Chris and I did an introductory dive course and were instantly hooked! It was – for want of a better phrase – awesome!

A wet start, long day and nothing to do but wander around that shops. Oh, and book an introductory dive course.

A late start, a long, boring drive and some amazing scenery – once you got past the seemingly never ending suger fields.

After a nice early breakfast under a clear morning sky – we found out that strong wind and cornflakes do not mix – we headed round to the East side of Whitsunday island. As we hit the open sea – running on engines again as we were heading into the wind – it became very choppy. This was fun until sea sickness started to set in amongst us. Not nice!

We moored up to be greeted by Turtles coming up for air! They were huge, and beautiful animals, and we couldn’t believe we were seeing them!

Whitsunday Island has a great lookout point which you reach by walking through the island’s great flora and fauna. When you get there, you’re greated by amazing views of brilliant white sand and never ending Ocean views.

Heading to the beach, you realise the true beauty and the uniqueness of the white sands. I played in the sea, wearing a very becoming stinger suit – riding the waves

After another delicious lunch, the boat headed round to Hook island again to moor by a sand bank for the evening. The waves were very choppy again, and there were a few incidents on deck with people struggling to stay on the boat, falling over and generally hanging on for dear life – sure you’re supposed to sail into waves, not across them!

Wendy did an amazing job in the kitchen preparing a green Thai chicken curry – not sure how she worked such magic in the conditions.

That evening, the festivities of the previous night, and a hard days sailing took their toll on everybody, and just about everyone had hit the sack by 10.

Day 1 of our cruise around the Whitdsunday islands, and an earlier start than we’d wanted, but well worth the pain!

After a really boring drive, we were relieved to finally arrive in Airlee Beach, ready for our cruise around the Whitsunday islands.

We wish we could have stayed in Noosa for longer, but our already tight schedule meant a quick dash up the coast to Yeppoon – not a place I can recommend.

The Duke (Chris – no-one knows why he’s called Duke) arrived in Brisbane, ready for out trip up Australia’s Eastern coast.

Byron Bay was such a change from the hectic life we’d been leading in Sydney and, like a couple of school kids, we bought a Boogey Board and headed straight to the beach!

The previous week’s excess caught up with us, so we took the opportunity to rest in the Gold Coast, before heading down to Byron Bay.