Where was I?!

Right, so last Tuesday we embarked on our 2 day, 2 night sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands, and this was without doubt one of the highlights of my trip so far. Just the experience of doing something so different - 2 nights bunking down on a little boat - and seeing such beautiful sights. Weather wasnt perfect, we had more cloud and rain than sun, but this didnt manage to spoil it at all!

Our boat was the Condor - a famous sailing boat which has won races in the past (I'd have to google it to find which!) and we boarded it at 1oclock the first day, handing in our flip-flops on the way as the next 2 days would be spent barefoot. Met our skipper and the 2 crew, Craig and Jonno, and were shown round the boat - not a long job, as it was literally the deck and the downstairs cabin where we bunked! Then we set off to sea. To be completely honest a lot of the time we were sailing I hadn't a clue where we were, but before we left we were given a map and shown our route, so now I know!

We sailed for 2 1/2 hours to reach our first destination. Everyone (well mainly the guys, they're stronger ;-) ) gets involved with the sailing, running to and fro on the deck (or port and starboard should i say?!) depending on which way the boat was leaning, it's really fun although we did get rather wet! I also don't have the greatest balance and walking around on deck was rather amusing to begin with. We stopped at Blue Pearl Bay to do some snorkelling on the reef. We all donned a stinger suit, essential if you want to swim in the sea to protect you from the jellies, and with our goggles, snorkel and flippers were ferried into the bay in the tug boat and plopped into the sea. Straight away the fish and coral were breathtaking, much better than I'd expected. Craig threw fish food in around us and gave me a handful to jump in with, so had hundreds of colourful fish around me straight away! Then he pointed "look down there" and there was a huge fish right behind me - I actually let out an underwater scream! In fact we spent quite a lot of time squealing and giggling at the fish. We did a second snorkel the next day, but it wasn't as good as this one (except for a shark sighting, though thankfully not by me!).

The food on the boat was really impressive - we had tea, coffee and cake when we got back from snorkelling, and a starter and main course both nights, both of which were delicious. Both evenings we spent on deck, though under makeshift covers from the rain at times! The second day we did some more snorkelling and also visited Whitehavenn beach, which was beautiful, though overcast when we were there. We saw 2 sea eagles that evening, and apparently there were turtles around though I didn't spot any.

A funny (well, in retrospect!) incident occured on the second night when Amy woke me up to this tremendous banging against the boat - sounded like we were being attacked, or the boat was falling apart or something! We were pretty scared and went on deck to investigate, but we couldnt see anything. We convinced ourselves that if it was serious, the crew would be awake. In the morning we anxiously told the crew what we'd heard, only to be told it was just water hitting the boat. How silly did we feel?! hahaha.

We landed back at Airlie Beach late on Thursday morning. Was sad to be leaving the boat, but it was really stinky by now! That night we had a meal and night out with people from our boat, which was a brilliant night, though the crew never showed up when they'd said they would. There were lots of different nationalities on the boat and people mixed more tonight than they had all trip! It was good fun though and just what we needed.

After this we spent a few chilled days at Airlie Beach. This place reminded me of Byron, it's basically one strip of hostels (3 huge main ones being Magnums and Koalas, both of which we stayed in, and Beaches), bars, shops etc. However despite the name there's no notable beach and you can't swim in the sea anyway because of the jellyfish, so instead theres a huge man-made lagoon area and this is where we spent our daytimes as, luckily, the weather was gorgeous and sunny. Good Friday night was a weird one because of the strict rules on drinking - you could only drink with your meal, and for an hour afterwards, then bars basically kicked everyone out until 12 when normal service resumed - for this reason we decided to have a quiet night, watched a film and went to bed early! Had a good night out at Beaches/Mama Africas for our last night there on Saturday, then left on Sunday for Townsville where we caught the ferry straight over to Magnetic Island.

Magnetic Island is a tropical island and the sunniest place on the East Coast, with 360 days of sun a year. (Apparently it is so called because when Cpt Cook sailed there his compass went crazy, so he though't the island had magnetic properties - but it turned out his compass was just broken!). We were betting it would be just our luck to get 3 of the 5 bad ones but it was nice to be proved wrong! It was HOT and the island was gorgeous, would have booked to stay longer if we'd known (we'd booked a package where we had 2 nights accommodation, with return ferry and bus transfer, a free breakfast and an hours internet time for $79) . We stayed at XBase, at Nelly Bay. Our dorm was basic but had comfy beds and aircon, which was all we really needed! And the wooden decking and the layout was cool, right on the seafront. The afternoon we arrived was pretty relaxed and we made the most of some happy hour drinks that evening at the bar. Had big plans for the next day...

So on Monday morning we got up and got the bus (all of which have individual names) to Arcadia to the bike hire place and hired push-bikes for the day! Felt it was time to do something again after a few lazy days, though we were a bit worried about how we'd cope in the heat - though as it turned out, riding the bikes was the easy part. We set off up the island and our first stop was at an old boat landing point where we had a little break and walked over the rocks, and saw some rock wallabies (another one to tick off the Oz wild animals we've spotted list). Then up to Alma bay, one of the only safe swimming spots and a beautiful bay, for a much needed dip in the sea! After a picnic lunch here we reached the worst bit of the journey - to get to Horseshoe Bay and the top of the island involves crossing a HUGE hill. Sad to say our attempt to cycle up this failed almost instantly so instead we took the man in the bike shop's advice and pushed the bikes over the walking track. This however proved just as hard for not only was it steep it was sandy/stony and bumpy - and all in the midday heat, I literally don't think I've ever sweated so much in my life. Such a relief to get back on the bike at the top, and downhill all the way to horseshoe bay - where I locked up my bike and ran straight into the sea! Here and at other bays they have a huge stinger net which sections off an area safe to swim in. We stayed here for the afternoon (not enjoying the thought of the hill on the return journey!) then set off back, stopping before the hill to do part of a walk where you can spot koalas - spotted one (with the help of an arrow helpfully marked on the ground by a previous spotter!) which was awake, so cute! Decided on the road route back (still pushing rather than pedalling though), worth it when I got on the bike at the top of the hill and whizzed all the way down the steep side. Wish I could do that again without the uphill bit first! This was a great day, a perfect combination of action and relaxing.

Tuesday was our last day on Magnetic Island and after dropping our bikes back we went to Picnic bay for the morning, until the time came to catch our ferry back to Townsville at 3 oclock. Back in Townsville we stayed at Globetrotters hostel, which was only $22 a night and came with 1 free dinner and free breakfast (though no aircon). The following day we caught our penultimate Oz bus, up to Mission Beach where we have spent the last 2 nights at Scotty's Beach House. Today there's a cloud covering the sky but the past two days have been unbelievably hot - it's uncomfortable to lie in the sun by 10am - and we've been loving the hostel pool! Strange to think it's been snowing in England when we've been sweltering here. We leave this afternoon for Cairns - our last trip on the Oz bus! It's gone so quickly, can't believe I've only 4 days left in Australia...