Having stopped off at the Gold Coast, (which was an amazing stretch of endless beach but a bit too seasidy, high risey and touristy for me) for a few days and we were back on a flight again, this time to Airlie Beach, home of the Whitsundays island group and The Great Barrier Reef .

We had booked a backpackers in the centre of town called Magnums which was advertised on the internet as being located in a rainforest setting and it certainly lived up to its reputation. We were greeted by bush turkeys and cane toads and the sounds of kookaburras and tropical birds in the trees above and just one spider but he didn't really count as he only had four legs! Our room was quite dark but at least had a circular ceiling fan much needed as the temperature was hotting up, (the fan also doubled up as a rotary washing line!)

On our first day we went for a walk around the local area, beautiful beach, fab harbour and great beachy shops but we noticed that there wasn't a soul actually on the beaches?? When we asked at the booking desk the lady warned us that the coastline was teaming with two types of jelly fish; the 'Box Jelly' and the 'Irukandji jelly'... both of which can do some serious harm to humans should they manage to come into contact with them. Looking obviously disappointed that we had come all this way and couldn't swim in the sea, the lady told us that right next to the beach the Airlie Beach council had built a lagoon for all to use free of charge so off we went...it was brilliant...huge and very deep and an absolute god send in the heat....in we got and there we stayed for what seemed like days ...lovely, far too hot in mid-November to lay in the sun so we just floated about!!...

Ray has been to Airlie beach before and was insistent that one of the things I should experience was a sailing boat trip around the Whitsunday Island group. The seventy four Islands that make up the Whitsundays (so called, because Captain Cook discovered them on Whitsunday 1770) lie in the heart of the tropical waters of the coral sea and are part of The Great Barrier Reef.

Three days later and we were on a two day, two night sailing trip around the islands. We turned up at Abel point harbour to be met by our Captain, Capt. John (aka Keith Richards...looked, behaved and spoke exactly the same, although with an Auzzie twang), very knowledgeable about the ocean and the owner (and galley boy) Roger although he was also known as Craig and Tex, so we were told that we could choose what name we'd call him. We had decided not to go on one of the crazy party boats with 40 others mainly because they were all eighteen year old school leavers and the boats had names like 'spank me' !!

Our boat 'Prima' had been newly refurbished by Roger, Tex or Craig. When he found it, it was up to the galley in water, was damaged on the hull, all winches, anchor and cables had gone and the sails and mast had been destroyed in a cyclone. He had lovingly restored it and she was beautiful once again and this was her second outing to the Whitsundays with passengers aboard. We had a double bedded cabin with en suite. Very compact but did the job. Our little yacht had only 12 passengers so was going to be relaxing and quiet.

After our safety briefing which was as follows:

Emergency exits when at sea: jump off the boat from any point

Muster point -The Sea

Always use a snorkel when breathing underwater and...

If you feel seasick or are going to be sick- face the sea preferably with wind blowing at the back of your head...

Job done..we were off!!

We sailed out of Abel point marina, past Daydream Island and headed for the Narra Inlet near Hook Island Island for our first snorkelling session. When we arrived Capt. John explained that we would have to wear stinger suits as the jelly fish had been forced through the islands by the wind and tide whilst they made their way to fresh water to breed and could be lurking anywhere. He went on to say that the Irukandji "hurts like hell mate, if it gets you and the Box jelly would mean certain death" (more than just a bit crook then?) As for shark attacks, well yes, they do visit these waters but it would be a very rare occurrence, only three in the last two years (that's ok then!!??) The sharks would probably only be reef sharks not Great Whites , oh and Hammer Heads and Tiger sharks but they'd be looking for turtles and as we didn't look like turtles they would probably leave us alone...probably?? (funnily enough in a wetsuit I do look a bit turtley?!) anyway with Capt. John buzzing around us on shark and jelly patrol in his dingy in we jumped!!

It was totally beautiful, the water was warm and clear and there was an abundance of fish and colourful corals and as we swam back to the yacht I noticed about 4 or 5 'bat' fish about the size of a tennis racquet, which looked a bit like great big yellow and brown stripy Nemo fish , swimming underneath the boat. Apparently this was a 5/10 snorkelling beach and tomorrow we would move onto a 9/10!

Back in the boat we set sail again and Ray and I opened a bottle of wine and sat on deck at the front of yacht in the evening sunshine singing 'Her name is Rio' and doing Simon Le Bon impressions !!..fab!

Next morning we were taken by dingy to Whitehaven beach, an iconic place in the Whitsundays and named as one of the top ten beaches in the world.

We were instructed to head up and over the island to the viewpoint at Hill Inlet and then head for the beach but to be on the lookout for the huge Golden Orb spiders who build their webs across the footpaths and although not venomous could cause a heart attack should you walk into them face first. So we were very careful, we didn't meet any orbies but they were iguanas everywhere and as we approached the famous beach we saw stingrays gliding effortlessly around the shore line.

The sand here was pristine and sparking white and as it was moved about by the tide it created a beautiful swirling effect. It created the most beautiful photos too..bright sunshine, white sand, turquoise blue water and a stormy purpley black sky in the distance...incredible composition... The sand itself is silica and apparently if you build a bonfire on the beach, underneath the cinders when it cools you'll find globules of glass! It was also very squeaky to walk on too...hee hee!

We spent about an hour on this beautiful beach then headed back to the yacht for our 9 out of 10 snorkelling session.

It didn't disappoint...it was spectacular down there.. The corals were fabulous colours all bought to life by the Australian sun beating down through the water. The fish were beautiful and so many varieties, shapes and sizes. At one point I was surrounded by a big shoal, hundreds of silver, yellow and blue fish swimming all around my face. I could touch them and they seemed very interested in me!! It wasn't until I came up to clear my mask that I realised that Capt. John had been throwing bits of bread into the water right where I was swimming..for a laugh!! It had the desired effect though and my day was complete when out of the depths came the most enormous Murray (Maori?) Rass...he was huge about 4ft in length with the most expressive face, busy googly eyes and a huge droopy lip!!....it was a fantastic experience.

That evening we sailed to Turtle Island and on the way we anchored just off shore. Capt. John suddenly started shouting "come on Bazza, you ol b*****!!!"....and whistling. We thought he'd gone mad when suddenly the most beautiful white bellied sea eagle appeared from the mountains in the distance. Apparently 'Bazza' was an old friend of Capt. John and he'd known him as a baby. We watched in awe as he swooped down and caught bits of fish which Capt. John threw for him. Such a beautiful creature, with a wing span of over three metres and Australians second largest bird of prey he was a spectacular sight. Just when we getting over how lucky we were a beautiful green turtle emerged from the sea grass below, eyed the boat for a few moments then swam away....another magic moment!

As the sun went down over Turtle island Roger, Tex, Craig made an enormous cheese platter and Capt. bought it onto the little beach and we munched happily, taking photos and listening to Capt. John telling stories of the cyclones in the area, and how the reef can be destroyed by them but how this 5000 year old natural wonder will always recover and how a turtles favourite food is jelly fish and if they are lucky enough to get a box jelly fish they munch away in trance like, ecstasy, oblivious to anything else going on. Jelly fish to a sea turtle is like chocolate, champagne or caviar is to us and after they have consumed their favourite delicacy and are exhausted from all of the jelly joy they need to sleep it off. Cpt John explained how he would wait for them to settle in the sea grass and once they were snoozing he used to swim down to a sleeping turtle and write his name in the algae on its shell and see if he could spot it months later!! His other story wasn't quite so nice, the self defence mechanisms of the humble sea cucumber... (hilarious but very unpleasant!!....can't explain, too disgusting!...suggest Google)...

The next morning after one last snorkel we sailed back to Airlie Beach and Abel Point Marina with Ray at the helm..very impressed!.

The Capt. plugged in his IPod and as we approached the harbour the Auzzie anthem "I come from the land down under" blasted out over the sound system with Capt. John singing at the top of his voice!

We had had two days and two nights of real Auzziness. Two wonderful guys who really looked after and thoroughly entertained us. At the end of the trip I discovered that Capt. John's favourite band were the Rolling Stones and that he too, played the guitar. I suggested he start a 'rock boat' band. He seemed to like the idea and said I could go back as an honorary passenger...woo hoo!!!!

I felt quite sad leaving the yacht, the creatures and the ocean behind so as soon as we got back to the hostel Ray booked us on another couple of trips...a fishing afternoon and another snorkelling trip to the Outer part of The Great Barrier Reef!!!!.....still pinching myself!!