Day 8 - Whitsunday Islands

This will be a short blog because I didn't do much OTHER than sail all day. Life's rough.

What a beautiful day. We hopped on a bus that took us to the harbour to start our day cruise on the Ragamuffin sailboat to the Blue Pearl Harbour. The ride (or whatever you call sailing) out there was beautiful with beautiful weather. I felt like I was hobnobbing with the rich and famous. We saw dolphins jumping in the water and tortoises as well. The water was so clear we could see them swimming, and then of course the dolphins did their jumping. I wish they would have been beside the boat.

There are 74 islands that make up the Whitsundays. The Blue Pearl harbour is at one of them and has a beautiful beach made of coral instead of sand. It is also a great place to snorkel. Some people decided to scuba dive. I thought I might change my mind until the dive instructor told us the diving would only be a maximum of six metres depth. I have been as deep as 80 feet before and didn't want to just go 20 feet down for $90. I will wait until Cairns. We got off the boat onto mini muffin, the yellow dingy that took us all ashore. The water was so clear that you could see the Great Barrier Reef. I had to wear an attractive stinger suit to protect me from the stinging jellyfish that start to come out this time of year; they weren't out yet though. Maybe by the time I get to Cairns they will be. The fish were absolutely gorgeous. Green ones, blue ones, purple ones, green, yellow and purple ones, big ones, small ones, different colours of clams. It is indescribable. I was swimming through thousands of fish and they were brushing up against me. This IS living!


After snorkelling we were treated to a nice lunch of chicken, salad, pumpkin salad (they're big on pumpkin in Australia) while moored in the harbour. You can't get better that this. Did I say "THIS IS LIVING"?

We were being silly and took Titanic pictures on the way back and we were treated to more food - fresh fruit this time.

It was a full day on the water and the heat can be tiring. We are going out for dinner tonight after the disaster we had yesterday and weren't able to.

I'm typing this on the ground just outside my tent.

Time for more Aussie expressions:

Frocked Up - dressed up
Ridgie didge - don't know what it means, but it sounds funny
'Ave a good one! - assuming it means have a good time
Bonza mate! - don't know what it means
What a dag! - don't know what it means

I have alot more from a towel I bought so I am not sure what some of them mean. I thought I would just share them with you.