The Whitsundays are normally a great way to see the Great Barrier Reef. I was booked onto a three day tour with two nights on South Molle Island. The thought of three solid days on a boat feeling seasick really wasn't for me so I was pretty happy with my choice.

Day one it rained non stop. The plan was to go straight to the Island but during the two hour boat ride we all got so wet and couldn't wait for a warm shower once we had got off! The island bar was really cheap in fact most of the drinks we were just given to us for free although that was probably largely because of the awful weather! Our group was the only one staying on the Island so we effectively had it to ourselves as only twelve people actually live there!

Day two we headed out to Whitsunday island and Whitehaven Beach - one of the mose gorgeous beaches in the world on a sunny day! By the time we had walked to the beach the rain was so hard it felt like hail! We all sat down in the water as it was 27deg and a lot warmer than standing in the rain! Sadly we couldn't go snorkelling because the visibillity was so poor, but instead we went back to the island and the bar was opened a couple of hours earlier than normal!

Day three hangover plus rocky boat are a major disaster zone! Half of the group opted out of the days sailing and took the water taxi straight back to the mainland. I decided to soldier on given that I had paid a small fortune for this trip! That morning we actually had two hours or so of dry weather so we sat on the deck drinking beers and having a good time! Almost as soon as we had set down to get into the water it started to rain again! Typical! As a result we really couldn't see anything in the water only sand and rocks! No reef and no fish! Truly upsetting! On a good day you could see that the area was beatiful but the fog was in parts so thick you couldn't see in front of the boat! Although this is the rainy season for that area the aftermath of the Cyclone in Cairns meant that the weather was much worse than normal. An excuse to go again I suppose! I fly out to New Zealand tomorrow morning so fingers crossed it won't be quite as wet there!

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