Our grins from seeing the turtles soon disappeared as we had to endure a 10 hour car journey in 30-40 degree heat in a car without air conditioning to Airlie beach. Being 10 hours closer to the equator brought us an increase in heat and humidity and after suffering overnight in our tent, we packed it away for the final time. Simon would have happily lay awake sweating to save a few quid but not me, I put my foot down and from that point on we were staying in air conditioned accomodation. Despite it's name, there is no beach in Airlie, just mud flats. There is a pretty impressive man made lagoon on the water front but reports of a croc in it a few days prior to our arrival put us off a little so we stayed away, relaxing at safer spots before we went sailing around the Whitsunday Islands. Resisting the temptation to go on one of the many cheap backpacker party boats (Si wanted to go on the one named 'Spank Me') we opted for a more relaxing time and joined two other couples on board the Ise Pearl. This boat was a beautifully restored former Japanese pearling boat that has been featured on the kids TV series 'Flipper' and 'Tales of the South Seas'. It turned out to be a great choice and we spent an incredible 4 days fishing, swimming, and snorkelling on some of the most amazing reef I have ever seen. Our skipper Captain Sparrow (No not Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean) took us to several of the 150 uninhabited Islands and we spent time relaxing on the pure white sand on Whitehaven beach. On board the boat we had all our meals provided by Sparrows wife Machi, she gave us the Australian delights of Kangaroo steak, Crocodile meat kebabs and emu sausages. The Croc meat was good but I wasn't too keen the others. At night time we put down our anchor down in nice calm secluded bays to spend the night sleeping on the deck under the stars. What a life! We really did not want to go back because we had such a fantastic time. Just one more painful days drive and we arrive in Cairns where, after a couple of weeks, we meet up with my Mum and Stepdad, Paul. Simon is soooo excited! Bye for now, L