Friday Feb 22nd:
Today was our jetski trek to daydream island. I drove first and absolutely loved it. It took some time getting used to the power of the jetski. The ocean was very calm which made for fairly bump-free riding. Daydream island was unreal. A mega-billionaire owns it and built a fancy resort there. We were able to visit the open-air aquarium and feed barramundi, sharks, and sting rays. It was a really cool experience. Aaron drove on the way back and close to the end of the day we bailed and both fell off of the ski. It was a really sharp turn that we were following and as I slid to the right, Aaron lost his balance so I hung onto him for a moment but eventually let go so that we wouldn't flip the jetski over. It was actually quite refreshing but I was afraid of jellyfish stings so I wasn't too keen on the whole thing. The jetski thing took 5 hours so we were pretty pooped but ended up going to a bar for dinner. Then they called $8 jugs of beer for happy hour so we stayed longer. An evening pool swim ended our evening.
Saturday Feb 23rd:
Today is the day we've been waiting for our entire trip... Our Whitsunday sailing adventure. Our boat is a nice catamaran with 11 other passengers on board. Today we just sailed so we all had drinks and got to know each other. After midnight a big storm rolled through and rocked our boat back and forth. We were able to sit at the back of the boat and watch the lightning which was incredible.
Sunday Feb 24th:
This morning we were the first people on white haven beach. We all hiked up to the viewpoint and got some really nice photos of the deserted beach. The inlet is very shallow and full if sweeping ridges of sand which makes the water look like different shades of blue and green swirls. We wore full wetsuits and went for a swim where we found a large group of stingrays. They only attack you if they feel that they are about to die. They whip their tail up like a scorpion and since they sense heartbeat they aim for the heart. As long as they don't get fully surrounded you'll be ok. After the beach we went to two awesome snorkelling spots. Aaron even did a dive. In the evening we all sat on the deck and enjoyed the sunset on the water.
Monday Feb 25th:
This morning we hit another snorkelling spot and it was fabulous. Aaron was the first to spot a sea turtle resting on the coral. He seemed sleepy so we left him. Aaron spotted a cool puffy fish who looked like he was smiling. Then we hit the jackpot. A massive turtle was in very shallow water. His shell was about 4 or 5 feet across. We hovered above him and then swam on either side of him as he came to the surface for a breath of air. We were within arms reach the entire time. It was so so cool. We helped a group finish off their boxes of wine on the way back to shore. Boxed wine is very popular here. You can get a 2 litre box for as little as $10. It's a great option considering the high price if spirits. After grabbing a bite to eat at Maccas we jumped in our hotel pool and cooled off. We then had a goon sack shower. 'Goon sack' is what you call the bag of wine that's in a box of wine. Most people just take the bag out of the box and drink from its spout. We sipped from the spout and rinsed off. At night we met one of our boat mates at a bar because we got a free jug of beer by mentioning our boats name. The highlight of the night was singing karaoke. I flipped through the book and was elated to see that they had a Celine Dion song!!! We belted out "my heart will go on" and had a blast dancing around like crazy people.