Sunday 14th February 2016

Queensland is an hour behind New South Wales, even though they are technically on the same time line, they have chosen not to follow the rest of Australia by implementing the day light savings. So at 0500 the sun is up and quite strong making it difficult to sleep past 6, especially inside a camper van.

We headed off to church in Rockhampton which was nice. A very new church, only like 18 years old. Worship was slightly karaoke but the preach was good. We were again welcomed openly and warmly just like in Coffs Harbour but this time no Brits trying to convince us to emigrate.

We got back into Kylie and headed north for our longest drive yet. 7hrs to Airlie Beach where we are booked on a Whitsundays tour. This drive was going to need a few stops and surprisingly there doesn't appear to be much to do between now and Airlie so literally just stop in a gas station and then move on.

The first stop we made was in a small town called Clairview. This town is right on the waters edge and every house backs onto the sea. Very nice but not so convenient this time of the year. As soon as we got out of the van we saw a sign warning about Jellyfish. It went on to explain what first aid to administer. Firstly apply vinegar to sting (vinegar is kindly provided), if patient stops breathing then start CPR, it then advises that most people recover as the sting causes paralysis so not to stop. So although the water was lovely and blue and as warm as a bath, you can't go in.

After Clairview we headed to our next stop, a town called Mackay. The roads and scenery have become what we imagined Australia to be. It is very vast with no civilisation in sight and you pass the car travelling the opposite way once every 20 minutes or so. Very boring and not where you would want to have a problem. We reached Mackay and stopped in a gas station, mainly to check on Kylies coolant level which has been dropping every day, it was low so we waited for it to cool down in order to top up and enjoyed an ice cream at the same time. Although you don't get as much enjoyment out of the ice cream as it is so hot that it becomes runny and doesn't really stay cool and refreshing.

We then headed for Airlie Beach, only about 3 hours left to go. It was really weird as the route into Airlie takes you through field after field of sugar cane and you don't really believe that your suddenly going to pop out and be met with lovely blue water and white sand. But low and behold you are. The scenery suddenly becomes very touristy and backpackers everywhere. We booked to stay in a powered site this evening which was basically a hostel for camper vans. It was getting dark so we went for a quick walk down to the sea front, there is a lovely lagoon (basically a swimming pool just before the sea front. This was warm and looked like a good place to spend some time as you obviously can't swim but they have made it similar to the sea front by making the water slightly salty and putting beaches around the pool.

It was another humid night so not looking forward to the sleep. On the other hand the weather has turned nice and clear, ideal for a Whitsunday tour and one of the best beaches in the world Whithaven Beach.

Monday 15th February 2016

Our tour didn't start until 2, so in the morning we went to the lagoon. It was as lovely as it had looked the night before, sun was out, water was a nice temperature and easily wasted a few hours just messing around. We then went to a liquor store and brought two boxes of 4litre red wine for $11 each so very good price and should be enough to last the trip to Whitsundays. We went and waited at the bus stop to be collected and were joined by about 40 other young travellers clearly all going to the same place. Everyone had bags and coolers of alcohol so clearly a party was on the horizon.

We got collected by a bus and the 40-50 people were split into two groups for two boats to head out to an island called South Molle which is in the Whitsundays. We got
To the harbour and boarded our Catamaran. We set sale for South Molle, weather was perfect, scenery was amazing and everyone started on the alcohol.

We reached South Molle and were greated by a welcome party. It felt very much like we had arrived at couples retreat, a lovely island, picture perfect. The island used to be a resort but had clearly been abandoned and taken over by a backpacker company who have literally turned it into a hostel. I felt like I hand landed on the island in Jurassic Park The Lost World. It really did feel like dinosaurs were going to pop out from behind the trees.

We checked into our room which we were sharing with 2 Danish girls and had a few hours to spare before dinner. All the young gap year students stayed by the pool trying to get wasted and hook up with girls so Isla and I walked to the highest point which took about 45 minutes. The views were incredible. What a waste for the guys back by the pool, not to realise this view was right under their nose. We had 360 degrees view of the Whitsundays we got bitten to an inch of our lives walking up but the view completely justified that. Isla even managed to face time her mother in order to share the experience.

We then headed back down so that we are back before it got dark and all the dinosaurs came out. Dinner was served at 7 and then the anticipated party failed to materialise, probably because the island tried to stop you bringing your own alcohol and instead wanted you to use the bar which was quite expensive.

We headed for bed like the boring old couple we are but super excited for the trip to Whithaven beach and snorkelling.