Greetings! We arrived in Airlie Beach at about 9.30 am after a 12 hour night bus journey from Hervey Bay and then we had to find the port at which our boat was docking from to travel around the Whitsunday Islands. The Whitsundays is a group of 74 islands just off the Great Barrier Reef. We went sailing around them via a racing Catamaran which was rather fun to say the least! We finally managed to find the port and the catamaran (called 'Wings') set sail at about 1pm. When we arrived on the boat we were given a briefing by the crew about what not do on the boat which mainly focused on the toilets which blocked very easily and they didnt want to have to manually unblock them so made it very clear how to use them! we were given the option of going diving in the afternoon but i was so tired after not having slept in a proper bed for 3 nights that i promptly went to my cabin and slept for about 3 hours! My tonsilitus had also returned so i felt a little worse for wear! Jenny decided to go on the dive but as i slept all afternoon i went diving the next day. In the evening we watched the sunset and then had an enourmous dinner. The food on the boat was amazing and we were fed like kings! We were given about 6 meals a day, yummy! As the boat trip focused on diving rather than partying, everyone (all 25 of us on quite a small boat!) went to bed quite early as we had to get up at 7 am the next day! I went diving on the second day of the trip but it was a bit of a nightmare dive as my ears were really blocked due the tonsilitus congestion and i couldnt equalise so the pressure was really bad. I then lost my mask about 10 metres down and couldnt see a thing so had to come flying back up to the surface which you're not meant to do! I did see quite alot of interesting fish and coral while i was down there though! We also stopped at a beach called 'Whithaven Beach' which was beautiful and it had the whitest sand ive seen. We went on a short walk to a lookout point which enabled us to get a spectacular view over the Islands. It then started to pour down with rain so we made a quick return to the boat! The next day we went snorkelling and i saw some fantastic coral formations and fish! It was actually better than the dive! the boat then made its way back to the port in Airlie Beach which took about 2/3 hours. It was so rough on the way back that a couple of people were really sick, not me though as i have learned that i have very good sea legs, i loved it! We docked at the port at about 12.30pm and then went to get our hair cut which was well needed after 4 months without a cut, i was looking rather like a shaggy dog! We went out in the evening with the crew which was a good laugh. We stayed in Airlie Beach for a couple of days and just chilled out, oh yes we also visited a shark museum which is the only place in the world you can see the 2 and half tonne frozen Great White Shark, it was enourmous and very scary!!! We then travelled to a place further up North called Townsville to catch a ferry to Magnectic Island where we are now! I will update you with the latest goings on very soon! Bye for now Love Sara xxxxxxxxx