Well, a few hours ago we stepped off our Pride of Airlie boat which sailed us around the Whitsundays. The Whitsundays is a group of 74 islands all dotted off the coast of Airlie Beach. Out of that 74 only 4 are inhabited, and that's only with hotels, no-one lives on them because that would be stupid, it would take a couple of hours to get to the nearest shop, or anything for that matter. They were discovered by Captain Cook (like most things over here) in 17something. We are now in Great Barrier Reef area, and when some people went snorkeling today they did it over the reefs, and we had strict instructions not to touch the reef at all, because the smallest bit can take 100 years to grow back, and it's very illegal. It's so beautiful out there though. We were quite luckily with the weather too. The first day when we set sail it started tipping down and was quite rough seas (for me, because I don't sail much) and a couple of people were sick, one was hogging the only toilet when I was desperate! She was supposed to go over the back of the boat. So I had to go in the mens, which had a toilet seat that was stained yellow! And it smelt! Back to the weather. We went over to Whitehaven Beach, which is in the Top 10 Beaches in the World, and is No1 in Australia. It got so sunny and hot then, there were still clouds but they didnt bother us. The beach was quite narrow, but really long, and because it is on a remote island it was quite empty. The sea was the perfect turquoise colour and the sand was white, which hurt my eyes. There were some planes on the water for those rich people who wanted to see the islands from over head.

We weren't allowed in the sea without a stinger suit, because the box jelly fish can be deadly. Me and Becky didn't hire one because it was $15 and we didn't get much chance to swim. So we sunbathed on that beach for a couple of hours then got back on the boat for lunch (luckily no-one was sick) and headed back to our resort.

Our resort was quite nice. It had a helicopter landing pad outside our rooms. It was so deserted though, only a few people staying in the main resort and our lot, who were out in these lodge things. Our room was alright, although i got bitten alive last night, and the two Canadian girls in our room broke our door, they pulled it off its hinges so we had to sleep doorless. It had a fridge and was ensuite though. The food was quite nice too, and I'm loving the 'ladies first' rule. We had steak, salads, chicken etc.

Our boat. I did have a good time, but because the travel agent in England booked it for us before we came we didn't realise that it was the Party Boat of the Whitsundays. So basically there were organised drinking games and stuff both nights. We didn't join in though, it was quite expensive on the island and the people we were friendly with weren't doing it. Quite a lot of people went to bed early actually. We did have to be at breakfast at 6.30am the first day though. The boat was good for sunbathing, and I'm feeling a little fried right now, I'm not burnt though. We've passed the Tropic of Capricorn now so we're in the Forever Summer places, which is pretty cool. And despite being mid-October for them the sun was really really scortching. The weather is very tempermental here, it can be raining one minute then you'll need SPF30+ the next. I was sunbathing today with raindrops falling on me, wierd feeling. I haven't dipped below SPF30 yet, i don't want to risk it because of the Ozone layer thing.

I met another girl who's from Swansea, she went to Exeter but she might be going to Swansea for her masters so I've got her number and email address. I'm going to know half the university when I get back!

Don't think there's much more to report on, so check out my photos if you haven't already!