Day 89 – 5th Feb – Sydney – Brisbane – Hervey Bay
We got up early and left our lovely air bnb apartment and got the train to the airport. Our flight was at 10am and with the time difference we arrived into Brisbane at 10:30am. We picked up our bags and went to get the greyhound bus from the airport to Hervey Bay. We arrived into Hervey Bay at approximately 6:30pm. We had a walk into the town and went for some dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We were quite surprised how quiet the town was as lots of places were closed. After dinner we went back to the hostel for an early night ready for our two day trip to Fraser Island in the morning.

Day 90 – 6th Feb – Fraser Island
We were picked up at approximately 7:30am and taken to River Heads to get the ferry to Fraser Island. The journey was only about an hour and when we arrived we got shown to our transport and jumped aboard our 4×4 bus / coach and introduced to Warren who was our driver for the next two days. We set off through the island by 4×4 and began the really bumpy journey to our first stop. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island and driving through the soft sand was a really cool experience. We got off the bus at Lake Mackenzie and went for a swim in the crystal clear waters. After about an hour we got back onto the bus and went for lunch at Eurong Resort which was also our accommodation for the night. After lunch we got back onto the bus and drove up the ‘75 mile’ beach to the Maheno shipwreck. While we were here, there were a couple of small planes and pilots selling short flights around the island. The price was pretty reasonable so Dan and I decided to do it! The plane only had 8 seats including the pilot and it took off from the beach (apparently it’s one of only two locations in the world where planes take off and land from the beach). We flew over some of the lakes and had a birdseye view of the large sand dunes and rainforest. We also circled over the sea trying to spot some sharks and large rays but didn’t see any. We then landed back further up the coast and met our bus who had driven up with the other passengers. We both really enjoyed the experience and would definitely recommend it!
After the excitement of the plane ride, we drove up to the most northerly point that we could access on the island; Indian Head. We walked up to the top which has a viewing platform over Fraser Island. Again we were hoping to see some marine life but unfortunately there were no sharks circling. We then got back on the bus for our final stop of the day Eli Creek. There is a little bit of a lazy river here and Dan and I walked up the boardwalk and attempted to float back round but unfortunately the water was a bit too shallow and we didn’t get very far!! We then drove back to Eurong Resort, spotting a couple of dingos on route and got ready for dinner. We had a drink with a couple we met and after dinner went to another bar with them before an early night as the next day was another early start!

Day 91 – 7th Feb – Fraser Island
We were up early and had breakfast before being on the bus at 7:30am. We drove a little bit up the beach and stopped off for our walk to Lake Wabby. The walk was about 45 minutes and we arrived at the lake which was a really steep sand dune down to the lake. The lake was a different colour due to the minerals in the water and was a greeny colour. After about 45 minutes in the lake we began the walk back to the bus over the sand dunes. We then went to another lake; Lake Burabean and had our picnic lunch there as well. The last stop of the tour was to Central Station where we did a walk through the rainforest. One of the girls on our tour attracted three leeches!
After this we got the 5pm ferry back to River Heads and got dropped back at our hostel in Hervey Bay. In the evening we went out for dinner and some drinks with Chloe and Jamie (fellow Yorkshire folk!) who we’d met and made friends with on the trip. Overall a great couple of days on Fraser Island.

Day 92 – 8th Feb – Hervey Bay to Airlie Beach
Not a lot to report today. We spent the majority of the day planning some more of our future trip and then at 5:30pm got on the overnight Greyhound bus to Airlie Beach, a journey that took 14 hours arriving at 7:30 in the morning.

Day 93 – 9th Feb – Airlie Beach / Whitsunday Sailing
We arrived early into Airlie Beach and went straight to the check in office for our Whitsunday Sailing trip. We were given our boarding passes and told to meet at the marina at 2:30pm. We went for some breakfast and then down to the outdoor lagoon for a swim and cool down before our trip! Our trip was also BYO alcohol so we picked some up on route to the marina ready for our three night trip!
We had booked a smaller, quieter tour than a lot of the other ‘party boat’ options we could have gone for and the catamaran had a maximum of eight people plus two crew. When we arrived at the marina there was just one other couple so we had lots of room on the boat!
We got greeted onto the boat with a glass of fizz and set sail towards the whitsunday islands. We sailed for the afternoon and sat on the front of the boat enjoying a cider or two in the breeze! It was a lovely day!  We went to bed and had a bit of a disrupted nights sleep as the air con in the cabin had broken and there wasn’t much breeze so it was rather hot!

Day 94 – 10th Feb – Whitsunday Sailing
We were called from our cabin for breakfast about 7am. None of us had slept very well due to the heat in the cabin however we were all looking forward to the day ahead. Our first stop was to Whitehaven beach. This is probably the most famous / popular place to see on the Whitsunday islands. We took the tender boat to the opposite side of the island to Whitehaven beach and walked up to the inlet which is the lookout point over Whitehaven beach. Wow it was an incredible view. The sand is the whitest sand we’ve ever seen. We then walked down to the beach. We were amazed at how cool the sand was considering it was such a hot day but the silica keeps the sand at a constant temperature. We put on our summer wetsuits and went down to the beach. We swam in the sea seeing various different fish including rays and lemon sharks!
Afterwards we got the tender boat back to the catamaran and had a lovely lunch on the boat. In the afternoon we went snorkelling. Unfortunately the visibility wasn’t the greatest due to the recent weather however we did manage to spot a lot of different types of fish in the sea.
In the evening we had another huge dinner on board accompanied by a couple of drinks. When it was dark we went out to the front of the boat to see the stars. There was no moon that night and the amount of stars was incredible. We could also see the Milky Way. We spent some time looking at the stars before heading to bed.

Day 95 – 11th Feb – Whitsunday Sailing
Today we spent the day snorkelling at 3 different places around the Whitsunday Islands.  All of them were quite different and had different things to look at.  The first place we stopped at was probably the best of the three in terms of the amount of fish we saw.  The second snorkelling spot our captain threw some food into the water for the fish and hundreds of fish surrounded us in the water trying to get the food.  It was cool to see so many around us!  Our final snorkelling stop was near an island and we snorkelled here in the hope of seeing a turtle.  Unfortunately we didn’t really get a clear view of any but the captain saw one in the distance putting it’s head up for air but it swam off too fast to see it properly.  We then went onto the island and the tide was low so there was a sandy stretch running right out into the sea.  Dan and I walked up to the lookout point to see the view over the island and to the boat.  We then walked into the water a bit and managed to see some rays and other fish.

In the afternoon we tried paddle boarding.  Unlike Dan who took to this as a duck to water, I didn’t find it very easy! The first attempt was a disaster and I attempted to stand on the board directly from the boat and fell straight in the water.  The second go was better and I managed to paddle out whilst on my knees but when I tried to stand up, I fell in the water again.  It was third time lucky for me and I managed to stand up and paddle for a few metres before falling into the water.  It was great fun though and not as easy as some people make it look! In the evening, we again had a lovely meal and watched the sunset on the boat over a couple of drinks.

Day 96 – 12th Feb – Whitsunday Sailing & Airlie Beach
We got up early again and went to one snorkelling place before we headed back to the port at Airlie Beach.  The snorkelling  here was over some coral and there were lots of different types of fish to see.  It was a nice way to end our trip on the Whitsundays.  We then set sail to the port and arrived around lunchtime.  The Whitsundays were incredible and we’d had such a great sailing trip seeing lots of different parts of the islands.  We went to pick up our big bags from the office in town and then went to check into our hotel.  We didn’t do a lot for the rest of the day.  We went and grabbed a couple of drinks and did some more planning before having dinner out in Airlie Beach.