So the bad weather seems to be following us... We finally got to Airlie Beach after the night bus which was very long and very uncomfortable! Had a short walk with all our luggage to our hostel. We stayed at Magnums which was cool cause the rooms were little huts in a rainforest setting! Thankfully, there was a free room for the few of us who arrived so we could go straight in rather than waiting around for hours. I think everyone went back to bed for a bit to try and get some shut eye. Danni and I got up around 10am and ventured out to explore the town. There's not actually much there and with bad weather there's even less. We grabbed some brunch and discussed what to do for the day. We wandered over to the lagoon area and chilled for a little while before the rain came. We made a dash into a travel booking shop to wait it out. We actually ended up booking our rainforest and waterfall trip in Cairns so worked out well. We popped on the free computer and I continued my job search! Not really knowing what I was doing and applying left, right and centre for anything and everything. I found a job that's based on Magnetic Island at the next hostel we are staying at which would be so cool so I'm hoping for the best with that one! Will go and introduce myself when I get there! So that's exciting. Trying not to get my hopes up too much. We had a pretty chilled evening, went for a cocktail and then had to go pack our bags for our Whitsunday's trip.

We checked out at 8am the next morning and headed over to the OzSail office to check in for our trip. It took no time at all and they told us we had to wait around until 2.30pm... So we were a little stumped at what we could do. Had some breakfast which was really yummy! Croissants with bacon, avocado and cheese :) by the time we got on the boat the weather had perked up so we were feeling pretty optimistic. However, by the time we'd anchored up for the night those feelings had gone. We had horrific weather and enormous waves which made the boat seem like it was going to tip! Danni and I also got the worst beds which didn't help matters. I'd been taking seasick pills but even they didn't help. I was starting to wonder what I was even doing there!

The next day, the weather got even worse. We went snorkelling in the rain in the morning which was amazing. Definitely the highlight of the trip. The fish were coming up so close to me and it felt like I was swimming along with them. We saw some sea turtles as well when we were in the sea which was awesome! After the snorkelling, we started making our way over to Whitehaven Beach and that's when it got to its worst. The waves were enormous, the boat was crashing down and making horrible banging sounds, and everyone had turned green. I had to sit up top in the pouring rain as below deck you felt even worse. Fresh air did help but I was feeling so poorly. Danni said she's never seen anyone so white and was actually scared for me. Bleurgh! I was so happy to touch land when we got there. My knees were like jelly which made walking a bit surreal. The beach itself was beautiful. Pure white sand and crystal water. There were loads of tiny crabs all scuttling around together which was cool to see! Unfortunately, another disaster was about to strike. The tide became too low for our captain to pick us up so he had to go round to the wilder side of the beach and attempt to get us. The waves were taller than our dingy and it was flooding rapidly. We nearly capsized at one point! We all struggled to get onto the boat as the waves were so choppy! He went back for the others in the group and the motor flooded so he had to get two of them to pull the dingy out to sea and hope it would start working. It was actually quite scary at the time, and he kept saying it was a matter of life and death. Everyone was soaked and freezing, sat on deck - it was very sombre. We finally anchored up a little while later for the night and the waves were getting no better. I almost felt like I could cry at that point. I felt so ill and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it! The toilet on our boat had also broken (cherry on top of the cake!!) so we had very unpleasant smells lingering and our beds were right next to it as well. I went to bed and tried to get some rest, it was going to be a long night!

Thankfully in the morning the sky had cleared a bit and it was the first time we'd seen sun for the entire trip. We went to South Molle Island to do a bush walk and take some photos of the stunning views which we could now see thanks to the clouds dispersing. After that we headed back to the marina on main land. Some parts of the trip were amazing, and if the weather hadn't been so bad the sailing aspect would have been fun as well. You don't really get much time to do things, you could definitely do it all in a day. I think I would recommend the day trips to people rather than the overnight tours. Unless you can guarantee having perfect weather! It was quite an experience, let's put it that way!

When we got back to dry, solid land we were pretty relieved. We bumped into Holly and Lucy from our Fraser trip who were about to go on their sailing tour and they were a little worried, especially after seeing the state of us! We grabbed some food and then checked in at the hostel and hopped in the shower! It felt like heaven. Once freshened up we both felt a lot better. My tummy had started to settle (although still not quite right 24 hours later) and we felt clean and not bedraggled. We pottered around the shops and bought some dinner to cook in the evening. We made fajitas which were so good! We both then had some skyping sessions, so I spoke to my Mum, Charlotte and Lynne and Stina. It was so good to hear from them. I think after the trip I was feeling pretty emotional, mostly from lack of sleep, and really started missing home. I've been gone nearly a month now and it feels like a lifetime already! We're hoping the weathers going to get better for us as we have our diving course at Magnetic Island but looking out the bus window all I can see is grey. We've even heard rumours of a cyclone and there are weather warnings out about strong coastal winds where we are heading! Yikes, let's hope not! Now on a super early bus, had to be up at 6am so I'm thinking it may be another early night as we got woken up last night by drunk girls being sick in our room. One even fell on me while I was in bed as she couldn't even stand up or walk in a straight line... Scared the hell out of me! So sleep is very much needed, hopefully can catch up on it in our next hostel!

Till next time :)