Living the dream

I hear that the UK has been experiencing some pretty heavy snowfall - well, enough to make to kids happy and cause the entire london transport system to break down in utter chaos. So not sure if you want to hear that I've just spent a week in the Whitsundays Islands...a real paradise! I was on a 2 day sailing trip around the islands on an ex maxi racing yacht called Broomstick.

Had a really good crew, and 24 other passengers from all over the world (mostly Germany and Sweden...they can't get enough of Australia apparently)! About half an hour into the trip we hit a mini storm (is squall the right term?) and things got pretty hairy for a few minutes! We thought the crew knew what they were doing so were pretty relaxed about the whole thing, but we later found out that they were absolutely terrified and we nearly capsized! Near death experience over and done with, we carried on to a sheltered section of the Great Barrier Reef and donned our stinger suits for the first time (at this the time of year the water is filled with potentially deadly jellyfish so if you want to get wet you have to wear one. I had heard some horrible stories about bright orange lycra, imagine my relief when mine was black). The fish were amazing, don't ask me names but they were all shapes, sizes and colours. It was really incredible to be so close - they would swim right up to your face as if they were curious!

We also went to a look-out over the number one rated beach in the world - Whitehaven. It's composed of 98% pure silica and is totally unspoilt; as a result they don't take boat loads of tourists there but was beautiful to see from the look-out at Betty's beach. There I saw sandsharks and massive rays about 2 metres from the shore! Later that night we were having a few drinks on the deck when we heard a commotion in the water...there was a reef shark using our boat as a hiding place from which to dart out and catch his dinner - pretty cool to watch.

After getting safely back to shore the next day I caught a flight down to Brisbane. I am now at my friend Yvonne's house just south of the city. She moved over here after high school and after 7 years i've finally made it to see her! It was so nice to see a familiar face after 6 months of making new friends every day (not that i'm complaining - it's just nice to have to have the same conversation - where do you come from, how long have you been traveling, etc..). I'm here for a week so am looking forward to being in one place long enough to catch up on internet, washing, and also just a few days without having to lug my backpack with me everywhere I go!

Well, Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope you have a happy one wherever you may be. If you find the time to post a comment I would love to hear from you x