After the drama of the skydiving the next destination was the Whitsunday Island's and as with everyone else we took a guided two day tour on a sail boat. The boat we choose was called Habibi and this was to be our home for next two days, eating, sleeping and boozing!

Before we headed out on the good ship Habibi we spent two days at the coastal resort of Airlie Beach . This place is basically a stepping off point for boat tours around the islands and so isn't the biggest, but it does have plenty of bars and restaurants to keep you amused. As part of our tour we got a couple of nights in one of the local hostels, Magnums. This is the biggest hostel in Airlie and is kinda were most poeple stay but if there is anyone out there thinking of booking up, don't bother! Our room was full of all kinds of wildlife, including bed bugs and a fair few mice. Although one of the bungelows did completely beat that as they found a huge python curled up in the roof above their beds!!!!!! Needless to say, not the best place we stayed!

On day one we headed out from Airlie in beaming sunshine towards the Whitsunday Island's. After hoisting the main sail and batening down the hatches (don't think that is the right terminology) we were sailing. Now I have never sailed before and didn't have a scooby but according to our captain it was pretty rough seas. This meant we were being thrown around all over the shop, getting absolutley soaked by the waves coming over the edge. After about 2 hours of this we made it to our mooring point and anchored down for the night. That evening we enjoyed a barbie, the obligatory top notch sunset and a few cans of 4X. Things were going pretty well untill people started hitting the hay, this was when we discovered that the bed bugs were not exclusive just to Magnums! One girl had been in her bed literally only half an hour and when she came out she looked like she had been thrown in to a pit of piranhas! So as we were stuck on this boat with no where else to go I kinda just put up with it, but as Linz has got fairy liquid soft skin she spent the night up on top deck underneath the stars, so no hardship there really.

Day two arrived and we headed off to Whitehaven Beach, the main attraction of the the trip. To get there we had to sail through dead rough seas and this was when the sea sickness got to everyone. To count I think at least 5 people blew chunks over the side and Linz could have been number 6 although she just remained a pale shade of green. If anyone out there is wondering what she looked like then just imgine Linz with one of her famous hangovers and there we have it. As for myself, I was asleep through it all. As for Whitehaven Beach itself it was amazing and totally deserved of its tag as the 3rd best beach in the world (ones in Hawaii and Thailand come before it respectively). The sand is pure white and doesn't get hot as its 100% silicon and reflects the sun. I love putting a little bit of science into these entries and from now will aim to have a good fact for ya in every entry I do (geek or stato I hear you cry).

The rest of the trip was spent snorkeling, eating, drinking and listening to the most stupidest people we have ever meet. Regretably we have to admit that these poeple were from our own UK (Watford) and to be honest they made Jade Goody look like Stephen Hawkings (without the wheelchair and dodgey voice). How these geezers were allowed a passprt or let alone leave the country is beyound me! As for the snorkeling itself, it wasn't the best, as the visability was pretty poor. Combine this with the fact we had to wear sexy stinger suits mean't that this was probably the worst place we have been to snorkel, but saying that we did still get to see a fair few fish.

All in all our trip to the Whitsundays was O.K. and although seeing the beach was good, we're not too sure we would do it again. Its just the simple fact you do kinda feel a little sick all the time and even when you hit dry land, for the next few days you are swaying all over the place. erugh.

Grant