hello - ok this isnt cairns - but the silly computer wouldn't let me type anything else - this is airlie beach and sailing the whitsundays.

After a REALLY long day on the bus and a near crash on the bus and being pulled out by two tractors - we made it into airlie beach. I loved it here, it's stunning and i couldnt wait to explore!! we were staying at koalas hostel and because me and becki were sick of sharing with noisy people - we treated ourselves to a two bed room and i got a double bed - luxury when you have been in 8 bed dorms for weeks!! we explored the next day - soend far too much money and went to the man made lagoon to start our tan. We found out that the girls we had done fraser with were on our boat - annie and beth and so the next day we met them by the marina. We were sainling the whitsundays on a maxi racer called the matador which turned out to be lovely. The boat wasnt full so it gave me, bec, annie and beth alot of room for all our sunbathing. The first day there wasn't any wind so we used the engine to get us out into the whitsundays. We got dropped off at a nice quiet beach for a few hours of snorkelling. The fish swam upto my face and sometimes i was scared I was going to hurt them. some of the fish were as big as cats and I was worried some of the time that a shark would come lurking up behind me... luckily i didnt see one.

Back on the boat - our chef - gemma had made some gorgeous food for us - after the three days we got really used to having food constantly being made and fed to us. The next day we went to whithaven beach - i think this is the 2nd best beach in thew world - and because I havnt seen the other beach I can say that it is the best beach I have ever seen - postcard perfect and better in reality!! the water is so clear you can see the smallest fish swimming in it - turquise blue, boats bobbing up and down in the distance and little islands dotted about. The sand is so fine and bright which and 99.9% silica - heaven!! we took a walk up to the view point - it was worth the walk in the heat because I will remember the view forever - you just can't show it in photos - they dont do it justice.

The next and last day - feeling abit wind and sunburnt - the wind picked up alot and so gary - our captain wanted to show us what his boat could do and put the mast up and sailed her all the way back to the harbour - we were nearly tipping into the water at some points.. really exiciting and scary!!

airlie beach was gorgeous and we had so many friends there and some of the best nights out of the trip there - loved it!! and sailing the whitsundays can't be missed out!!

em xxxxxxxxxxxxxx