G'day Mate!

We awoke early, this time on the right day, ready for our boat trip to the Whitsunday Islands. We had checked out of Nomads by 10am and strolled over the road to check into our boat trip before 11am, where we then had a four hour wait until we had to board our boat at 3.40pm. We killed some time on the internet for a couple of hours and then played some frisbee by the lagoon until it was time to go! When we got to the check-in for 'New Horizon' we saw that there were only 11 of us in total, including ourselves! We thought we may have picked the wrong boat trip as everyone seemed very quiet and the boat could carry over 30 people!

On our first night we got to know each other and sat on the deck in a circle playing drinking games. We all had a really good laugh. Our first stopover was Hooks Passage between Hook Island and Whitsunday Island, thankfully the sea was calm and our night on the boat was peaceful. At 7am the next morning we were woken for breakfast and then taken by speedboat to our first trip; Tongue Bay. Here, we did the rainforest walk through to Whitehaven Beach which is the most beautiful beach we've seen yet. Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side and it was very cloudy whilst threatening to rain. The beach here is a 6km long stretch of sand made up of 98% silicon which makes it squeak as you walk along it! With it being stinger season we had to wear wetsuits to go swimming in the sea but it was beautifully clear and lovely nonetheless.

After a few hours we returned to 'New Horizon' by speedboat and travelled through rain to Luncheon Bay, Hook Island where Kie took part in two dives, being joined on the second by Sophie who very bravely did her first ever dive! In a group of four, we went down to 8m. When we came up from our dive it was pouring down and we swiftly got into the speedboat and got back to the boat! We went to Blue Pearl Bay, known as the jewel of the Whitsundays and great for snorkelling and diving, we anchored here for the evening ready to explore the area in the morning. Everyone was tired from the day and after a few drinks made their way to bed at about 10.30pm; everyone except Kie and two Canadian girls, who stayed up drinking all night and never went to bed.

The following morning, Sophie rose at 6am to find Kie upstairs on the deck with one of the Canadian girls watching the sunrise - still drunk. Before Kie could make it to bed it was breakfast time so we ate and got ready for the next trip. Kie went diving for the third and last time on the trip and touched 'Elvis', a Napoleon fish aka the Humphead Wrasse (Google!) while Sophie went to the beach with the non-divers and caught up on sleep, after a sleepless night! After an hour we had to return to New Horizon to start our journey back to Airlie Beach. The trip back was quiet, as Kie slept for most of the journey. Not only was there boiling hot sunshine but there were also high winds, which meant we got incredibly burnt without realising exactly how bad!

On dry land, with slight sea legs, we walked to Nomads and settled in our room. We had a nice shower and chilled out before going for a BBQ with the lads and ladies we'd met on our previous stay in Airlie Beach. We were due to meet up with everyone from the boat trip but Kie was still hanging from the night before and Sophie was suffering from the sunburn, we flopped on our beds and slept straight through until morning.

We checked out at 10am and made our way to the bus station where we were catching a Greyhound Bus to Mackay at 11am for our flight to Brisbane.

We'll update you on the latest goings on soon! Lots of love, Sophie and Kie xx