We have changed our plans so many times, I think we've changed the Spaceship drop off point from Brisbane to Cairns about 4 or 5 times over the past few weeks. We'd been told by loads of people how beautiful the Whitsunday Islands are and plus, you can't come to Australia and not see the Great Barrier Reef...decision made. After a night stop in Mackay to break up the journey, we got to Airlie Beach. This was a really nice little town where we could have easily spent more time but we have to be in Cairns in a few days to drop off the Spaceship.
We arranged a day trip on a speed boat that took us round a few of the islands and stopped off in a couple of places so we could snorkel. This kind of lost its appeal when we were told we had to wear stinger suits as it was jellyfish season...and people have died from the bites?! We were last onto the boat which meant all the 'proper' seats were taken, we had to position ourselves on the inflatable sides and hold onto straps. This was fine to start with and meant we got a much better view than everyone else. It was when the tour guide finished his talk with "hold on tight, you're on the fastest boat in the Whitsundays" that Jen and I said our last words to each other until we'd arrived at our first snorkel spot...45 minutes later!! We were a little disappointed because the visibility wasn't that great, that said, we still got to see some pretty fish and a massive something or other, and can say we've been in the Great Barrier Reef...or so we thought!