The One in the Whitsunday's

We had an extra day in Airlie Beach as the Whitsunday Sailing company failed to put us on a boat despite taking our money! In retrospect it worked out ok though, the weather was better, plus they upgraded us, so we set out for a 3 day trip to the Whitsundays on the Eureka II - a racing yacht.

Within an hour or so of being at sea, the skipper Shannon relinquished control to me. The smile at first was genuine, but his advice of "It's just like driving a car" was a bit misleading. For a start, you can't just aim for where you're headed, as there's the wind to think about, plus the wheel is a bit jittery, and thirdly, I for one do not drive my car at a 45 degree angle to the road.

As the racing yacht tips you have to put your foot on a raised bit in the middle of the boat to keep you level (hence looking like I'm standing on one leg!).

After well over an hour of driving this thing, Shannon takes over (and I relax!) It's starting to get dark, and we have a little rain during dinner, but as I look out of the port hole in my bunk before I go to sleep, the bright white sands of Whitehaven beach glow iridescent in the moonlight. I know tomorrow is going to be something very special!

Sure enough, after breakfast the next morning, we head to Whitehaven Beach on the boats motorised Dingy. We have Stinger suits in hand for when we fancy a dip in the water.

The beach can only be described as paradise. The sand is fine, and white as white can be and stretches for ages along the edge of the turquoise sea, with tropical looking islands popping out of the water in the distance. The lads in the group play Frisbee, the girls soak up the sun, and then looking like power rangers we head into the water for a morning dip!

Back on board the Eureka II we motor round to Turtle Bay, and head once more to dry land to a good vantage point of The Whitsundays.

The sand bank in the water is like a caramel swirl in a blue ice cream, and it contrasts with the deep greenery of the islands behind. Words just can't describe it... it just takes them away.

Back on the boat, we watch turtles swim past as we have our lunch, and then head to a third spot where we go snorkelling.

Under the water is no less impressive. A different world with coral castles, and forests of sea grass and anemones swirling to and fro in the pull of the tide. And with this backing the fish go about their business, ignoring your presence, and swimming blissfully through their world.

We then sailed to another spot, and settled in for the night, settling in to watch the sun set with a glass of goon in the hand!

Our third morning sees H and I bashfully scrubbing the decks. It turns out that spillages occur when you combine red wine and swaying boats, and we had to scrub with bleach to turn the nice deck white again!

With the pirate chores complete, we go snorkelling again, and this time is unbelievable. Imagine driving down the M25 at rush hour the wrong way... this is what swimming here felt like. You do worry a bit that the fish that are surrounding you are swimming AWAY from something, and you'll soon find yourself face to face with something a bit scary, but luckily this was not the case.

I have never seen so many fish, and what is more they were close enough to touch. Plus we got a good look at several clams. Some were really pretty colours.

Back on board it was time to head back to land. We learnt how to pull up the sails on the way!

Back on terra firma, it took me several hours to find my legs as I kept feeling like we were swaying. A fabulous trip.