On the 23rd we arrived in Airlie Beach and set up for our next few days on the boat. As soon as we saw our boat we knew we'd picked a good one. There are literally hundreds to choose from and we've since heard nightmare stories about overcrowded boats with boiling sleeping quarters. Ours (Wings) on the other hand was perfect. A modern catamaran with air con, excellent beds and most of all a really good group of people on board. Over the three days we did loads of snorkelling and sunbathing, managed to see clown fish (Nemo), cleaner wrasse cleaning out the inside of a larger fish's mouth and swam with a turtle for ages. At night we ate BBQ cooked on the back of the boat and (as we were miles from anywhere) there was no light pollution so the view of the stars was spectacular. On the second day we visited Whitsunday Island and walked across to Whitehaven Beach. This is apparently the second most beautiful beach on the planet (the first being a private beach in Mexico) and it lived up to that promise. We have never seen anywhere this beautiful before and it wasn't at all busy like the crowded beaches in Thailand. We even managed to pose for our Christmas card...coming soon! On the way back to the boat we saw stingrays and hundreds of crabs in the pools between the swirling sand masses. The next morning we decided to wake up EXTREMELY early to watch the sunrise. It was definitely worth it and after we'd all taken our photos we went to the front of the boat and fell asleep in the catamaran nets until breakfast. That night we treated ourselves to the best fish & chips we've had in ages and went to the Wings after party.