Airlie Beach to the Whitsunday's 21st Jan to 27th Jan

After arriving late on the 21st we chilled out in Airlie for the night before we had to check in for our boat trip the following day. Once checked in we spent the day around Airlie lagoon, a similar complex to the one in Cairns which we spent a couple of days at. After basking in sun for much of the day we stored our luggage for the trip and got stuck into dominoes and fish and chips, a treat for a change from our usual pasta and sauce.After a quiet night, or as quiet as a dorm next to a club can be we made the journey to the Marina pier to catch our boat 'Siska' to the Whitsunday's.The boat departed around 08.30am and it did not take long until the clouds gave us a welcoming. The crew handed out the water proofs and we entered into a wall of water. The rain fell for a little under 3 hours, driving into the boat with us on deck. Although it was quite refreshing I ended up being cold for the first time on our travels.The sight of everyone huddled together with water proofs on was quite amusing, probably more due to the fact people were thinking how much money they had spent to get wet for 2 days; of course it was not going to be like that throughout. Around midday we stopped for lunch at our snorkeling bay, the clouds broke and the sun beamed down, timing could not have been more perfect, and well as for the lunch, a feast of quiche, salad, and all the trimmings. Turtle (captain) then announced that not swimming on a full stomach was a British stigma that (us) Aussie's got over long ago! Joker. So we jumped into our stinger suits, picked out our snorkels and for the first time entered the waters on the Great Barrier Reef. The waters were filled with fish, turtles and sharks although we managed to avoid any close contact with them.

With the sun now beaming down in true Aussie style we set sail for our overnight stop, the first attempts at sailing were made with many of us joining in. As sailing was new to everyone the amount of work it involved was quite a shock, especially how tight the ropes get. After an afternoon of cruising on the waters we entered into our bay for the night. We watched the sun decend behind the islands and the stars erupt into the sky. The selection of awesome food continued as nachos were brought up on deck, a small American portion (huge) and for dinner we were treated to spaghetti bolgiense, how can you complain at that. The night brought with it a spectacle only visible from places that don't pollute the night sky. With endless streets of lights, the Milky Way was visible throughout the night, the stars shot across the sky like a universal firework display, all a constant reminder that we were miles away from anything or anyone. People descended below deck for their sleep but it only took me an hour before I gave up trying to sleep below and took my sheet and pillow back above deck. The heat down below was unbearable so sleeping under the stars was a real treat with only the sounds of fish bouncing in the water and the geckoes in land having their usual night time disco.

As the sun rose at around 05.30am so did the march flies. I awoke with them biting into my face reminding me that everything in Australia wants to eat or kill you. However, although the flies were a pest nothing could stop the tranquility of the sun rising from the sea, into the islands, the water was calm now, not even a ripple, the sea acted as a mirror reflecting small puffs of cloud back up in to the sky. It did not take long for people to start emerging from below deck and the captain soon started up the engines and set sail for Whitehaven Beach. Rachel joined me on deck, perfect in her approach, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a slice of malt loaf in the other, "perfect she brought me breakfast, as she sat down she drank her coffee and ate her loaf… and for me I said… below deck, charming"

We arrived at Whitehaven around 08.30am and eager to see the spectacle of paradise we left the boat, Liam's dingy of love, and made our way for shore. The walk to the view point was around 10 minutes. The march flies attacked at this point, thousands of them swarmed around us and all that you could see were stinger suits being swung around like lassoes. A place of paradise was guarded by a army of flies, armor shells, and needle like teeth that break the skin. Once we made it to the top a brief shower engulfed the area before the sun beamed through onto the snowy sands and crystal blue sea. The picture before us was just like a post card, swirls of white sand covered by turquoise waters. After the pictures were taken we made our way down to the beach to enjoy this piece of paradise and cool off. Even the flies were not going to stop us getting there. The next 2 hours were spent indulging in luxury, the sand squeaked under foot, made of 98.9% silica, it looked and felt like talcum powder. The water was warmer than a bath and the marine life was clearer than on the reef. Stingrays swam around like we did not exist while half a meter long reef sharks prowled through the waters edge looking for a quick bite. The photos don't even come close to doing the place justice and when James Cook discovered this piece of paradise in 1770 I can't imagine why he would have wanted to leave.

Feeling a little parched from the sun, we were back on the boat, getting stuck into lunch again; this time a meat platter as we sailed off into the pacific heading back to Airlie. Not before though enjoying the whirl wind of a race against another sail boat "Boomerang". Relishing why so many love sailing, our boat was at a 45 degree angle in the water being powered only by nature, as we attacked and banked left to right and eventually coming out winners as we entered into calmer waters. The afternoon and the trip ended with a relaxing few hours at sea before we docked back into Airlie and left "Siska" bobbing in the waters.

After meeting up with the group from the boat in the evening for a drink and farewell bite to eat we enjoyed two nights in a double room (rather than dorms) while spending much of the day watching the tennis. Our final day in Airlie was "Australia Day", a day when Aussie's get tanked up, watch cricket and dance the night away. We did two of the three and chucked in a bit more tennis into the equation before departing for Rockhampton, the beef capital of Australia.