Week 6- Airlie Beach-Whitsunday's-Magnetic Island

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Week 6 was a busy one! The first day we just went back to the private beach and I got my first proper sunburn, somehow I forgot to put suncream on my stomach so it was super red but went down really quickly, thankfully. That night we made our own dinner of pasta,cheese and ham. Those who know me well will be impressed with all the new things I'm eating haha In the evening we just sat in the wifi point in our hostel and we looked up all the things we could do on our New Zealand trip and got super excited about going there!

The next morning we checked out and made our way to our boat for the Whitsunday's, The Tongarra. The two guys running the trip were Henry and Kyle and they were really friendly and told us everything we were going to do on the trip. We spent most of the time sailing out to where we were going to sleep for the night. Our boat was smaller and calmer than some of the other boats as we didn't want to go on a party boat. As we were sailing the sunset which was really pretty, although once the sun went down it was pretty cold. We had a really good dinner of Fish and Mash- me and Emily ate far too much! Then we continued sailing out further and all laid on the front of the boat, watching the stars which was incredible. I have never seen so many stars in my life and as we were lying there a shooting star went past!!! Then we finally anchored down for the night and we could hear lots of splashing, then Kyle came over with his torch and shone it in the sea and we could see loads of dolphins swimming about around our boat, which was really cool. On the boat we slept outside and as it got late Kyle and Henry put two big tent canopy's over the front and top of the boat and we all got sleeping bags and pillows to sleep outside, it was actually really warm!

The next morning was an early start and we had a nice breakfast, cereal, toast and fruit, before heading to Whitehaven beach. We had a short walk to get there and when we did I couldn't believe how white the sand was and how blue/clear the water was! Henry said it is voted the 5th nicest beach in the world. The sand is so fine that you can use it to exfoliate so we did before going in the water and our skin was super soft! The water was amazingly clear! We couldn't take our cameras because the sand is so fine it can get in them and they stop working, so Henry took his and took a few. We were able to stay there for a few hours before going back to our boat. It was definitely the best beach I've been to so far! (If you google it you will see!!) When we got back to the boat we had lunch, again I ate too much! Then we went snorkelling and saw loads of really pretty fish and a big fish which was circling the boat as I tried to get in! Emily and I stayed out the longest snorkelling and Kyle signalled to see if we were ok and Emily did the help signal by accident and Kyle panicked and got in the life boat but we shouted that we were fine and did the 'we're ok' signal which was hilarious! Then we had tea and cake after we got back on the boat and sunbathed until our anchor point. Then Henry suggested a rope game where you have two ropes looped round your hand which crosses over with your partners and you have to get out of it- it was impossible and he had to tell us the answer because neither pair who volunteered could get out of it! Then we gave Emily her birthday presents and had some drinks under the tent on the boat with the other people in our group. We played a few drinking games then as people started going to sleep we went to the back of the boat and played some music.

The Saturday was another early start and a light breakfast because we had to snorkel straight away. This time we went to a different reef with brighter coral, I had got used to snorkelling by now and was better at breathing so this snorkel was easier than the day before. Then we got on the boat and had a brunch before making our way back to Airlie beach. On the way back we sunbathed on the deck and then we saw a pod of dolphins swimming next to our boat. They were jumping out of the water only a few meters away. Kyle jumped off the boat and tried to swim over to them but they were too quick for him! We watched them for a while then carried on back to shore. Then we saw a fin sticking out the water and Kyle thought it was a shark but it turned out to be a big sailfish! When we got back to Airlie we checked into a new hostel, beaches. We got a $6.50 meal with our room and then got ready for the boat after party, it was Kyle's last boat trip so we said we would go!

On the Sunday we checked out and got a coach to Townsville, followed by a boat to Magnetic Island. We were staying at a Base hostel and the room was really nice, with a view of the sea! When we got there a guy was performing called Micka Scene, he was amazing so we watched him for a few hours. Then later on another band played and we watched them for a bit, everyone in the hostel was quite drunk but we weren't drinking- so it was funny to watch! We ended up chatting to a group of boys Robbie, Joe and Mike and their mates and they suggested playing a game called kubb that the hostel had, it's a Swedish wooden block game. I was on a team with Robbie and Mike and Emily and Alex were with Joe- my team won so we decided to play girls vs boys and the losers would have to do a forfeit. The boys were being all cocky because they had played loads of times before but we won by a mile!!! The next morning we got the bus to the koala sanctuary, it was so good! Firstly we were shown some turtles which we got to hold, the tour guy knew loads about Australia/animals so it was really interesting- he was also very non PC which made the talk amusing! Then we got to hold some birds and put a seed in our mouth for the bird to take out! Next we went to the wombat enclosure where we got to hold him, he was much bigger than I thought! Then we went to the reptile area and I loved it- definitely still want a pet snake!!! Got to hold a huge snake and loads of different types of lizards such as a frill neck. After that I finally got to hold/ see my FIRST koala!!! It was so cute 😊 The final part of the sanctuary was feeding the lorakeets. The woman on the tour casually said we could feed "some" .....she did not give any warning that there was about 200 lorakeets that would swarm down as soon as we entered the enclosure!!!! At one point I had about 12 on me, including my head and others that were fighting on my arm, it was hilarious!!! In the evening at our hostel we played boozy bingo which was the night on in the bar, it was a lot of fun, I was one away from winning in the first 2 games! Alex won the third round and got a free nights accommodation which was good!

On the Tuesday went for a walk on a trail called 'forts walk.' It was a nice walk with amazing views of the island. On the walk up we were looking out for wild koalas and we saw a mum and her baby in the tree which was so cute, the little baby was climbing all over her. then we saw another one on its own further up the walk. We climbed to different viewing points and saw old forts they used to use in the war. Then we climbed to the highest point on Magnetic Island, another amazing view! After we finished the walk we were all starving and the next bus wasn't for an hour so we decided to walk to the beach to get some good. We went to a Mexican restaurant and had burritos, they were soooo good but they were huge and we had bought chips to share so we were all stuffed. Then we got the bus back and had a quiet night, I made a few calls home and then we just chilled in our room.

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