So, I am still absolutely loving Australia. Had a great few days in Cairns, the trip along the great barrier reef was amazing. I did an introductory dive which was good, but nothing compared to what I did in Airlie Beach around the Whitsunday islands.

After a 11 hour bus journey from Cairns I finally got to Airlie beach, rocked up to a hostel and got a room - really easy, don't know why I was so worried about pre-booking rooms! That day, I decided to take a walk around and see what was on offer. There and then, I booked a 3 day 2 night sailing trip around the Whitsunday islands, sleeping on a remote island called Hook island - So I checked out of my room (luckily they transferred my night for the night I got back and also gave me an extra free night because I booked with their travel agent) Had a 2 hour turn around to get everything packed and get down to the marina.

The walk down to the marina was torture, so, so so hot! Really does feel a lot hotter than when I'm in Asia which I'm really suprised about! Once we got onto the boat it was fine - the weather was absolutely gorgeous and sailing around the islands was just so surreal - it really all did look fake, it was so perfect!

It took around 3 hours to get to Hook island. Once we got there, we were the only ones staying. It was so peaceful, so deserted. We all played in the pool for a bit then had a suprisingly good dinner - Lasagne and chips! I was pretty tired as were the rest of the group, so we went to bed ready to get up at 6am for our day of snorkelling/diving!

That next day, we took a boat to a deserted beach and did some snorkelling and a dive. It was good, but I expected more - you could see a alot of damage the cyclone had done. But it was still pretty amazing. After a couple of hours of snorkelling/sunbathing we got back onto the boat, drifted for a bit, whilst listening to some chilled out music and had lunch - actual paradise.

That afternoon ,we went to the famous Whitehaven beach. There was a lot of natural waste along the beach from the cyclone which ruined it slightly, but the weather was perfect, the sea was a surreal colour blue and so calm. So we all chilled out there for a couple of hours just enjoying the atmosphere. It was amazing. One of the best feelings I've had since being away.

We then head back to the island for our overnight stay. On our way back, two massive turtles swam past our boat and we also saw a couple of dolphins jumping out of the water, it was so amazing!! Didn't feel like I was actually seeing these things!

That next day we got up early again to have one last snorkel and dive at a place called 'Caves Cove' it was amazing here. We jumped off the boat straight into open water, the visability was amazing. SO many different typles and colours of coral and fish. I saw quite a few big fish aswell that happily swam next to me - quite scary but also fun! That night I met a guy who showed me a photo he took of a really big manta ray swimming above him, looked amazing, he got a really good photo - I was slightly jealous I didn't see one!

Anyway, I was VERY lucky with the weather in the Whitsundays, as soon as I got back to Airlie Beach that night, it rained and rained for the whole next day (luckily I was leaving that day!

Now, I am in Hervey Bay, contemplating how I am going to spend my time here. It's a bit more relaxed out here which I'm happy about - no endless streets full of bars and drunken English people - just a lovely strip of beach and sea :)