Hi Guys,

I have a small confession to make, I know this journal says I am actually in Magnetic Island but the truth is I am now in Airlie Beach. As this is the first opportunity I have had to update my site.

So you may recall from my last journal that Sunday night was the night that everyone from the diving boat got together for a bit of a knees up! Well, it is fair to say it was a pretty messy night, the drinks were flowing and everyone was on good form. I woke up in a rather dubious position, upside down, fully clothed and most worrying soaking wet! I am pinning my hopes up that it was raining on the way home, anything else does not bear thinking about. I was sharing a room with 3 people that night, steve, of course, Rich, arguably the most northern northerner I have ever met and Chris from St.Albans. As we all had a rather heavy night we all woke up with terrible hangovers, which was made worse by the fact we still had our sea legs! After a quick fry up we all went said our goodbye's, as Rich was off to Cape Tribulation, Steve off to Brisbane and myself and Chris were due to hit Mission Beach.

I had heard that Mission Beach was a place to go to chill out. I only found out why upon arriving, there was not really much to do or see. Yes they had a beach but it was pretty small town with only a handful of restaurants and shops. When myself and Chris arrived on Monday afternoon we both needed a nap before dinner. The next day as it was raining I decided to skip the walk that I had planned and decided to just chill out at the hostel. It was a good move in the end as I ended up bumping into Katie, another friend from the boat. After chatting to Katie for a couple of minutes we both realised that we more or less had the same plans for the next few weeks, so I found myself a travel partner. That evenning we all met up for a lovely Italian which was even better as I experienced my first taste of Australian Wine. It was superb!

The next day, Wednesday, we were all due to leave Mission Beach and head further south. Myself and Katie were going to hit Townsville and Chris, who was slightly more pressed for time was hitting Airlie Beach. So we all arrived at the bus station and found that our bus was delayed!!!! We eventually got picked up at 3.15 a mere 4 hours late. Oh well on the plus side it enabled myself and Katie to book accommodation for the next few days and our Whitsundays Cruise, so can't complain too much. Anyway, we arrived at Townsville and it looked quite an attractive place, although as we were due to leave again the next day we both realised that there was little point trying to do any sightseeing. So we opted instead for a nice Mexican (I am still craving anything non-Asian), followed by a film, 'Music and Lyrics', which was Hugh Grants latest comedy. It actually was not too bad and in parts mildly amusing, so we both enjoyed ourselves.

The next day we set off early and caught the ferry to Magnetic Island. I had heard only good things from this place and i was keen to see for myself what the fuss was about. I loved it! It was a stunning Island with lots of stunning, secluded bays, fantastic walks and a great spot for wildlife spotting. In fact our hostel doubled as a Koala Santuary, and we found ourselves on a guided tour, whereby we learnt more about Australian wildlife and we got to get closer to the animals. I am pleased to say that I was brave enough to hold a crocadile, a blue-tongued lizzard, cuddled a koala and even wrapped a python around my neck. For those of you who might understandably have your doubts I do have photographic evidence!

After our tour, we decided to squeeze in a nice walk and a spot of snorkelling on the stunning beaches. We ended up walking for hours which was exhausting but the snorkelling was surprisingly good! I say that negatively as we had both done a live-aboard on the brarrier reef we had low expectations. That evenning we were both exhausted after such a wicked day, and we set out to have an easy night. Well, there was little chance of that in our hostel. After dinner we found ourselves being dragged to play coconut bowling. It was hilarious and there were lots of prizes, namely involving some-sort of alcohol and we had a good time. I actually, rather flukily finished 2nd! I say that as I was a bit surprised when the lady said "now, for the runner up it is between ..... Jon etc" as I had not actually hit anything in both attempts, I decided to keep quiet! It must have been a mistake, surely! Anyway on the playoff I managed to flukily bounce the coconunt over and knocked down about 5! So it meant I won a free Champagne breakfast! It was delicious and I felt very posh for about 25 minutes the next morning, well today!

So anyway, today we have both made our way down to Airlie Beach and tommorrow we are boarding our 'old-fashioned tall ship, the Derwent Hunter' for 3 days sailing the Whitsundays. I am so excited as it will be no doubt, a lot of fun!

Right i am being told that the internet Cafe is about to close, so I better be off.

Take Care

Jon