We're really bad at updating this and are so far behind...sorry!! So we last left you as we were about to go on our Whitsunday sailing trip for 3 days and 2 nights...

Together with our bags, we were completely soaked by the time we even got to the boat itself thanks to a lovely storm! We met the rest of our group on the boat (28 people and 4 crew) who were all really great, which is good as the boat was very very cosy - Debra and i supposidly had a 'double' bed but if def wasn't! There were also no real showers on the boat and tiny little bathrooms so the huge washbag full of toilettries that us princesses took onboard was rendered completely useless!!

So it was pouring as we got on the boat and we were straight into some very stylish and flattering wet suits and rain jackets as we sailed away from Airlie Beach and headed to the Whitsundays! We were all sat hanging off the side of the sailing boat and could barely open our eyes as it was raining so hard - i think at that point we were wondering what we were doing there but the weather cleared up that evening thankfully and some of our clothes even dried! We visited Whitehaven Beach where the sand is sooo soft (made of 90 % silicone debra has just told me!) on the second day and did some snorkelling which was good. It was really cloudy all day but i somehow managed to get completely burnt and i'm still peeling from it now, so no tan for me yet :( The evenings on the boat were great - lots of silly games and music and our initiation onto the 'goon'. Goon is what is known as boxed wine in england but is very cheap here and apparantly contains no grapes at all...hmmm....very cheap so we're not complaining when everything else here is quite expensive!

Sailing back to Airlie Beach on the third day was amazing - we were in 40 knot winds apparantly and some of the other boats had been called back in the day before due to cyclone warnings but we pushed on and made it through with the boat completely tipped up on one side as we sailed at times! Our group was great with quite a few english, some canadians, an israeli and a few other nationalities being represented! We've actually met up with quite a few of the group as we've carried on travelling down the coast which has been really fun!

That night back in Airlie we met up with the group at one of the bars and were able to make ourselves look semi respectable after our first shower in 3 days and some nifty work with the hair straighteners!

We spent Shabbat in Airlie which was slightly more successful than our efforts the previous week! Kosher breakfast muffins were found and we cooked up a storm of a friday night dinner...jacket potatos with tuna...it was no chicken soup but served the purpose nevetheless! I'm not sure we've had a day without tuna yet but i'm working my magic and getting debra to eat more and more fruit - she's managed grapes and a peach today...progress is being made :)

We left Airlie on saturday evening on an overnight bus to Rainbow Beach where we stayed before our 3 days, 2 night self drive trip to Fraser Island...more about that soon, we promise!

We're having a fantastic time...can't believe it has nearly been three weeks since we've been away and we've literally not stopped in that time but loving every minute! Miss everyone lots

Alis xxx