I arrived in Airlie Beach at 7am. Mark was with me. We went to the Base hostel to drop our bags off as we couldnt check in until 2pm. Mark was hungry so we went to McDonalds for breakfast. There he had his first hashbrown, he had never heard of them before. After that it was still only 8am and none of the shops were open so we walked along the beach front along the board walk until we came to the Marina. This looked like the place we would catch our boats from the next day. We walked back again and sat near the Lagoon for a while. It was already roasting hot and only 9am. The shops were opening now so I went to buy a drink, some new sunglasses and sun tan lotion. We then sat by the lagoon a bit longer until 10:30 am when we could check in at the boat office. I was travelling on Wings III a catermaran. It looked very nice in the pictures. Mark was on a different boat. They gave me a form to fill in and take with me to the boat the next day. I didnt have to be there until 11:30 so it wasnt a too early start.

After that Mark had decided he wanted to cook at night so he went shopping. He said he would cook for me to so I just followed him around the supermarket holding the basket. He was very fussy about ingredients, I suppose that comes from being a butcher and doing cookery classes. He bought things to make a sausage pasta dish. After that we went back to the hostel and sat in the common room area waiting for 2pm to come. It was hard not to fall asleep as you dont get a lot of sleep on a night us and I was tired.

Eventually 2pm came and we could check in. We were in room 202. It was a beach challet type room, 4 beds, a bathroom and a kitchen area. The first thing I did was do some laundry as I still had smelly wet clothes from Kayaking and dirty clothes from Fraser in my bag. It was also nice to have clean towels. After that I sat and did a bit of my dairy before going back out to buy a box of goon for the boat the next day. Then Mark made dinner, I helped by chopping a few things but he was purely incharge of the cooking. He had got with him in his bag a variety of herbs and spices which he also added. When it was finished it was very nice. It had a kick to it, just enough for me anymore would have been too much but he said it wasnt very spicy. Mark also washed up - I could get used to this! Adam never did that! The hostel had a bar where we could have a free welcome drink so we headed there. It is called Down Under Bar. We had a couple more and then checked out another bar before going to bed.

In the morning I got up had a shower and packed my small bag to take with me. We also got a free breakfast so I went and had some cereal and toast. Just then Adam rang me as he had arrived on the 7am bus and had no where to go until his boat left, so he came to hang out at my hostel for a while. We sat around the pool until 11am when I had to check out and walk to my boat. I left him there. The girl who had been in my room that night was also on my boat so we walked to the boat together. She was called Sarah-Jane and was from Germany.

There were 26 people getting on our boat and one of them I knew from the kayaking trip. One of the crew called Richie introduced himself and collected the forms we had filled out. He was going to be our dive instructor on board. He was very loud and funny and also English. We then went on board the boat leaving our shoes in a bag on the deck. We gathered in the dinning area where Dillan the Skipper said "Hello" to us and welcomed us onto his boat. He explained where we were going that afternoon. Joel was then introduced to us, he would be our hostie so he was incharge of cooking for us and getting our rooms ready for us etc. At this point he pulled out somewraps for us, for our lunch and crisps. We had started moving by ow but you could hardly tell, it wasnt rocky at all. When we had finished lunch we went outside to sit on the front of the boat. We waited there sunbathing while Joel called us out in pairs to show us to our rooms. There were two double beds and 4 singles in our room. Two of the single beds were kinda in a tunnel and the other two were like a shelf sticking off the wall. Mine was the top shelf bunk. Im pleased it had a little rail to stop me rolling off. I also had a little window next to my pillow which no one else had. We also had 2 clear hatches in the ceiling so we could see everyone sunbathing on the deck above us. When everyone had been given their bed Richie came out to talk to us about the water activities. He showed us the snorkling equipment and how to use it and then talked to us about diving. We could do an intro dive for $50. He explained how we would start off on our knees under water so we could still stand up if needed. Then would go a it deeper gradually. It all sounded good but then he put me off with the next bit. He said we would have to take our air tube out of our mouth, drop it and then find it and put it back in! Thats the bit that worries me, losing my mouth piece. Im bad enough if I get a bit of water in my snorkle! I hadnt made my mind up but I wanted to snorkle before I would try diving anyway so I didnt put my name down for that day. At the end of Richies speech we were almost at our destination, Dolphin Bay at the very top of the Whitsunday islands. It had taken about 2 hours to get there. We all needed to put on a wet suit to get into the water as it was stinger season. I got a mask and snorkle, some fins and I was good to goo. We could jump straight off the back of the boat and begin snorkling. There were lots of black and white zebra fish about and lots of blue fish with yellow fins. The coral was right below us in lots of different shapes, sizes and shades. It is amazing how the fish dont seem to mind you being there, they diont swim away at the sight of you. I swam around for about half an hour seeing lots more different sorts of fish. I then climbed back on the boat and signed in as we had been threatened with vegemite if we forgot! Gradually more people came back and were sunbathing on the deck to get dry. Joel bought out some nibbles and dips for us and a cup of tea.

When everyone was back Dillan set sail to find us a nice sheltered place to anchor for the night. Joel started making dinner and we started drinking the Goon!! We watched the sunset and then went inside where it was a bit warmer and played cards. Well that was until Joel kicked us out so he could serve dinner. We had garlic bread, salad, chicken and potatoe bake. It was very nice and there was lots left over for seconds. After dinner we had a slide show of lots of different fish and marine life that we were probably gonna see on the trip. We learnt their names and a little bit more about them. Richie also made it very entertaining as he put in some funny pictures as well. Dillan then showed us where on the map we were and what the plan for the next day was. We were anchored just behind an island and in the morning we would sail through a narrow strip which would be a bit bumpy and go to Whitehaven beach. Most of us then went outside on the deck and sat chatting. The boys took it in turns to play the guitar and we sang songs. At midnight I went to bed.

In the morning they raised the anchor at 6am, it was quite noisy and then we started moving. I looked out of my little window next to my head and watched as we sailed passedislands. It did get really rocky as we went through the narrow bit. Some people had to get up as they couldnt stand the rocking but I was fine. We got up at 7am anyway for breakfast. We had made it to Whitehaven beach and there were quite a few other boats around. I was eating my breakfast on the deck with some others when I heard "VICKY!" being shouted across the ocean. It was Adam on one of the other boats. He was at Whitehaven beach as well.

After breakfast we caught the little speed boat to shore. Joel came with us. The first thing he made us do was taste green ants!. We had to hold out tongue out while he put the ants bum on it. It tasted very citrusy, like a lime. The girls all did it willingly, it was the boys that whimped out and wouldnt do it! It was like a bush tucker trial, I have licked a green ants bum! It was a short walk through a bushy area to get to the main beach. There we had a group photo taken of everyone jumping in the air. It took a few attempts to get one with everyone in the air at the same time. We then had an hour and a half to spend as we wanted. I found Adam and Shona and hung out with them which involved quite a lot of sand fights in the water. I say sand fights but apparently it wasnt sand, it is silica. When the time was up we met around the sign and had another group picture. We then walked to the lookout point. We had individual pictures taken and then another group one. This time Joel made us do our best model pose on the count of 3, so we all stuck different poses. We then then made our way back to the boat. We set off to find a nice place to do some snorkling and diving. This time Dillan put the sails up so we were just sailing and not using the engine. After about an hour we anchored down and got into our wetsuits. Once again we saw lots of brightly coloured little fish and some bigger dark coloured ones. The coral was different shapes and sizes. I snorkled for about 45 minutes before getting back on the boat. Then it was sunbathe time to dry off. A turtle then popped its head up right next to the boat to take a breath. After snorkling we moved to another place to do some more. Then it was time to find somewhere calm to anchor the boat for the night so we set sail again. On the way we sat on the deck eating nachos that Joel had prepared for us whilst watching the sun set behind the islands. We anchored near the shore of an island inbetween the other wings boat, Wings II and the British Defender (Adams boat). There were also a couple of other boats around. Dinner was steak and sausage with warm crispy bread and a pasta bake. After dinner came the slide show of all that days photos. We looked at them whilst eating chocolate rice crispy cakes for desert. Richie as usual made fun of them. There were the ant eating photos, the group photos on the beach and some diving photos. Richie really made fun of me in the model pose photo and gave me the title of the best poser!! (Well I am a dancer, what do you expect - I know how to pose!) After that people just chilled out on the deck for a while and went to bed about midnight again. The next morning we had to be up early if we wanted to go snorkling. So at 6:30am I was pulling myself into my wet suit. We snorkled for about half an hour before getting back on the boat for breakfast. Then we began our journey back to Airlie beach. Richie gave out diving certificates and told us about the after party at the Down Under Bar that evening. We arrived back about 10:30am and said bye to everyone.

I went back to Base and waited there until Adam, Shona and Mark got back also. We all had different boat parties to go to but arranged to meet later. The evening was good and was nice to be back together as a group again.