The Whitsunday Islands

Apparently the cost of our package tour, which consisted of four separate activities, went solely towards the Whitsundays sailing cruise; all the other bits were free except for taxes, stinger suit hire etc. I can safely say that the Whitsundays were worth the money alone - we had an absolute blast, the new highlight of the trip so far.

The people you're with make a big difference when you're on a package like this, and we got really lucky - 23 people all getting along and partying for 2 days. The crew were laid back and let everything go, the weather was fantastic and the reef was incredible - see some of the photos that I've stolen from Jamie as evidence to that.

Our boat was called the Habibi, one of the cheaper options for the Whitsundays but it only holds about 23 passengers - a good comfortable number - and you tend to get the more down-to-earth and fun people as a result. And as an added bonus you can help out at time to time as it's a somewhat old boat with sails if the wind's up.

Pictured above is Whitehaven Beach, the only part of the islands that we actually stepped foot on. Coincidentally it's allegedly the most photographed beach in the world - 10km of beautiful white sand that's so fine it's ridiculous; you can clean silver ust by rubbing it with the sand, and when you brush some off your skin it feels baby soft.

The annoyance about the sea her is having to wear stinger suits, which cost 15 dollars to hire and are a pain to put on. It's worth it though - Box jellyfish and tiny Irikandji roam the water and even the little sea lice you swim past leave a little sting on your face. One thing I didn't realise is that the stinger suits don't just protect your body - jellyfish are attracted to humans by the electric pulses our bodies give out, and the stinger suits stop those being transmitted through the water. You've still got to watch for trailing tentacles though!

Believe it or not, all the pictures below bar the last one were taken by Jamie on his normal digital camera using an underwater camera case, which cost above £25. Good, huh?

Lots of good times, memories and photographic evidence; superb stuff. But don't stop reading yet - more adventures to come after eventually leaving Airlie Beach...