Siobhan, Amy and myself took a trip up north to the little city of Cairns, followed by a cruise around the Whitsunday Islands. Of course, it had to start with a little bit of drama...
So I wake up on Friday at 4am, ready to leave the flat to catch our 6am flight. The moment I wake up I text Shiv and Amy 'WAKE UP!'. Amy responds, Shiv doesn't. I have this very strange instinctive feeling that something will go wrong. Usually I ignore my instinct, this time I couldn't. When Amy and I are outside the uni ringing Siobhan and she doesn't pick up, we realise that she has indeed slept in and won't be waking up anytime soon. The worst part is, she was in charge of our lift to the airport.
After minutes of 'This can't be happening', 'no she is coming', 'I can hear her coming now...oh wait, it was just a bird', we ring a taxi. Luckily, because of the time, it came straight away and the traffic was clear. We caught out flight to Cairns, but I couldn't help wishing the seat next to me was filled too.
Not to worry though, Siobhan caught a flight the next day and all was merry in the land of Oz. So lets get to the fun part.
Diving in the Great Barrier Reef is not just a highlight of the week, but a highlight of my life. I could not feel any more grateful to have that experience. The reef is mind blowing and the water is unbelievable. Everything looks like it has been photoshopped or taken off of Google. The fish looked as if they were glowing as they swam around us. We even saw this good looking fella;
I have to say, I did feel pretty cool all suited up. My Lara Croft persona came back. We were the three musketeers on a mission to, eeermmm, do something. Haven't figured that out yet. I had a bit of a problem with my first mask. It was too big and wouldn't stop filling up with water, no matter how many times I used the de-filling, waste of time technique! So, when we came up on board and everyone is excited about seeing Nemo the fish, I am puzzled. Amy tells me i had a picture with it, so I must have seen it. When the photos came back to us and I looked like that >>>>>>everything became clear.
MY MASK is the reason why I didn't find Nemo. The evidence is in my photo. I look like I'm passing out when really all I'm doing is praying my mask behaves itself.
After leaving Cairns on Monday night we took a 12 hour greyhound coach to Airlie Beach, where our boat departs. We were on the Condor, previously the WORLD'S FASTEST SAILING SHIP. Yep, thats right. We were on it. As we sailed round the magical islands, all that surrounded us was the ocean. Me and Shiv even slept on top deck, underneath the stars, listening to the waves. I have never in my life seen so many bright stars. Food was great, people were great, life was fabulous. It IS fabulous.
One of the beaches we stopped off at was Whitehaven Beach, ranked the third best beach on earth. The picture on the left shows the lookout point. Need I say anymore?The sand is so pure you can polish your jewellery with it, and it looks brand new. Stingrays were swimming to the shore, following us as we walked along the beach. I wish I got a picture of us wearing stinger suits. We looked beautiful as you can imagine.
After two day and nights on the boat, I was ready to head back to land. We spent a night at Airlie beach, where we met up with the boys from uni and ended our trip. Airlie beach is somewhere I can picture living and working for 6-12 months. It's super chilled out and full of people who just want to enjoy life. It seems a lot of us Pommies have headed up to North Australia to settle and escape from English weather.
Don't worry mum, I'm still coming home. Can't miss a traditional English christmas!
All in all, it was a great week. I have only really told you a quarter, if that, of our experiences. But if I told you everything, we would be hear a long time. My advice to you is....
Come to Australia and experience it yourself.
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