We arrived in tropical Airlie Beach on Monday afternoon and we were pleasantly suprised by the great weather and laid back atmospehere of the place. This was much to do with the fact that most of Queensland was flooded and so lots of people hadnt been able to make it to the Whitsundays due to road closures. Great news for us! We checked into our hostel and then started our hunt for Jemma our friend from England. After specccing out a few of the boats we managed to get hold of her and was pleasantly surprised when we were invited over for dinner. We had a great evening catching up with her and meeting her boyfriend Tyson and his brother Aaron. Within 10 minutes Jemma had worked her magic and she had us sorted with a boat trip on the Thursday and kindly offered to put us up in the meantime. We couldnt believe our luck with an amazing view over the islands from her apartment we knew instantly we were going to have a great time in Airlie.

Thursday quickly arrived after a lazy few days spent around the lagoon (you cant swim in the sea in Airlie at this time of year due to stingers) and updating our blog. Around midday we made our way down to the marina eagerly awaiting our 2 day 2 night trip on Condor, one of the most famous Maxi Yachts in the Whitsundays having won every major ocean race at least twice. It started to rain which didnt dampen our spirits, particuarly when we learnt only 14 people were on the trip. The boat can hold upto 29 and so we had loads of room below deck. After our skipper Micko briefed us on the trip, weather, safety procedures and introduced us to our deckies Dan and Taylor, we were off and keeping our fingers crossed the sea sickness tablets were working as we set off through the rain towards the black clouds ahead wearing ever so glamorous yellow anoraks. How fitting!

Amazingly the weather soon cleared up and within a few hours we were all suited up in our even more glamorous stinger suits and snorkelling. Ash wanted to explore a bit more and so off he headed to another boat to do an introductory scuba dive which he thoroughly enjoyed. After snacks and a fabulous dinner we settled down to a few drinks (I was on the Bundaberg whilst Ash was on the Victoria Bitter; real aussie drinks!) and got tucked up in our bunks. It was pretty warm under deck however we both managed to sleep until needing the toilet around 3.30am. Ash went after me and I started to get a little concerned when he didnt arrive back to bed after a long 15 minutes. I decided to go look for him in the galley thinking he would be getting a drink but was no where to be seen. The only place he could be was on deck so up I climbed to see the most maginificent of sights I have seen. My breath was taken away to see thousands of stars twinkling in the night sky. I didnt have to ask why Ash had deicded to sit out on deck for so long. it was definately one of those moments we will look back on and rememeber for a long time.

The bad weather of the previous day was long gone as we enjoyed a glorious day of beautiful weather, maybe even too much sunshine. With even more amazing snorkelling admiring the reef and beautifully coloured fish this trip was getting better by the second. Not to mention the amazing food that the deckies prepared every breakfast, lunch and dinner not to mention the snacks and cups of tea in between. We also got to visit the lookout over Whitehaven Beach, a definate must see. For those that have visited will no its sands consist of 98% pure silica which gives it its white colour. Even NASA have used this sand its that good! In the afternoon we chilled on the beach and took in the beauty of it even more. With another great days sailing under our belt we were definately in a relaxed state. We both said we could get used to this way of life! Due to poor wind conditions we didnt get to sail at greeat speed that Condor is notorious for but during the trip we did get to help out with some sailing putting up sails using the ropes and grinders.

As we made our way back into Airlie Beach on Saturday lunchtime we were sad to be leaving the boat. Although we both took sea sickness tablets at the start of the trip we had both accustomed to boat life and didnt need them anymore. I would like to think this trip cured me of my seasickness, I always said it was made up in my head!!