Our journey on the Oz Experience bus began here and with our very early start we were feeling a little worse for wear. it wasnt how we expected at all- the bus driver plays double to your tour guide, making remarks on the microphone and even stopping here or there at a view point or for an acitivity (as you can imagine we were NOT in the mood for these stops on this occasion). we're finding that the Oz Experience has its ups and downs- sometimes you just want to get on with the journey and sleep, but they are very helpful in that they book accomodation for you and extra activities and it's a great way of meeting other travellers.

So onto Townsville (nothing there) to get a ferry to Magnetic Island. We're not going to waste much time talking about this, i'm sure some people have had better experiences but our time was not pleasurable to say the least!! We arrived in the evening and were meant to stay for 3 nights, luckily we quickly changed it to one as once we saw the room we knew we wanted out!! You could actually see the bedbuugs crawling over the beds, little red mites- DISGUSTING. Also it was the size of a box room and they still managed to squeeze 8 of us in there, not our idea of fun. The only advantage was the location, a terrace bar over the sea was its selling point.

In the morning with nothing much to do (you can't even swim in the sea due to the risk of the potentially fatal jellyfish) we took a mini hike down to a hidden beach- nobody else was on it, apart from the thousands of tiny crabs.

Thats it really, onwards and upwards. We got the next bus to Airlie Beach in anticipation for our our Whitsundays Sailing trip. The hostel we stayed in was really cool, after missing Gilligans we could finally settle in again- the first evening we even met with the Oz bus for dinner which was a good start to meeting new people. The free drinks flowed and soon we were off to the next bar playing the infamous ring of fire! We ended the eveing in Mama Africa- a club with a bouncer that looks like Santa Claus!! Had a great night with our new friends and we were pumped for the rest of our stay in Airlie Beach.

We had a well deserved (hehe) lay in the next day with a longgggggg walk in the blistering heat to the cheapo supermarket that is Coles and lazed around at the Lagoon in the afto- otherwise known as the 'Sperm pool' don't ask... just don't drink the water! With Sailing ahead of us the next day- one corona, pasta and tuna (we have started to cook for ourselves $$$) later and we hit the sack.

WHITSUNDAYS......

We met our group by the port and were greeted by the first member of the crew- Stacey. She was the cook/ cleaner on our boat that was called ' SV Whitehaven', then there was the Skipper- Matty, and the deck hand Hughy.... a very cheeky/ sarcastic bunch, and a little pervy at times but thankfully there top priority was adventure and having fun!

The boat looked small in size from the outside but its amazing how its structured. It slept 25 odd people downstairs with a fully equipped kitchen and shower/toilet and it became home for the few days. First stop was Blue Pearl Bay- the snorkelling was great and our mate phil took some good underwater pics. We docked just before sunset and took the speedboat to the bay where we sat in the sand to watch the sun go down with Goon (the cheap Australian Backpackers wine!!) and snacks. It was a lovely evening with the newly discovered entertainment that lied in the Korean lad 'Jung' who got us all together for our first group picture.

Some good bonding time later and we were back on the boat for a chicken currry and a lesson on the Whitsunday Islands. That night we decided to take it easy, it wasnt a boozey boat so luckily noone wanted to go wild but also we knew we were in for an early start. A bed time story from the skipper later and we fell asleep on top deck (downstairs was a little claustrophobic) under the stars with the sound of the waves lapping the boat.

It was glorious to wake up with the natural sunlight as it was slowly rising- we were awoken by the sound of the engine at 5am!!!!! but it was well worth it as slowly one by one we all joined each other on top deck under blankets to sip tea and watch the sun rise over the calm water. After breakfast we did a spot of snorkelling at Manta Ray Bay and then headed for the highlight of the trip- Whitehaven Beach. As we approached the bay we spotted turtles coming up for air on the surface... how cute!

When we walked round to the beach we weren't prepared for how beautiful it was- the sand was pure white and made from 99% silica which meant it was not hot and it was unbelievably soft, like walking on a silk carpet. hughy took us round to a more secluded part of the beach but it wasnt crowded anyway. here we lapped up the luxury- washing our jewellery in the sand, bathing in the sea (unfortunately with stinger suits in tow) and taking pictures with Merry Christmas inscribed in the sand!!!

Another group pic later and sadly we had to head off. It was crazy how time deceives you- due to the early rise we were tucking into crisps at 9:30am feeling like it was already lunch. So nice to have such a long day though and pack so much in. After lunch on the boat we tried our one and only time at sailing (the wind wasnt strong enough) we were straight in there first helping with the rigs and getting involved!! We didnt go very far but it was nice to chill with the sail and work on our tan. The Skipper, who didnt really stick to the rule book then took us to a place he calls ' Spot X' simply for the reason that it doesnt have a name, it;s not on the itinerary. He had only been here 3 times in 5 years and thats the kind of thing that makes your trip seem more special than any of the other commercial boats.

Early evening we moved to a nice spot to anchor down for the night and had the opportunity to have an evening swim.... of course it was only us two and another two German lads that were up for it! The others missed out... was so much fun, we were jumping off the side of the boat and swimming with enormous fishies! Well worth missing out on the snacks for and waiting for our lovely evening spag bol mmm mmm.

This evening we let ourselves go a bit more, as everyone had properly bonded in the group we played some drinking games, one in particular that became a signature of the group morale - 'Yeeha!!'... we'll teach you when we get home girlies it's a goodun'!! once again we slept on the deck as did most people this night and rose in unison at 5am ready for that lovely sun rise.

Sadly our last day on the boat (we were getting used to the sailing life!) and we had one stop off to 'Langford Island' and did we end on a high!!!! As soon as we ducked our heads under we spotted the FIRST turtle, laying on the coral, then the next and the next!! We even swam alongside them as they came up for air- unreal!!! We also had the pleasure of seeing millions of Stingray along the bar of sand that lead to the ISland and a few reef shark swimming around our feet!!! The near miss was however with the jellyfish that Katie saw snorkelling- our whole lives flashed before us and we have never swam so fast!!! (turned out later it wasnt one of the killer ones haha!)

Back on shore and we all said our goodbyes after a great time. we'd formed a good friendship with 2 Scottish girls who we had lunch with before heading back to the hostel before some much needed rest. That night at the bar we rendevoued with the group for a last round of Yeehaa! and passing of contact details- you never know who you bump into along the way.

Definitely the highlight of Oz so far...