky beach, we dumped our towels and got straight in.

It was great getting back in the water again. We swam out together for once, maintaining the buddy system you are supposed to adopt. The visibility wasn’t as good as we’d had in other places, but that could have been because there were lots of people swimming and churning up the water. The coral was better than we’d seen at Lady Musgrave and there were plenty of fish darting around. However, there didn’t seem to be the variety of fish that Fiji had and also those that were present weren’t quite as colourful.

We both loved the feeling of stepping back into another world. It was also very exciting trying out our new snorkels - they worked perfectly and for once I didn‘t keep breathing in mouthfuls of saltwater. I liked the fact that Matt’s snorkel had a luminous yellow top which meant I could spot him from a distance even if there were lots of other snorkellers around. Useful since he has a tendancy to wander off far away.

Having the wet suit on meant we didn’t get cold, so could stay out in the water for longer before the goosebumps appeared. I managed to get a bit of time for a lay on the beach in the sun before I got back in the dinghy to get back just in time for morning tea. I was ravenous after swimming all morning and managed to put away two doughnuts and two chocolate biscuits, still leaving enough room for the lovely buffet lunch which followed a short time later. Luckily Matt was dragged in in time for the buffet, otherwise I swear he’d have stayed out there all day. He likes his food but given the choice of food or snorkelling he picks snorkelling every time!

The afternoon was spent at a spot called Mackerel Bay. Boats rarely get chance to visit the snorkelling spot there due to the weather so Reggie had told us the previous night that we were lucky to be able to go. We certainly felt lucky as when we dived into the water straight off the dinghy, we saw some of the best coral we’d ever seen. There was an endless bed of all different types, and so many fish. I saw what looked like a big bit if plate coral just up ahead of me (the giveaway being that it is shaped like a plate) only to be confused when it started moving. I blinked and then realised it was a turtle! It swam away quickly over a reef and I lost sight of it. I gave chase, hoping to catch another glimpse and I tried to flag Matt down as I went, but he was a few metres away skin diving oblivious to my frantic pointing. I darted in the same direction hoping I’d be able to catch it up. Just as I though I’d got no chance of finding it again, I realised I was actually floating right over the top of it! The second it saw me it started swimming away again and this time it really did move too quickly to keep up.

Matt had finally caught me up and I managed to tell him through our special snorkel language what I’d just seen (it sounded something like ‘hurhle‘) it’s so funny that we can now understand each other perfectly underwater with a bit of plastic in our mouths!

My ear started aching (I’d been having pain in my ear after snorkelling since the start of the trip, and even wearing earplugs didn’t always help) so I decided that I’d seen my turtle and it was time to get out. I left Matt in the water while I got back on the boat and spent some time chatting, chilling out and topping up my tan. Matt only just made it back in time for the cheese and crackers for afternoon tea.

It was amazing how easily we slipped into life on board. Already we had a crowd of people we enjoyed chatting to, including Melissa who was from Vancouver Island, Hannah who was from Germany living in Adelaide on an exchange and Natalie from Manchester via Lincolnshire . There was also Tom and Laura - two vets from the UK who were doing a vaguely similar six month trip to us. It turned out that we’d been to some of the same places in Oz, NZ and Fiji. It was great being able to talk to other people who were travelling and to be able to share our experiences.

When we popped back to our room for a shower before dinner we were shocked at how hot it felt. After a cold (by choice) shower we had to get out as quickly as possible and escaped to the deck just in time for the tail end of happy hour. Dinner tonight was served outside on the shaded deck which was a relief as it was still hot even at 7pm. We grabbed a table and our glasses of wine (we’d already moved on from the happy hour cocktails!) and a few minutes late Laura and Tom came and joined us. Matt had lamb for dinner and I had red emperor fish, followed by a tia maria chocolate pancetta which was very tasty. As usual Reggie came out and showed us where we’d been and where we were heading on the map in between making us laugh a lot.

During our coffee course, Nat, one of the crew, came over and took Matt and I to one side. She explained that the aircon in our cabin had broken and they were doing their best to fix it. Having had a few glasses of wine we said no problem and really didn’t think about it again until we came to go to bed and were hit by a wave of hot air as we opened the door to our cabin.

The crew had opened the porthole for us but unfortunately as the air outside was hot and still it made no difference. Matt tried his best to prop the small desk fan up into the open porthole in an effort to blow the air around, but it really made no difference.

We dabbled with the idea of sleeping upstairs on the top deck as Nat had suggested this to us. Three cabins were affected by the air con problem and while finishing our coffee we’d seen at least one person making their way up to the sundeck with a pillow and blanket so we wouldn’t be alone up there. Instead we decided to try our best to sleep in the cabin using my now precious can of Magicool to cool us down when it got too unbearable. Matt felt convinced it was cooler with his head towards the porthole so he slept that way, and I resorted to soaking a t-shirt in the sink and laying it on me. After switching ends about three times in the night I finally dozed off around 5.30am.

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