Bobbi and I arrived in Airlie Beach at 9am after a long night bus from Hervey Bay, I only managed to get one hour sleep so I was feeling pretty exhausted. We found our hostel Magnums, which we could call home for one night before setting off on our sailing tour around the Whitsunday islands.

Unfortunately we had to wait before we were able to check in and take a well needed shower so we decided to see what Airlie had to offer. Airlie beech is lovely town with shops, hostels and cafes lining the Main Street, we selected one to have some breakfast and plan our day.

After a shower we headed to check out the lagoon which was a great place to sit and relax to enjoy the sun when it made an appearance!

Located off Airlie Beach on Australia’s east coast, the Whitsunday Islands are a 'must see' destination and are popular on the backpacker circuit. We had our 2 day one night tour booked for the following morning which departed at 8.30 am.

The Whitsunday Islands are beautiful, but we had the misfortune of visiting the islands during Queensland’s wet season. Except for a few hours of sun, the whole two days were filled with clouds and rain. Every time we went to take our Paddington Bear rain coats off to sunbathe, the rain came pouring down. We did not let the weather get to us and made the most of it, sailing to Blue Pearl Bay and Langford Reef to do a spot of snorkelling. The visibility was not great I am glad I made the decision to save the diving until I get to Cairns.

We stopped for the night in Nara Bay were we had a delicious dinner and a couple of drinks under the star lit sky. At 2am things got a little out of control I was woken because it was sweltering in the cabin and shortly after that a drunken fight broke out between two Irish brothers! After an hour I am glad that the brothers saw sense and stopped as we were very close to the captain taking us back to Airlie where we would have all been kicked off the boat at 3am, the brothers arrested and it would have put an end to our tour!

The second day was a lot better. We headed to the famous Whitehaven beach for a swim. Whitehaven is what you see on all the magazines and postcards of the Whitsundays. It’s a long, pure-white beach. It was beautiful until the rain came... on the plus side at least it is was warm rain!!

I can only imagine how the islands would have looked if it’d been beautiful and sunny. When the weather was nice, you could see the appeal of the place. Sailing on the water, stopping for a swim, exploring a few islands—it’s the perfect way to spend a couple of days. Overall the tour was great and the crew onboard were exceptional!

That evening we enjoyed a few drinks with the others from our tour before a great night sleep.