We are very enthusiastic after our 12 hour journey on the bus. We had a fun driver this time and all joined in on some games, singing, shouting and sleeping. Following the Paddys to Beaches Hostel, we immediately love the look of Airlie Beach. The hostel is lovely, the people are friendly and everyone here is seriously up for a big party for the next 5 days.
Deciding that it'll be nice to visit the Great Barrier Reef, we book on to a boat, take a seat and relax until trouble srikes! The staff on the boat insist on handing out sick bags, explaining that the sea is 'particularly rough'. Well, 10 minutes later, the boat is bouncing 2.5 metres off the water and smacking back down again. As you can all imagine, our stomachs were not feeling happy with this and neither did anyone elses. It was like a film, everyone started throwing up into these bags and the staff were slowly turning greener than us. One member of staff came to collect Cheryl's full bag (blah!!) and tried her hardest not to show that she was on the verge of being sick herself. On arrival to the Great Barrier Reef, we collect our stinger suits, goggles and flippers and go for a little snorkel. Believe us, we looked so hot, check out the photos! The Reef was amazing and we went into a sumberine to look at some small sharks and beautifully coloured fish. We had a nice day until it was time to re-board the boat for another stomach churning journey back to Airlie Beach.
We went out with the Paddys most nights. The Irish drink so much and we had lots of fun here. It reminded us a lot of Byron Bay as everyone is very chilled out. The only shame is that there was no beach here. The is a small lagoon here which has been named the 'Lagoon of Love' by the locals (use your imaginations!). One night we got a little tipsy and broke our promise to eachother that we wouldn't eat a single McDonalds on our travels. We actually made it across the whole of America without one but unfortunately blew it here. The Big Macs looked far too irresistable!
We can't believe that our next stop will be our last here in Australia before heading back to Sydney. Cairns will be our final destination on the Oz Experience...
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