WHITSUNDAYS....CRUISING ON THE AVATAR!!

 We have been in Cairns for two weeks and it's time to move South to the Whitsunday's. I REALLY DON'T WANT TO LEAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Tuesday June 5th at midnight we went to catch our overnight bus to Airlie Beach. Thankfully our friend Immanuel gave us a ride so we didn't have to walk a mile with all of our bags in the middle of the night! by the time we got on the bus and settled in, I was ready to go to bed! The bus only had about 10 people on it so I could lay down across the seats without bothering anyone but Catherine....haha We made a couple of stops throughout the night but I slept through most of it. I finally woke up around 9am when we stopped just outside if Bowen at a Gas station. I packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the bus in case I got hungry but got off just to stretch my legs and get a drink. We got back on the bus and before I knew it we had arrived at Airlie Beach! We are staying at a hostel called Beaches and it has a sweet little outdoor bar with live music with an awesome happy hour! We are staying in an 8 share room but we only have one roommate. His name is Jason from Germany and he is precious and super attractive but only a baby of 18 or 19 years old....damn that Gap year! We had dinner at the bar/restaurant at our hostel and it was awesome! Steak or burgers  with an alcoholic drink for 6.50 which is our cheapest meal yet in Oz! So good! On average you spend about 20 dollars per person at any restaurant for dinner....so we normally cook dinner ourselves. We eat lots of pasta because it's cheap and easy to store....If I never see pasta again after this year I don’t think I would be upset.

Tomorrow we are getting on a boat for three days/two nights of snorkeling on the great barrier reef and sailing the deep blue sea!  I am forced to condense my already condensed big backpack into my small computer backpack! Since we are going out on the Great Barrier Reef we are not allowed to bring shampoo, conditioner, glass, plastic, pillows and blankets. We are storing our big backpacks at the hostel until Sunday when we get back...

Here is the list of stuff to bring:

Light clothes

Swim suit

Hat

Sunscreen

 beach towel

Insect repellant

Favorite music

Alcohol

Waterproof camera

So to sum it up....no real showers for three days! Catherine reminded me that for the first three days I was in Australia I didn't shower....that was a lie...I showered on my second day here after two days of traveling lol. 

I packed my bathing suit, Goon, and water. 

We got on the Avatar at around noon with 26 other people. The cabin space was very small. We literally have a full size bed to share in a common area near the kitchen and bathroom..we are next to our new friends Laura and James from England.

 We could literally touch hands with them from our bed! I  Instantly fell in love with them...they went on a road trip across America so when I told them I was from Texas they both shouted "Four Loko!"! Most people just ask if I own a gun or if I ride a horse....Laura is obsessed with America so she had a million Questions for me. She also had the best American accent I have ever heard..it goes a little something like this (imagine a valley girl) "like OMG, I am so excited for the pep rally and the football game!"....haha she said she wishes she could have been a cheerleader, rode a yellow bus to school and been in a sorority in University! Oh the American dream!

Kevin is one on top of the orange thing. Its the only picture I could get of him. lol

I have been lucky enough to meet so many people that I fall instantly in love with but Kevin our captain is NOT one of them. Kevin is the most unbearable human being! He doesn't have any people skills and yells at Everyone all the time. He also says inappropriate things to all the girls...he is my nightmare! 

All the other people on the boat were amazing! We drove out two hours then went for a snorkel on the great barrier reef in wet suits. 

BEN AFFLECT....IS THAT YOU?!?!

After we got out of the water and dry, we sat on the outside of the boat waiting for dinner chatting as the sunset. I started talking to Paul and Rachel from England and they are the sweetest people I have ever met. Paul looks Like the splitting image of Ben Afflect! I was telling them about the time I drank wine with our stripper roommate and Paul (whom I called Ben) started calling me Stripper Sue. (disclaimer: I am not/nor ever will be an actual stripper). For two days I was Sue and he was Ben. 

Rachel and Paul (who I call Ben)

The inside of the boat was TINY...so we spent all of our time on the top of the boat. It was super windy and cold at night so everyone put on jumpers and warm pants to stay warm. We all started drinking "goon" or bag of wine. Goon is an Aboriginal word for pillow which is what they used it for after they drank the whole bag...so resourceful! My good friend James got Gooned before dinner and fell with his full plate of food on the nets...he then proceeded to eat the spaghetti off the net with his fork. It might have been the funniest thing I have ever seen!!! We had to go to bed early because Kevin said we had to be awake by sunrise..

I woke up to Kevin stomping around the boat at 5:45am...not an ideal way to wake up but the sunrise was beautiful...I have been wanting to see the sunrise at sea but it's normally too early to watch so this was a nice treat. 

The Whitsundays are 74 beautiful islands all really close together. We went to Whitehaven beach and it was breath taking! The sand was so pure you can brush your teeth with it, clean your diamonds and exfoliate your skin! We got onto the sparkly blue water and saw stingrays swimming about so of course we followed them to try to take a picture....they were too quick so we were unsuccessful!

 I sat in the water pouring the sand all over me...it was the softest sand I have ever felt. It was pretty windy so we didn't spent too much time in the water...the boys built a sandcastle and the girls sunbathed.

 When we got back on the boat, it was time for  lunch before our last snorkel. We saw soooo many little fish on the reef but we didn’t see any sharks or turtles ( I was a little disappointed)...and spent the rest of the day doing what we do best: DRINKING GOON!!! Overall the boat trip was slightly disappointing because we thought that we were going to get to see more Islands and do more snorkels BUT the people on the trip were AMAAAAAZING!!!!!!

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