Portside Whitsunday Airlie Beach

... water didn't seem quite so tempting after that. To combat this and ensure we still could snorkel and enjoy ourselves we were issued a stinger suit...........Let me paint a picture for you an all in one (grandad style)baggy nylon suit that you had to wear everytime you took to the water... I did not take a photo of this as it would upset the strongest of stomachs...the only consolation is that everyone had to wear one.

We had a good time ...

At first I didn't think I cared too much about sailing, but then after a bit of consideration, I thought "Beth, are you crazy, sailing through the Whitsunday Islands is sure to be a major highlight of the East coast trip." That's right I talk to myself in third-person. I think the reason for my initial lack of excitement is that I didn't have too many expectations about it, which I actually prefer. Too many times I've felt a slight disapointment because something didn't live up to someone ...

... sac pour ma croisière dans les Whitsundays, fait quelques achats et chiller au Lagoon. En fin de journée, je me suis dirigé à la Marina qui était le point de rencontre pour le départ en catamaran sur le « Pacific Star ». Malheureusement, le nom du bateau est un peu « boboche » considérant le plaisir qui m’attend pour les 3 prochains jours. Un nom comme le « Swedish Penish » (Ce nom est spécialement pour Yannick – tu remarqueras que ...

... and we went out into surfers that night too. we met a couple of deans friends from uni who are there for a while so we had a good time. ja took us and troy and taif to wet n wild for the day. we had a great day and went on everything several times! ja really showed us a great time so big thanks if you are reading!!

we left the comfort of ja's house and flew up to proserpine where we are now. we got the bus from the airport to airlie beach, where it was raining to no ...

... there can be up to 100 different colours at any one time. We then walked back down to the boat and went across to Whitehaven beach where we had some lunch and spent a couple of hours at the beach. The boat which we were on was able to get 60 cms from the bottom of the sea so we were really close to the beach. The sand was amazing and it is illegal to remove any as it has unique properties. It was really good for exfoliating and cleaning jewelery so Celia managed to get one of her rings ...

... time. The cabin I shared with Juliet was right up at the bow, the two beds were in a V shape where they fitted the shape of the bow, and we had about 12 inches of headroom. The trip was great despite this, and despite the crew's less than enthusiatic people skills. At night we'd drop the anchor in the shelter of an island, it was very dark out there on the water, and I've never seen so many stars in my life. I can't describe how many there were, I could see the Milky ...

... us a spare stuffed pepper and it was delicious :)
That night we had another gooned up night in the hostel - nothing too mad - I think we went to sleep about 11... we had to be up early......

Fraser Island - camping on a sand island
At 7am we were given our keys to our BRIGHT PINK 4x4 and another safety briefing... off we headed.... me and Mariana, 2 French, 3 Irish girls... as usual I was the oldest by far (I have started lying about my age as nobody believes I ...

... is a bit of a meat market is an understatement; the only things that seem to happen here are drinking and flirting – it's a bit like Kuta in Bali though with European backpackers instead of Aussie. Tacky and loud but fun for a couple of days. We were unfortunate to have beds in a dorm overlooking the bar which is the main night spot for the area so incredibly loud, especially as it was footy weekend so all the footy boys were out on mass.

Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia rachandstu

... told us that when racing it could reach 20 knots! That’s hard to imagine as even at 10 we were sometimes leaning at a 45 degree angle and holding on very tightly. All in all a very good day.

The following day I drove to Dingo Bay which is supposed to be a picturesque family beach, unfortunately the wind was very strong as it had been during my whole stay here and the tide was so far out that you could hardly see the sea. I sat on the beach for a few minutes but ...

... fell. We were then reunited with the twelve from the longer sailing trip, who certainly had some interesting anecdotes to tell over dinner about what happens when a medium size group of people are cooped up in a small yacht for 48 hours with no shower. From all accounts it would make a perfect reality TV show.

It’s a weird thing to feel like a stranger in your own country, and in the bar after dinner I felt it deeply ...