Hi everyone!!

Had the best two days- and the sun came out the whole time!! Ok, so I went sailing on the British Defender around the Whitsundays! We were all at the marina for 2pm check in ( and the labelling of everyones goon- cheap aussie wine in boxes!)! We headed down to the boat and set off pretty quickly!! We had 3 crew members, Tane, Slinki and Liam! Once we were on the boat we all got assigned beds, mine was right at the front of the boat and absolutely tiny (although they all were!)! Once we had had a quick briefing it was up to the deck to start the actual sailing!! 6 of us (me being one of them) had to hoist up the two main sails!! Pretty hard work on your arms but good fun!! We then lay back and enjoyed the views of the islands as we had about 4 hrs til we got to the piont where we were spending the night! There were about 20 of us on the boat, majority girls and over half were english and we all got on pretty well!! Most people were travelling north so I also managed to get some tips for the rest of my time here!!

Once we got sailing, we picked up quite a bit of speed and at times the boat was at a 60 degree angle to the water!! It was very funny watching people trying to walk across the deck without bumping into equipment or going overboard!! A few close calls happened but no-one actually went over!! By the end of the trip we got pretty good with it, although not I'm on dry land I still feel like I'm on a boat and find myself swaying slightly!!

Anyway, back to day 1, we shortly arrived at our over night stop which was just the otherside of whitehaven beach (which is in the picture above0! There are 3 beaches there which have the purest sands in the world!! Once we put the anchor down and helped get the sails back down we all tucked into some nachos! Have to admit, it was a bit like watching vultures at feeding time, but what can i say, its a hard life lying on a boat!! We then just chilled on the boat, before having dinner (chicken, rice and salad), and then enjoying a few drinks on deck while looking at the stars!! Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy so we didn't really see much of a sunset, but the night more than made up for it!! It was such a clear night and you could see thousands of stars!! Unfortunately none of us knew much about constellations but it was so pretty to look at!!

Surprisingly, sleeping on a boat is much easier than it sounds!! However, 7am wake up calls are still as bad!! We all had a quick breakfast before headin over to Whitehaven Beach! We got the speedboat to the mini beach near us and then had a mini hike (about 15mins max) to the top of the island which was a lookout!! It was one of only 3 man made things on the island (the other 2 being 2 sets of toilets!) and it was completely uninhabited by humans (plenty of animals to make up for it though)! The views were pretty spectacular even though it was high tide so we couldn't see all the beaches fully!! So we soon headed down to the amazing beach and enjoyed the fine sand!! It was so white and the sea was beautiful blues and so clear!! Although the water sis stink a bit, no idea why!! We spent about 2 hrs on the beach sunbathing!! Didn't go in the sea as we had to wear stinger suits (wet suits to protect against jellyfish) and they were way too much hassle to put on in the heat!!

After getting back to the boat, we had lunch and set of sailing again to a smaller beach which has good snorkelling!! It took about an hour and a half so more sunbathing occured!! Snorkelling was amazing and, dare i say it, better than Cairns!! The coral was just as beautiful and again at times, it was pretty close at points!! However, the fish were amazing!! There were some that had lovely pastel colours and plenty of electric blues!! The best fish however was called Elvis and he was HUGE!! He was about a metre long and prob about half a metre high!! The guys who went snorkelling stroked him though so definitely a case of a gentle giant!!

Our final sail of the day took us at a small beach which was literally just a beach in the middle of the sea to watch the sunset! We all headed over a bit earlier to get some pictures and then watched the actually sunset! It was so pretty and is my first Aussie sunset!! After, the skies were a beautiful pink colour and I have some amazing photos!! Then it was back to the boat for dinner (spag bol and garlic bread) and some more drinking on the deck! Tonight, our skipper Tane alos brought out his guitar and we all got serenaded and had a nice sing-a-long!! Another guy on the boat also had a go and both were really good at the guitar!! All in all a pretty perfect evening!!

After attempting to sleep on the deck, and failing miserably it was way too uncomfortable, it was another 7am wake up call with the chance to go snorkelling again!! I didn't this time as people were sayign they couldn't see much!! Then it was a trip back to the marina!! Very sad to be leacing the boat and the time went way too quickly!! On the plus side, most of us are staying at the same hostel and got rooms together and then we are all heading out for food and drinks with the crew later!! Unfortunately, I have a 6.30am wake up call tomorrow as I'm heading down to Rockhampton!!

Right must go as I have 3 mins left!!

Hope you're not too jealous!!

Lots of Whitsunday love

xxx