In the last blog I forgot to mention that we paid Bundaberg a visit. The drive to Bundaberg was very pleasant; the road flattened out, the soils were tinged red and there were sugarcane farms either side of the road. Bundaberg itself was fairly big for a major Australian town but small in comparison to a UK town, anyway we parked out and headed out for some coffee and cake. After refueling we made our way to the Bundaberg Rum distillery where we purchased ourselves a bottle of the spiced rum - well it'd have been rude not too! FYI the rum was gooooood!

Back to Airlie Beach and our trip to the Whitsunday Islands: we booked a tour with a company called Ocean Rafting as we were told they "go out whatever the weather" and as rain and high winds were forecast this was our best bet at getting out to the islands.

When we were picked up from our accommodation the organiser warned us that it was going to be a rough ride, we would be getting wet, it wouldn't be a relaxing day but it would be a fun day. He wasn't telling fibs!

The boats we went out on were semi inflatable rescue type boats which is why they can go out in rough weather and they are fast! As it was raining in the morning we were warned it would feel like accupunture on our faces and he wasn't wrong about that either. As we were flying over massive waves and holding on for dear life we got absolutely soaked as well as wind and rain whipped - it was exhilarating and bloody good fun! Better than any of the rides we went on when we were on the Gold Coast.

Our first stop was at Border Island where we donned our sexy stinger suits and jumped in for a spot of snorkelling. Unfortunately because of the crappy weather we didn't see much other than a few non-exotic looking fish. Ah well!

Back on the boat we headed to our next destination which was a guided walk up to the Hill Inlet lookout point where we were suppose to see the stunning sand whirls of Whitsunday Island (please refer to the blog photo) this is the image that everyone thinks of when you say "The Whitsunday Islands" As we were unloded on to the island and started the trek the sun started to poke his head through the clouds so we were all feeling very optimistic. The suspense built as we got closer and closer to the view point, everyone got their cameras out and started elbowing their way to the front of the pack so imagine our dismay when we got their and discovered it was a high tide so the sand was completely covered by the sea - bummer!! Nonetheless it was still a pretty view of the surrounding islands so there was still lots of camera clicking. FYI I bought a postcard with the sand swirls on so I'll just pretend I seen it!

After the walk we got back on the boat and headed towards Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island. The sun was trying very hard to crack the flags by then so as we sped through the waves and along the island the view was spectacular; azure blue seas and white sands which lead directly to green rainforest. Beautiful.

The sands of Whitehaven beach are some of the purest silica sands in the world which is why it was so white. It also doesn't retain heat so it was very nice to walk on - we didn't need to do the hot-sand-hop! Anyway we settled down for our beach picnic, Davie and I had brought along a picnic consisting of pies, crisps and sweets so we got some very envious looks from the people who had opted for Ocean Rafting buffet which consisted of salad and not much else HA YOU CHUMPS!!!

After lunch we went for an explore, climbed some rocks (to get a better view) and did some sunbathing. We were pommes in paradise!

When it was time to leave we hopped back on the boat and raced our way back to Airlie Beach with the other three boats and when I say raced I mean it! The boats were bouncing off each others waves and tipping so far to the side that I thought we were going to fall out but as I said before - bloody good fun!

We pulled into the harbour with big grins on our faces. Not a relaxing day but a fun filled day was enjoyed by us both.