Helllooooo again!!

So...where did I leave off...arrived in Airlie Beach (also known as scary beach because of the frightening amount of hostels with bed bugs)!! After a monster 8 hour drive from Rockhampton! Had two perfect days of weather and was thinking that sialing was going to be AMAZING and was gonna get wonderful boat tan!! Oh how the weather gods did spite me!!

Woke up on the morning we were due to leave with absolutely TORRENTIAL rain outside! Mike and I tried not to let this dampen our spirits and made our way to the marina...(after I had run up and down the lenght of Airlie Beach trying to find some sort of waterproof...honetsly no one told me I would need my waterproofs in Australia!! - Anyway best I could find was a poncho...Mike will back me up here! I looked ridiculous...I was basically wearing a white bin liner!)

Get on the boat - which is lovely...big catamaran and the crew are all welcoming and friendly. Meet all the other people in our group who are all normal and pretty cool and get shown our sleeping quarters! Me and mike sleeping upsatirs in the same place we eat but tables turn into beds! Get told all disgusting rules about toilet and how we are only allowed 30 second showers to save the fresh water!

Head off to sail arount the Whitsunday Islands...which are beautiful even when distorted by rain! Stop at a spot for our first snorkel and dive! Get all geared up and taught all the signs to use under water...then have to do practice run on our knees in the sea to make sure we can clear our air mask and not panic if our mask fill up with water. Really weird because you feel all heavy with the tank on your back and assume you will sink but I couldn't stay on my knees to do the practice....apparently I am a naturally floaty person...and he had to put more weights on my weight belt to keep me down! So off we go for our dive....very weird being so deep under water and being able to breathe...sometimes i wanted to take great big breath and when you blow out it makes so many bubbles you can't see where you are going! Felt a bit panicky sometimes when I looked up to see all the water above me but was awesome experience. Loadsa fish around! And the coral was amazing!

So after first dive all back on to boat! Had excellent food!!...These are the sorts of things Mike and I appreciate seen as we seem to live off of pasta and cereal!

Had beautiful sunset and red sky at night making us all hopeful the weather would be better the next day...but it was merely mocking us!! Awaken again to torrential rain!! Set off to Whitehaven Island...and i'm sure it would have been a haven if I could have seen it...but all the rain water running down from my hair into my eyes was blurring my vision somewhat! No seriously the island was beautiful but I have never been so wet in my entire life! We were doing what I am sure is usually a lovely busch walk but what had tunred into a cascading mud river!

Anyway we still are trying to be happy and not let bloody weather ruin trip! Get off boat to do some more snorkelling! And this is not like what we did in mexico mum...when they made us wear life jackets so you cant go underwater! Just jump off back of boat into sea and swim off...if you have any problems we have to use national problem signal (which is to put your hand into a fist and hold your hand in the air...but i'm sure when you are being chased by a shark is just mad flailing of arms!!) And the dingy will come and collect you! Anyway no life jackets so you can hold your breathe and dive right down to look at the coral...whole trip was worth just this as the fish and coral were amazing!

Last night on boat and once again amazing food and rain even stopped so that we could sit outside!

Last morning on boat and sods law the sun comes out so we get an hour before we have to head back to the marina! Mike even gets to help put the sails up on the boat! But they had to come down about half an hour later because it started raining...AGAIN!!

Anyway even though it rained non stop had a wicked time and would definitely do it again! Met some great people and had a good party that night whilst we all got rid of our sea legs!

At a place called magnetic island now...weather is weird!! So hot that mike and I are sweaty messes within 5 mins of sitting in the sun....and then torrential rain! I swear to god it is following us! We treated ourselves and hired a car for the isalnd...was a bit of a let down when it only took 20 minutes to drive from one end to the other!! We are currently staying in a very questionable hut with many many spider webs and a lizard that keeps apperaing precariously close to my bed!! But I am becoming quite accustomed to this lifestyle! Did have a bit of a shocker last night though...a bird must have come and sat on our door step and started making this noise like a small child screaming!! Horrible!!

Anyway only two more night in THE SHED OF WILDLIFE and then back to civilisation when we hit Cairns!! We are staying in a hostel called Gilligans which is meant to be THE PLACE to be!! Hopefully there will be no lizards!!

Speak soon!!

Big fat kisses!! xxxxx