Living in a postcard

Wow...

It's crazy to actually go to a place that you've seen in a million pictures and brochures and should be desensitized to, and find out it's even more beautiful than tourist trap lingo can portray... When i got to whitehaven beach, I felt like I could happily stay there for weeks, just lying in the incredibly soft, pure, white sand and swimming in the ocean. Even the fact that I was dressed head to toe in an anti-jellyfish ninja suit didn't take away from my enjoyment. I think we got to spend like 3 hours there, but it was worth all the money and effort to actually get out there....

Anyways, boat cruise itself was pretty cool, got to dive and snorkel on the little reefs around some of the whitsunday islands and bask in the warm sun all day. The only downside was that selecting the, ahem, budget oriented boat, we managed to stick ourselves with a good collection of irish backpackers who spent the first night singing rebel drinking songs, arguing over which neighbourhood of dublin was shit (pronounced Shiite), and getting blind on cheap wine. Charming i'll admit, but when your bunk is 30 cm below the deck that they're pounding on at 4 am, it's not as much fun... We had our revenge the next day though, watching the two girls who had been the loudest (and most intelligent?) leaders of the chorus that night spew over the railings then sit and glower at the scenery for the rest of the day... Something about it just put a spring in my step, and I made sure I was the cheeriest morning person of them all at 6:30 am :)

In all the vastness of the ocean, we also managed to bump into some people we met at the hostel before the cruise and actually motored over to their boat for the second night to party with them, so the cruise was a pretty good chance to have fun socially as well. Learned a few exciting new drinking games that involve yeehawing and barn doors, but mostly the consumption of large quantities of goon. So, days were spent marvelling at the beauty of nature, gorging at the beauty of the onboard buffet, and rocking back and forth while laughing, cheering, and enjoying a spot of fine Australian tipple. Overall, no complaints, and it even got my psyched for the next stage of the trip, as talking to one
Irish guy about his time in Noosa surfing confirmed to me that it would be good times ahead....

until next time,

Chris