After a last hurrah with our new youngster friends, I got up early preparing to drive nearly 800km to a farm-stay that we had booked into.I tried to wake Antony but he was still heavy with sleep and boozy, it's fair to say.I went down stairs and found Gavin, the 18 yr old who had stayed up drinking with Antony, and he was fresh as a daisy.Eventually the old man stumbled downstairs and seeing the young whipper-snapper made him feel even more hung-over (and quite old as well).Needless to say, I drove the first three hours or so to allow Antony to sober up before taking the wheel.

As we drove north the rain started to come down and like before, cars where pulling over to try and avoid the flooding roads.As we neared the farm we gave them a ring to get directions and were told that the road leading to their place was completely flooded. Our two days of 'cowboying' started to look very unlikely.But the owners told us to find somewhere else to stay for the night and call back in the morning to see if the horse riding was going ahead.We started to call around for a room in a town called Mackay but most places were fully booked out.At last we got through to a hotel that could offer us a very cheap room in the center of Mackay.And cheap it was… this dire little room had dirty walls and ceiling with an old, dark carpet and a shower in the corner (the toilet was down the hall, of course).The bed was surprisingly comfortable and I could still manage to watch TV through the thick layer of dust on the screen (there was a video made in this room so you can see what we mean).

This is where we stayed for two nights, waiting for the rain to stop and calling the farm twice day to check on the conditions.There wasn't much in Mackay to entertain us; there was a cinema which we patronized (American Gangster), an internet café, a supermarket and a couple of restaurants.When we started to get really itchy feet (no not from bugs coming from a hole in bed frame), we decided to risk it and drive to Airlie Beach which is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands (described as Australia's Tahiti). It happened to be Antony's (36th) birthday on the day we arrived in Airlie, determined to have a day or two living like flashpackers rather than backpackers we booked into a very nice studio apartment that over looked a green leafy park and the harbor.We cooked up an Italian meal, drank a couple glasses of red wine and relaxed in a bit of luxury.

The next day we got up bright and early and went for a day trip sailing around the Whitsunday Islands.We had originally planned to sail for three days but given the weather forecast decided to not push our luck.And luck we had, the sun shone all day and we enjoyed the view - green islands meeting the turquoise water.It was spectacular and rivaled some of the beach islands we have seen so far on our trip.I sat under the sun on the fantastic Whitehaven Beach (not the uber popular location in the UK but a beautiful never ending beach with fine white sand and yes, better than Jarrow) and Antony walked up the beach in search of cool breeze. In the afternoon, the boat took us to a secluded cove to snorkel and Antony and I donned our stinger suits and had a wonderful time looking at the variety of tropical fish amongst the colourful coral.A pizza and a couple of cold beers helped to end a great day and we went to sleep not knowing what the weather was going to be like the next day, where we would go or where we would stay - but slept well all the same.

Until next time!Love, R & A