The next day I took a 11 hour bus ride to Airlie Beach which was really lovely. It's a little touristy party town right on the ocean. It's so humid here that when you get up at 7:30 am you are hot already. You sweat standing still. Still can't go in the water here because of stingers, you have to wear a stinger suit until May.

I met 2 girls in my hostel and we booked a three-day tall ship adventure through the Whitsunday Islands. I was really sitting on the fence about this because there are so many types of boats to choose from - cats, tall ships, racing boats. All different prices and durations, so I had been thinking about what I would do since before leaving Melbourne. In the end I am glad I waited because I got a deal for booking 24 hours before - I saved $100 and since I booked through the hostel I also got free luggage storage and a night's free accommodation!

The boat cruise was interesting, we did some sailing and the ship was just beautiful. Whitehaven Island was so amazing with the most pristine white sand beach I have ever seen stretching out into the ocean. The sand is so white that it doesn't even get hot because it is so reflective.

We went swimming here and cruised around for 3 days and two nights, sleeping on the ship - sometimes on the deck sometimes down below, but it was quite hot downstairs.