Popeye the Sailor Man

Hey guys!
Me again! Are you surprised? No...

Anyways, lets get straight into the adventures of late. I spent the last three days on a sailboat in the Whitsunday Islands just outside Airlie Beach. It was absolutely amazing. To begin with, our skipper looked like Popeye, so that was fuuny. Also, we got to stop at all the islands and beaches where the sand is pure white and lots of the beaches actually are entirely made of silicone...it's like walking on implants... no, but seriously, it's the softest sand ever! And the water... oh my god... it was sooooo blue! Amazing.

We also got the chance to go scuba divbing and snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef and that was just about the coolest thing I've done so far., if you overlook the fact that I had to wear a stinger suit (sexist things ever!!! full body spandex...grrrr). One minute, you're standing on the beach, totallly unaware of what's around you... and the next you stick your head underwater and you are in a whole new world. It's absolutely fantastic... the coral is so colourful and the fish are really cool. I'm usually pretty scared of fish, what with the creepy eyes and whatnot, but these are pretty cool. They are also pretty dumb... they'll swim right up to you, realize that you're bigger than them, start to swim away, forget what they are doing, and come back. It's really funny to watch. While I didn't find Nemo (Australia's favourite fish, and I'm not even kidding) I did see some really cool fish. there was a huge Rainbow coloured fish and this crazy-eyed fish that looked like it was actually cut up into puzzle pieces. I can't even begin to describe the outstanding feeling of diving, but at least I've tried... and one more thing, if you ever get the opportunity to do it. DO IT! you will probably never see anything as amazing as this anywhere else but at the bottom of the sea... and any sea will do, I'm sure!

Other than that, the sailing itself went pretty well. The people were pretty cool, there was even a guy who could compete with Graham in the funny contest... the food was awesome and the crew was really nice. I only felt a little bit seasick for a short while, so that's good, and we saw a huge turtle one day. It was really awesome!!

Anyway, that's all the gushing I can really do in one spurt, so I'll leave you with that!

See you later!

Steph :)
xxx1/3