Lindsay and Ryan Do the World 2008/09

Hmm…where to start…we left Airlie Beach on December 18 for a two day cruise on the Whitsundays.  We had 29 people on board with us and 4 crew.  They made us all go downstairs to set up our beds and for a quick briefing.  OMG.  It was the hottest thing I have ever felt down there. Ryan and I thought we were getting a double share room and it actually was a double bed near the roof of the boat…we couldnt even sit up straight!!!  It was terrible. I thought I was going to have a conniption.  There was no way I was sleeping down there. I would have woke up in a sweat and stabbed the closest person to me, and unfortunately that would have been Ryan.  He knew it too, so he said we will sleep on the deck.  That was not much better.  We had these tiny little mats about a centimetre thick and a sheet for our bed.  It was the worst sleep of my entire life and I am not exagerrating.  The sun woke me up at 5am and by 6am it was HOT out!  However, something good came of us sleeping on the deck.  When we arose we saw huge sea turtles coming up for air right near our boat.  That was awesome!  We also saw tuna jumping a little ways away from our boat as well.

 Other than at night, the trip was awesome!  Perfect weather, the snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef was something else.  I have snorkelled a few other places in my day but the coral here was sooo colourful. Lots of different types of fish too.  When I was swimming towards the reef, I started getting bit by something.  I thought it was a jellyfish…I was soo scared and it stung so much!  You see so many signs warning people of the jellyfish and that you can die from it that I knew my impending doom was coming.  However, I called over one of the crew and he told me not to worry, you won’t die, it is just sea lice! OMG.  That may be worse.  SEA LICE.  EW.  So I continued snorkelling and tried to ignore the stings of the lice. haha

 They fed us great on the boat.  Better than we have been, thats for sure.  We met lots of people with some great stories and we sat around each night just talking to our new friends.  There was this older danish man that had some great stories.  He was great!  Ryan and I had some good laughs with him.

We also went to Whitehaven beach one morning for a swim.  The sand was the finest sand I have ever seen. The dry sand was like flour, not even kidding. It was so soft to lay and walk on.  Pictures won’t do it justice.

 Overall, it was a great time aboard the great British Defender!!  🙂

Lindsay and I have been keeping track of our weight to see if we gain or lose. I thought it was time for an update. Lindsay – departure day from Hamilton 130 lbs, Ryan – 234 lbs. Lindsay’s weight in Rotorua (New Zealand) 124lbs, Ryan 232lbs. Cairns (Australia) Dec 14th Lindsay 126lbs. WOW Lindsay really packing them on eh?LOL. Ryan 230lbs. We will keep you updated as the weigh in goes on.

Yesterday we arrived in Airlie Beach, its home of the Whitsundays Islands. Its a beautiful place,very nice beach front with a huge lagoon pool. Its a small little town you can walk end to end in about 10mins. Tomorrow we ... [Continue reading this entry]

We have finally figured out how we are getting around Australia for the next week or so. We are renting another car.  Its the cheapest way.  The buses and campervans are all way too expensive.  A car for 7 days ... [Continue reading this entry]

Yesterday, December 12, we rented a little car and headed north for the day to Cape Tribulation.  Its about a 2 hour drive, but it took all day with all the stops we did.  Ryan and I were nervous about driving ... [Continue reading this entry]

haha...sorry no pics....blog is messed up.  I will try again later.

Here are just a couple from Australia.  I don't have too many yet, its only our second day, but we are on our way up to Cape Tribulation tomorrow so we will get lots there.  We rented a little car ... [Continue reading this entry]

We made it to Australia.  We flew over the Great Barrier Reef. That was something else. Got some good pictures of it too. When we arrived in Cairns we heard my name over the speaker so we had to go to ... [Continue reading this entry]

I thought it was time to talk about living in a hostel.  When we first got to Auckland we stayed in a hostel that we had are own privite room and shared a bathroom. That was are way of slowing ... [Continue reading this entry]

We are in the middle of the north island of New Zealand right now, Lake Taupo. Its the largest lake in New Zealand.  Its a small little town, easy to walk around in.  Its quiz night at the pubs around ... [Continue reading this entry]