Sailing on the Great Barrier Reef
This is Whitehaven Beach, famous for being one of the best beaches in the world as the sand is 98% pure silica, and is apparently the site where most shots are taken for advertising holidays in Australia. I have just been on a 3 day sailing trip around the Whitsundays which was ace, and this was one of the sites we stopped at. The weather wasn't so great to begin with but it soon perked up.
We did a couple of snorkels off the boat on the Great Barrier Reef which were amazing. Despite the cloudy weather, the water was still really warm and the fish and the coral were so beautiful, I think this was probably the best snorkelling I have done so far on my trip. When we were snorkelling one of the times we saw dolphin in the water (not that close to where we were snorkelling luckily, as I was a little scared after my previous dolphin experience in Monkey Mia where the lady took pride in telling me dolphins had 104 teeth and weren't afraid to use them on me).
The boat I was on only had 7 people on it and 3 crew, I even got a go of 'driving' it. It was actually harder than 'Steve the Skipper' made it look...
This is a view of the moon from the boat at night.
And, just a couple of shots from the trip...
After the sailing trip, I was in Airlie Beach for a day, where I had a didgeridoo lesson. I could just about make a sound, but the guy doing the lesson was amazing, he kind of beat boxed down it...you probably had to be there to see it, but it was pretty impressive. And yes, I am going red in the face attempting to play it, it is not sunburn.
Yesterday I took a 12 hour bus trip south to Bundaberg where I am now. I have come to stay with Jeanne-Marie and Mick (Jeanne-Marie is my mums Dutch penpal who married an Aussie) and Bruce, their dog. Tomorrow we are going to a gorge for the weekend to do some walking which I am looking forward to after my recent revelation that I like climbing. Today it has been about 23 C which I still consider warm so am in my shorts and t-shirt, however this is apparently cold so JM and Mick have been raiding their winter wardrobes to find some warm jumpers.
I only have just under 3 weeks left in Australia now, can't believe it has gone so quickly, although I do feel as though I have done quite a lot with my time here, and have lots still planned to come - next week I am off to Fraser Island on a 4WD (4 wheel drive) tour, and on a 3 day canoe trip...
Jealous, jealous, jealous! Just caught up with four blogs in a row, sounds amazing! Although I can finally say...it's hotter weather here! About 25-27 degrees, think this is our annual week of summer! Miss you swanface! Xxx