I'm in Melbourne right now waiting to go to the airport to fly to New Zealand!
I have (obviously) returned from my 3 day/3 night sailing around the Whitsunday Islands. The boat I was meant to be on, the Kiana, had mechanical problems so I was transferred to a new boat, the Spank Me, which holds 28, but there were only 26 of us and 4 crew on board. We sailed first to Hook Island and moored up for the night there. The next morning we started to set sail, but something was jammed in the rigging mechanism in the mast (I don't know terms!!) so we motored at first, then put up the front sail only and sailed to the Outer Great Barrier Reef.
Everyone was given a free dive of 20 minutes, so the one dive instructor on board was busy because only half of us were certified. If you weren't diving, you were able to go snorkelling. Although 20 minutes was short, it didn't bother me as much because I wasn't seeing loads of fish or anything and I was freezing cold. The water was 23... when I checked in for the boat I asked about renting a wetsuit and they said wetsuits and stinger suits would be available at the dock prior to boarding. This was not the case -- they ONLY had stinger suits which provide almost no warmth. The highlight of that dive was actually spent around the boat waiting for others, and after the dive -- we had a friendly Maori Wrasse that was a meter in length and would come up to you and let you pet him -- FANTASTIC! :)
The next day I got up and did another dive, this time seeing Unicorn fish, a wobbegong at a distance, and a white tip reef shark! After that we set sail for Whitehaven Beach -- 7km of pristine white beach. Although, now that I've been there, I can say, the beaches in Destin are just as nice.... only Whitehaven has no condos or anything built on it.... We motored a short distance from there for the night and were able to go snorkelling in the morning. I did this hoping to see turtles, but didn't see any until I (and everyone) was back on board. From there we sailed back to port -- a great trip. Wonderful weather, great people... :D
