Today was the longest day on the Oz bus. We left Kroombit at 07:00 and didn't arrive at Airlie Beach until about 17:00. We had a few stops on the way though to stretch our legs. We stopped at a beautiful beach for lunch and stopped at a place called Salina where we played Lawn Bowles. I never realised how hard bowles is though, we couldn't do it but we had fun.

When we arrived into Airlie it was a quick shower and then back out again to meet everyone from the bus for dinner at a place called Moroccos. It was quite a big night out and we all had a bit too much to drink. There were drinking games, crazy dancing and then onto a nightclub for more crazy dancing. We had a great night, but the next day was not good at all. Again I was feeling sorry for myself and just slept on the beach all day.

The next few days in Airlie were quite relaxing and we had a few more nights out together, before everyone started leaving to go on their boats for the Whitsundays. I went on my boat (Freight Train) on Friday 17th and was going on my own, so was a bit worried that there would be weirdos on it. There were 18 people on the boat and they were all lovely.

We got on the boat at 13:00, was shown a few safety rules and told to put our things on our bunks. I was not looking forward to going to bed, as they were the smallest beds I've ever seen. It was going to be an interesting night! It was then time to start sailing. Just as we got on the boat, after being lovely and sunny all morning, it started to chuck it down with rain. I couldn't believe it, especially having rain on Fraser Island too. It didn't last long though and by mid afternoon it was gorgeous weather. As I've never been sailing before I didn't really know what to expect, so I was laying on deck sunbathing with everyone when all of sudden the boat went on its' side!! It was so funny, as everyone just grabbed on to everyone for dear life until the boat went straight again. The captain done it on purpose, as he saw us all relaxing and wanted to shake things up a bit, he thought it was highly amusing! We all soon changed positions and put our legs over the side of the boat and didn't let go.

We were sailing for a few hours and arrived at our spot for the night at about five. Whilst waiting for dinner to be cooked, it was time to bring out the Goon. It was so nice just sitting on deck drinking, chatting and looking up at the stars. Very romantic! But no one to share it with! lol. Dinner was lovely and we were asked to wash our own plates up, but three very nice english blokes (Lee, Chris and Craig) offered to do them for us, how sweet. So it was time to sit up on deck again and carry on with the goon. It was quite windy and soon people started to go to bed and all that was left was myself, Lee, Chris and Craig. The sea air was making us all pretty tired and it didn't take long for us to follow everyone.

Now let me paint the picture for you of my first night sleep on the boat. Bearing in mind that I'm not very good on boats anyway, it was horrible. It took me about four hours to get to sleep! I just couldn't relax, from the boat swaying all the time and being worried about rolling of the edge of the bunk. After finally falling asleep the engine was turned on at 06:00! So it was not a good nights sleep on the boat.

The captain told us that we could stay in bed for a bit first thing, so I decided to take advantage of this for a while. This was a big mistake, as the sea was so rough and I have never been rocked about so much. Everyone started to get up and attempted to get up on deck. Trying to climb up the steps, when the sea is that rough, is near on impossible when you're not used to walking on boats. I managed to get up on deck and was told to sit in the captains bit as it's a bit safer in there. Soon after everyone else started to follow. Lee and Craig then came and sat down and they didn't look too good either. I was feeling so bad I didn't know what to do with myself, I told myself that I'm never going on a boat again.

Just as we thought it was going to get a bit better the heavens opened and it looked just like something out of the film 'The Perfect Storm!' All I had on was a vest top and shorts and Lee kindly asked if I wanted one of the jackets that they keep downstairs for bad weather. Bless him, he went and got me a jacket and whilst he was downstairs the rain came down even harder and I was soaked to the bone. When he came back up his face said it all, as it went grey and he had to be sick over the side of the boat! I felt so bad, as because he went to get me a jacket from downstairs it had made him sick! What a gentlemen, lol. Quite a lot of people were ill on the boat, but sitting there in the pouring rain with our lovely yellow jackets on, didn't go on for much longer.

Our next stop was at White Haven Beach. We had to get into the little speed boat to get to shore and I have never been so pleased to see dry land. The walk to the beach was horrible, as I was still feeling so ill, but when I got to the beach I felt a bit better. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The purest of white sand and the clearest, bluest water. Stunning. We had an hour there and then it was time to get back on the damn boat! I asked to be taken over last and was dying on the rocks! The captain kindly brought me over some biscuits, which settled my stomach a bit.

When I got back on the boat I nicked some of Lee's salt and vinegar crisps and I felt so much better. We was then heading for our spot where we were going to dive and do some snorkelling, but I was told that they couldn't let me dive due to me having asthma when I was younger. I was gutted, but done some snorkelling which was great anyway. When I got back on the boat it was time to have the 1 minute shower that we were allowed to have per day, due to them not having a lot of water on the boat. It was freezing cold too, but it made me feel a little bit cleaner. It was then time for dinner and more goon, but I was still feeling a bit dodgy from that morning, so I didn't drink that much.

Some of us decided to sleep up on deck that night, as it was quite smelly downstairs from someone being ill that night (I wont name any names! lol.) Also, someone left the hatch open in the back cabin in the night, so when it was quite rough in the morning it got a bit wet down there. So we all pulled our mattresses up on deck and got comfy, (I had someone bring one up for me though! lol, thanks Lee, what would I have done without you on the boat!) It was quite chilly up on deck though and was really windy, so we still didn't sleep very well. I was worrying too, because everytime the boat rocked it felt like I was going to roll off the side. However, it was really nice sleeping up on deck, as it didn't make you feel as sick.

The next morning we didn't have to get up as early and the engine wasn't put on until about 07:00. We all learnt from the previous morning to get breakfast in quick before the boat started moving and then get up on deck straight away. It wasn't as rough on the last day though, which was nice, as it gave you the chance to just enjoy it. Lee and I thought we had found a nice place to sit on the boat, but how wrong were we! Everytime the boat hit a wave we got soaked! We also forgot to put sunscreen on, so both got a bit burnt! It took a few hours to get back to Airlie Beach, and I have to say I was quite relieved to see land. I thoroughly enjoyed sailing around the Whitsundays, but I was certainly not made to be on a boat.

When we got off the boat it was quite hard to walk in a straight line and I would occassionallly feel myself rocking. I needed something to make my stomach settle and I couldn't think of anything better than good old McDonalds. So me, Lee, Craig, Chris and Lexi staggered to Macci D's and it was the best one I've had in ages! It didn't stop there though, because we then went and got, which has to be, the best ice cream in the whole world. It was from a shop called Cold Rocks and you can choose to have anything you want in it. I chose to have a chocolate fudge brownie mixed in with cookies and cream ice cream. It took ages to eat it, as they are certainly not stingy on the servings!

After this it was time for Lexi to go and get her bus and the rest of us went back to our hostels to sleep and then get ready for a night out with people from the boat. I tried to have some sleep, but everytime I layed down it felt like I was on a boat and it made me feel ill again, so I gave up.

Our night out started at the bar below my hostel in Beaches, and it turned out to be just me, Lee, Chris and Craig, as everybody had left either to catch buses or planes to their next destination. We were joint by Martine, who was the cook on the boat, and we had a few drinks together. After Martine went, we carried on drinking and Chris wanted to carry on watching the football, so we went onto another bar. We had a really good night, with a lot of drinking, and it ended up in McDonalds! lol

The next morning was not good and I had to get up quite early, as the boys had invited me to join them in their car to Magnetic Island, instead of me waiting around another day for the Oz bus. It was so nice to get in a car rather than a bus, and it only took about 3 hours to get there, this was probably down to Chris' driving though! Why do boys always feel the need to overtake everything! lol. They got me there in one piece though and then it was time to catch the ferry over to Magnetic Island.

I had the best time sailing around the Whitsundays (even when I was feeling like I was going to die) and Airlie Beach is lovely, but I was very much looking forward to staying on Magnetic Island.

x