Welcome to paradise! Welcome to the Whitsunday Islands! After a speedy flight up the east coast (a lot more comfortable than the night bus!) I arrived into the beautiful airlie beach. I was really lucky that the cyclone that had passed through the week earlier has gone and left behind glorious sunshine! I was staying in the nomads along the main road which I can really recommend. Although quite a few of the nomads in Australia are not great, this one was lovely. Clean rooms, clean ensuite bathrooms and friendly staff.

But on to the important stuff, the sailing! I went with the amazing boat Habibi! Small and very personal :) with only 25 passengers and 3 crew. So after checking out and getting my supplies I headed to the marina. After the usual wait and admin we were escorted on board. Our boat was a ketch boat so fairly snug for 28 people! We were given the grand tour in small groups and shown our 'beds'... I was actually lucky in the grand scheme of things as I had a room with one other person whereas others were 7 mattresses crammed in together like a jigsaw. They would literally have to climb over each other to get to bed! Sleeping on board a boat for 2 nights was going to be fun!!!

Day 1 was just travelling mainly but I got to know all the others :). We were a great little group! People from all over the world: Germany, France, Finland, Denmark, England, Canada, USA and South Korea!!! The crew set up some good games that evening. One of my favourites was a game called 'illness' where a group has a rule that the doctor has to suss out.

Day 2 was busy busy. First stop was the beautiful Whitehaven beach. We got an early wake up call at 6am so we could be the first on the beach! And it was well worth it! It was so peaceful and the sun was rising over the Islands. Next activity was snorkelling! We slipped into our sexy stinger suits to protect us from the nasty jellyfish then jumped in! Despite the storm and low visibility we saw loads of fish! The crew would throw food in to bring them up to the surface. I saw little blue and yellow fish then huge grey shark like fish. Watch your fingers!

After the fun and games came a little stress and adventure... During the next leg to another bay the wind suddenly picked up. The sky went black and we found ourselves battling huge waves. The captain was shouting to get the sails in and I panicked! The little boat was tipping side to side and at one point the water was an inch from coming over the edge! But we were ok. We made it to the bay and the water calmed down. Phew...

The last day was nice and chilled. We played a few more games, a little snorkelling then prepared to say our goodbyes :(. The whole trip was amazing. I met some truly memorable people and hopefully real friends. I love you Habibi and the whitsundays!