We had a complete nightmare getting from Hervey Bay to Airlie Beach, due to heavy rain the roads were completely flooded and the Greyhound buses we are travelling on were only going as far as Mackay which is about 2 hours from Airlie Beach.So we had to get a minibus taxi with a group of others from Mackay to get to Airlie Beach - not great for the budget, but we had already paid for our accommodation and sailing trip from Airlie Beach so we had to get there!

Airlie Beach itself is a small tourist town set up basically for tourists who are going to sail around the Whitsunday Islands.There are lots of bars and restaurants to keep us entertained for the day in the rain!A bad thing though I have been completely eaten by bed bugs! All up my right arm, my legs and my waist, it looks like the little b***** crawled right across my body munching as it went!!!Not a happy camper!

Wednesday we headed off on our 2 day/2 night sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands.The weather as we headed out was not good - hot, humid and rainy! But we were determined to make the most of it!We were on a racing boat called Eureka II, which is still used in races as well as sailing tourists around!Due to the rains our boat was not full and there was our Skipper Paul, the crew which consisted solely of Charlie.Then there was us, 3 Irish, 2 Koreans (who spoke no English) and 2 girls from Holland.A good group we all got on well and had a laugh.

Wednesday was spent getting wet, drying off then getting wet again as we headed out to the Islands.The scenery even in the rain was breathtaking! The rain passed in the evening and we had a beautiful sunset and very good dinner and a few drinks!Andrew and I also fluked out by being given the private bedroom, which we didn't actually pay for! Although it was so hot and humid, particularly below deck that the door was always open anyway!

Thursday we woke to a beautiful day, the sun was shining! Finally the chance to get some sunbathing in, it really is the life lazing around on a boat as it sails around past beautiful islands!We went to Manta ray Bay where we did some snorkeling and saw the coral and all the amazing fish, multi coloured, all different sizes, it was great!They were so brave they would come right up to you and kiss your mask! We also fed them bread which they ate out of our hands!We had to wear the very sexy stinger suits to protect us as there are lots of jellyfish in the sea at this time of year, some you can see and many you can't - that was quite scary!There was also a HUGE blue fish which they call Elvis, he is as tame as a dog and will even let you pat him!

We then went on to Whitehaven, the beautiful white sandy beach, which we basically hand to ourselves.Around there were loads of sea turtles which kept popping their heads up to say hello, really bizarre to actually see them in the wild!We ended an amazing day with another great dinner and a few drinks, we were so lucky to have such a good weather day, as the forecast was for rain, rain and more rain!

Friday our last day and someone (Andrew!) woke up with a very bad hangover and even fed the fishes (if you get my meaning!) He had fallen asleep outside on deck and was only disturbed when the rain started pouring down in the early hours of the morning, he came in soaking wet and feeling very sorry for himself - very funny!It was very cloudy and overcast so we headed back for Airlie Beach, stopping to see a waterfall that is usually just a trickle but thanks to all the rain it was actually flowing!It was still hot enough to get in some last minute lazing, sunbathing and reading though - bliss!

Sailing around the Whitsunday Islands has been a definite highlight for Australia for us both, we are very glad we had the chance to do it and the weather wasn't too bad and finally we are starting to get a bit of colour to our skin!

Back at the hostel where I got bedbugs, we had already paid for tonights accomodation, so they upgraded us to a posher private room when they saw the state of my arm! Hopefully there have been some cleaner people in there!

Tomorrow we head to Townsville and Magnetic Island for some more lazing on a beach - weather permitting! It's a hard life!

Hope all is well at home!

Love to you all

Sarah and Andrew xxx