May 13th (Wednesday) - Day 73 - Journey to Airlie Beach
A bus, ferry and another bus later we arrived in Airle beach without incident. Found our hostel and checked in. We had not booked a trip as of yet and managed to find an amazing deal on a boat called summer time. Down from 600 dollars to 400. We had a walk around Airle beach which took all of 10 minutes, taking in the sights including the lagoon. That evening we took advantage of the hostel pizza deal before getting an extremely early night.

May 14th (Thursday) - Day 74 - Whitsunday Sailing
We dropped our big bags at the travel agency and walked down to the marina. We could not find where our boat was but someone told us to wait where we were. A few minutes later a guy came to collect us all. We had to fill in more forms to say if we die they own our soul before boarding the boat. The sailing boat was 60 foot long with a main deck and beds below. He boat was smaller than we imagined but it turned out to be nice and cosy. The 3 crew introduced themselves and we set off. We were then told the 1 trillion on board rules as we sailed across to the islands. It took a good 3 hours to reach them even with the engine and all the sails extended. Along the way the diving instructor was showing us all the sights including a very expensive island where all the celebrities go. We pulled into a little bay and had some lunch before jumping into the water. Most of the people on the boat were diving and they had to go in small groups. The rest of us who did not want to dive were taken to a little beach where we snorkelled for at least 2 hours. Just off the beach there was numerous corals and all manner of exotic fish. Once we were done we went and jumped in the hot tub on the back of the boat. When all the dive groups had finished we moved to the sleeping bay (via going around the head of the island so that the captain could get signal to call the office because the oven had broken - this of course set many rumours flying around the group as to what we were going to do for food for the next 3 days. Luckily they managed to BBQ our food. After dinner the lights came on which attracted fish to the boat and in turn dolphins. We had dolphins jumping around the boat for most of the night. We got to know our group better over some drinks before being treated to a very boring slide show of the pictures the dive instructor had taken over the years. It was so boring that most the people went to bed. I went back up top to see who was staying up. There was only one cocky guy from the channels islands. I spoke with him for a bit before heading to bed.

May 15th (Friday) - Day 75 - Whitsunday Sailing
The plan was to do more diving in the place we stayed over night so loads of groups went off while we did some more snorkelling. Again it was brilliant to see loads more coral and loads more fish. There were hundred of Zebra fish all really curious about us and kept swimming up to us. There was another fish that I don't know the name of but it was frightened of us and every time we saw one all it would do is stick its head in a gap and it must have thought it was hidden. Once back on the boat we spent some more time in the hot tub until all the groups were back then had lunch. We moved off round the island and then once in another bay the crew setup a heap of inflatable kayaks for us. We jumped in and paddled off to the side of the bay. Me being me would of course not do this peacefully! Every chance I got I was splashing someone or pushing someone else off course. This mayhem spread through the group like wild fire and then everyone was splashing or pushing someone else. We went to the top of the bay and pushing in through the mangroves (salt water trees) and found an area where hundreds of sting rays live. There were loads of them darting about under the water. We stopped on a beach for a bit and messed about in the sea and had a look around before heading back to the boat. We had to get on group by group and it took ages. Hence more chance to annoy people! We then set sail to a bay near the Whitehaven beach area, but to get there we had to go through a stretch of sea nicknamed the washing machine. It is called this for the simple fact that anyone sailing through it has the sensation of being in a washing machine. The islands funnel water through a tiny gap straight from the Pacific. It was great fun for the first 30 minutes. We got soaked by water coming over the front of the boat, thrown around - great fun. But after 90 minutes of it, it was getting very cold and was getting harder to hold on without falling in. We had to go below. We arrived in the dark and could not see anything. We had dinner and another slide show, but this time a few more people stayed up afterwards. We played a game called crack races (which I am to embarrassed to explain) and then stayed up chatting until really late with some ladies from England, one of which could not stop b****ing about her friend she was travelling with. It was so funny!

May 16th (Saturday) - Day 76 - Whitsunday Sailing
Late nights and half 4 starts do not mix. Nevertheless I was not going to let that ruin what I was about to see. We got ferried over to the land in the little motor boat and then climbed to the top of the hill. Below us with the sun coming up was Whitehaven beach in all it's glory. White silicon sand, mixed with an inlet river with the sun coming up beside it made for one of the best views I have ever seen. The pictures just don't do it justice. We stayed at the look out point for a good 20 minutes before heading down to the beach itself. What made it even better was the fact we had the entire area to ourselves. No one else for miles and all this beauty was ours. All of us played in the white virgin sand leaving writing and foot prints behind. The place would soon have over 1000 people walking around. We then got a chance to mess about and the cook who had come with us was also a master at trick photography. We did loads of jumping shots and loads of others. (I will get them online once I find a DVD reader that works!). While we were doing the photos this random guy came and put his towel down next to our group. He had the whole beach to sit on so of course people got suspicious. We then had a few hours to sun bathe before heading back to the boat - the odd thing is the random guy left with us but when we stopped for a group photo he carried on walking. 4 hours of smooth sailing and we were back at the marina. The crew had booked us all a table at a local place that evening. We went back to the hostel and chilled out for the rest of the day before meeting the group once again that evening. We all had a good night chatting away and drinking but we all cut it short at midnight as we'd been up since half 4.

May 17th (Sunday) - Day 77 - Airlie Beach
We had to be out our hostel by 10 however our bus was not until 8 that evening. As we had almost 1000km to travel we decided to do it over night so we could sleep most of it off (and save money on accommodation). Anyone who has been to Airle beach knows that it is just a staging area for Whitsunday trips and as such there is not a great deal to do. We spent most the day by the lagoon in the sun, apart from a few times when we got bored and went for a walk. 8pm came and we got on the bus. The driver was American and 100% crazy. His opening announcments was along the lines of the fact he was American and spent 90% of his life driving on the other side of the road - hence we should all put our seat belts on. He then followed this by saying that the company normally give him great films to play such as 'babe' and star wars but today they had not bothered to give him any so we would have to listen to him the whole way. I could write pages of the funny/crazy/weird stuff he said but I will stop there.