Hi Everyone!

We arrived in Airlie beach on Sunday 6th December, excited for the 2 day 2 night Whisundays sailing trip we we're to start on the Monday. Our boat was called 'New Horizon' - a traditional sailing boat for 32 people as opposed to the fancy catamarans alot of people travel on - which Clare definitely preferred as it had shade to hide in!

We left the harbour late in the afternoon and set sail for the bay we we're stopping at that night which was about 3 hours away and close to Whitehaven beach. We got there just in time to see the sun set (pictures to come) and enjoy a delicious baked fish and mash dinner. Both nights we slept on the boat wherever it was anchored, and as girls we managed to get a huge double bed as there were less girls and the guys refused to share with each other - they had skinny singles where it was awkward to even roll over!

It was a very early start the next morning to make sure we were the first group on Whitehaven beach - 5.30am to be exact! After a short trek through a forest, and having to fend off way too many evil marsh flies we got to a lookout point with amazing views of Whitehaven's pure white sandy beach and crystal clear water. The pictures will not do it justice, it is the most gorgeous beach we have ever seen / been on! We finally made it down to the beach, and we're among the first few people there that day so it was nice and peaceful for a while. We went in the water (in stinger suits because it was jellyfish season) and saw stingrays. In the afternoon we sailed to a different spot where we did some snorkelling and spent ages looking for Nemo.

We sailed to Blue Pearl Bay in the evening, but on the way our boat hit a turtle! The skipper thought he'd killed it, but after sendingthe deckhand and diving guy to go and check found it was just confused after being bumped. That night after dinner we heard splashing outside and when we went to look there was a dolphin showing off next to our boat, aswellas some huge tuna fish tring to catch lots of tiny jumping fish. This provided hours of entertainment for some of the people we were onboard with, which amused the crew!

The following morning we we're in the water snorkelling by 7.30am, so another early start. Blue Pearl Bay is both of our favourite snorkelling spot. There were so many different fish and types of coral, and we got to stroke 'Elvis' the friendly hugging fish. The snorkelling went way too fast and we were soon on our way back to Airlie beach where we checked into our hostel and got an upgrade to a private room as they messed up our booking. That evening was an afterparty for the sailing trip, and all the people we got to know turned up - but since that was only a quarter of the passengers we got lots more free stuff than usual!

We spent our next two days relaxing in Airlie by the lagoon before heading off on the Oz Experience bus to Kroombit Cattle Station the Hervey Bay for our Fraser Island trip. But thats a whole other Blog entry! We will write soon...

Happy New Year!!!!!

Lots of Love Amy and Clare X x x

ps - we are in New Zealand now, and will be starting our roadtrip tomorrow so it may ba while before we update again.