Sailing and Sunshine (thats a joke!)

We arrived on the bus at Airlie beach and had to go straight onto the boat for sailing round the Whitsunday Islands. The boat we were on was called the British Defender, 40ft racing yatch that had been round the world a few times. They was 26 people on board including Ti, Landy and Maura who we'd done Fraiser Island with. There was also a guy on there from Chatham who'd lived in Maidstone so it was quite weird when we started reminising about nights at Strawberry Moons. It was so much more relaxing than camping, we got waited on hand and foot by the crew and the food was great, don't think anyone on board had eaten so well for months!!

We sailed to Whitsunday Island, which is the biggest in the group and moored in a bay there. It was all so beautiful and it great sunbathing on the front of the boat with nothing to do but have a glass (or 4) of wine. Most people slept out on deck that night but it started to blow a gale and pour it down and everyone went back downstairs except Ti and I. Im so glad i didn't as it passed over quite quickly and i woke up to watch the sunrise, which was stunning with so many colours. However, I heard these noises which sounding like someone snoring really, really loudly which started to freak me out. But, Max one of the crew members told me to look over the side of the boat and i saw loads of giant turtles surfacing after spending the night underwater. The noise was them taking a huge breathe after beng down so long. They were so big, really cute and looked so prehistoric.

Very early that morning, we got taken across to shore then walked to Whithaven Beach. Here, we had to put on our Stinger Suits as it is Jellyfish season and the chances of getting stung are pretty high. They look great on, honestly!! We swam out a bit and saw a Mantaray, a sand shark and quick a few jellys. We took a walk up to a view point where we saw the whole bay. The sea from here was so many difernt shades of blue and looked amazing in the early morning sun. Thats when the rain started!

We got back on the boat and sailed to another island where we squeezed back into our stinger suits to go snorkelling. The coral there was so beautiful, thousands of different colours and hundreds of tropical fish, some tiny, some i swear were bigger than me! Its the first time Trev had snorkelled and he did not want to get out the water! It was much more stunning than when i did it in Thailand and couldn't wait to do it again. We sailed round to another Island called Hook Island and again jumped of the boat to snorkell again. We didn't think we'd see anythging much different but here there even more sea creatures, practically every character from Findng Nemo was there and the colour of the coral was even more unbelievable. After having to drag us out the water, we moored for the night again, where the majority of the group slept out on deck, even though it still hadn't stopped raining since leaving that morning! Overnight, the winds had picked up so we wern't aloud to sail home but had to motor which was a real shame as the sailing we had done had been really cool.

After arriving back, we booked into our hostel and got ready for the group night out which was so fun as everyone on board got on so well. Next day, it did not stop raining and then we got the Cyclone warnings! Don't worry parents, grandparents etc its still out at sea and only a Catagorie 1 which is nothing really. Great excuse to stay in bed though when you've been out the night before when its raing, makes you feel less guilty! We got the worst bus in the world to Cairns that evening, it was damp and the arir con didn't work properly, the buses in Thailand were a hundred times better than the Greyhound ones here! The Cyclone warnings come even earlier in Cairns so we'll be very safe. We only hope that it doesn't hit when we're supposed to be getting the plane to New Zealand!

Well, think thats it, we'lll prob do the next update in NZ and tell everyone what we've been up to in Cairns, hopefully a dive in the Barrier Reef if the weather holds out.

Love to hear form everyone soon

Kim xxx

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