Whitsundays trip (21-24 feb)

I'm writing this as we are sailing back to Airlie beach. The sun is shining, the waves are crashing and I feel so happy.

I really feel like I've achieved something this trip. I've never been great in the sea with fish and haven't felt too confident swimming in the sea over here but this trip has been the best experience of my whole Oz adventure!

We got picked up on the Friday evening on the boat at 7pm. We were told there was going to be no food on the evening so in the day we had a maccies and a few beers and then a steak before going onto the boat. We were so tired having been on the greyhound the night before and no accommodation so couldn't wait to get to sleep. We were given a little intro to the boat etc then were given our rooms- I thought I'd booked a private room however turns out I hasn't and we were sharing a room with 2 annoying Chinese girls who couldn't speak a word of English! Great! The rooms were so small too- double bunk beds and a tiny toilet with what was supposed to be a shower head attached to the wall so you almost had to shower in the toilet! Lol

So the Saturday was amazing! We woke up at 7am (that's what time breakfast was every day) it was only toast and cereal though. Once we'd had breakfast we woke up at Blue pearl bay where we were going to snorkel. I'd never done it before so was a little scared. We all had to wear stinger suits to protect ourselves from the jellyfish in the water! When we went in I was amazed how much we floated because we had our flippers on. The sea was crystal clear and i was excited to snorkel! Jamie and I snorkelled together and it was one million percent the best thing I've ever done! The fish we saw were just amazing! We swam right over corral it was so cool! There was a massive fish there which the crew had told us about called Elvis and for us to look out for. We didn't think we would see him but we did! He was MASSIVE! It was a shame though because he had an infection on his skin from where people had been touching him :( we swam right next to him but didn't touch him. It was awesome! After that we had lunch which was amazing- we had taccho things with rice and salad mmmmm! After that it was off to the Great Barrier Reef! :-D

When we got there we went to the part of the reef known as the "stepping stones" which were just on the outside of the Great Barrier Reef. We were told where we could snorkel (across the stepping stone and back to the boat- we wernt allowed too far out as it's dangerous). So we went in and it was honestly the best thing I've ever experienced in my entire life! The fish were just amazing! We had to always make sure we snorkelled with a buddy so Jamie and I stuck close but he went a little a head of me at one point and shouted me over "turtle!". So I swam as fast as I could and I saw it! A sea turtle! It was massive! They swim quite slow so I managed to swim RIGHT next to it! It was incredible! He turned around and blinked at me too which was funny! I was swimming so much after him I didn't realise how far I'd swam and I'd swam past the point the crew told us not too (oops!). Just as I was about to touch his shell I heard Jamie calling me to come back as the little boat picked us up to go back to our main boat. Once we'd done that, it was the end of another great day. We had dinner and went to bed- our boat stayed on the Great Barrier Reef overnight so we woke up there the following morning.

The next morning we woke up and it was so choppy! I wasn't very sure about going in again as it was much windier than yesterday but I thought I'd give it a go! They dropped us to another part of the reef which was further out which made me a little more anxious too. I got in the water fine but then my snorkel started to leak in my eyes and the waves were choppy so water was going down my snorkel. I ended up getting all worked up (yes I cried at the Great Barrier Reef lol) Jamie helped me up and I flagged down the crew who came to get me on the little boat then I watched Jamie snorkel. It was a shame because I really was looking forward to going in the reef again but the water all in my eyes and swallowing a load of sea water really made me panic. I didn't go in the water again that day as I was too worked up.
After that we went to XXX where you could snorkel but the journey there had been so choppy Jamie and I slept most of it and wernt feeling getting into the water again so we gave it a miss. After that it was off to whitsundays! I was so excited! It was sooooo choppy though I've never had sea sickness like it- there were people throwing up the lot! Not the greatest experience! Whitsundays was just beautiful! We walked up to the top of the view point and the views were just breathtaking! Lots of pictures later we went down onto the beach- the sand was white and the sea was turquoise! It was paradise. I felt so happy!

After that it was time to go back home and we were quite happy to be back on land (especially after I almost slid off the top of the boat!)

Seeing Lauren and Martie later tonight :-D don't want this trip to ever end xxxxx