A much needed update. Part Two.

So we got back to the main land, spent a night in the hostel with our jeep crews enjoying one lasted revel and then headed further north the next morning. Our destination was Agnes Water and the Town of 1770. No one seemed to be able to explain why they had chosen to name the town 1770 rather than further up the coast where Captain Cook first landed, in 1768. Peculiar types these Aussies. Still, we headed north on the Oz Experience and were soon in Agnes Water and all excited for some scooterooing and surfing; we had been reliably informed that Agnes was the only and the cheapest place to do these things, respectively.

We checked into our rather strange hostel, whose receptionist assured us that the lack of lock on the room door wouldn't be an issue. How right she was. I can safely say Agnes Water is one of the sleepiest and Most unexceptional places I've ever been. It did, however, I should say, provide  us with three activities that we all enjoyed enormously. First and so far the t gaping hole in our Australian adventure; surfing. We booked ourselves onto a beginners course and set off down to the beach ready to ride some waves and show off our surfing prowess. Needless to we spent an awful lot of time coughing salt water and sliding off the incredibly slippery surfboards. To those professionals out there, I take my hat off to you in recognition of your oh-so-cool and no doubt hard won prowess and skill. So having discovered surfing wasn't quite as easy as we might have supposed, we set off in search of something a little more rewarding, namely, the aforementioned scooterooi g. The basic principled being that you are kitted out in leather jacket, helmet and biker tattoos (fake) and then put on a 50cc biKe to cruise around Agnes in search of kangaroos and general quick-as-you-can-possibly-make-them-go thrills on these tiny little bikes. My bike, rather predictably, however, decided to die two thirds of the way round so I got to ride pinion on one of the guides bikes, which really could move. So, all in all not a bad way to spend an afternoon and early evening.

So, that brings me to our last activity in Agnes Water; the Castaway Experience, which we really on discovered on or way up to Agnes itself. The basic principle is that you are flown out to a 'desert' island in a light aircraft and then spent 24 hours there basically enjoying the isolation and sense foe abandonment. In reality you are on the far side of an island that is actually linked to the mainland for large parts of the day and has a permanent lighthouse keeper, not to mention the other groups of castaways around in the next bay. Regardless, it was a lot of fun, not least for the journey out in Bruce's plane (yes that is his real name! At last an Aussie that lived up to the stereotype!) during which time he performs little acrobatic tricks for your enjoyment or displeasure, it doesn't seem to bother him either way! His party piece is, on the return leg, to place a camera from one of his unwitting passengers on the dashboard of the plane and then have it fly across the cockpit, by rising sharply and then dropping even more sharply to induce a brief state of zero G. It's certainly more entertaining and spine tingling than anything you are likely to find a Ryanair pilot doing. All in all, the experience is absolutely worth the money and hugely entertaining all round!

Finally leaving Agnes Water, after what seemed like altogether far too long, we headed on up towards our next big stop, Airlie Beach, but decided t make an impromptu stop at a cattle station in a place called Kroombit for a night. This was a decision literally made at the last minute, before scrambling on to the bus headed out to the station in something of a mad dash. After a couple of hours drive out into the Australian countryside, we arrived at what was palpably a cattle station, complete with the necessary cowgirls and boys wandering around in hats, bandanas, check shirts and even boots with spurs. Opting for an afternoon's horse riding, after a mere ten years since I had last ridden a horse, I found myself on the back of 'Big Red' and setting off for an afternoon's goat round-up, which turned out to be one of the best things we did in Australia, to my mind anyway. As well a this, we did a goat rodeo, learnt to crack a whip, rode a mechanical bull, learnt to toss a lasso and most importantly, ate some of the freshest and best steak I've ever eaten. Passing a fairly cold night in the converted stables, we awoke at some silly hour of the morning to head back into Rockhampton and then on to Airlie Beach.

Before long, the journey had passed, I certainly spent most of it asleep owing to our ridiculously late night and horrible early start. Anyway,  we arrived in Airlie Beach to begin our trip out to the Whistunday Islands, only to find that not only was the weather less than clement, but it was also due to rain on all three days of our trip. This notwithstanding we were excited about seeing one of the most beautiful places on earth and the various treats it had in store for us. Not least of which was Whitehaven Beach, where one can find the purest silica in the world (97%), so much so that one can actually brush ones teeth with it and exfoliate ones skin,should you so desire. So, after a day or two of enjoying being back in a decent sized town with a good nightlife and the like, we set off, on our enormous trimaran; Avatar, crewed by the affable deckhand Dave, the piratical cook Tristan and the lecherous but loveable skipper Kevin. Our first day's sailing took us out to the shelter if a bay just on the other side of the island from Whitehaven, where we weighed anchor and set about filling hungry stomachs and getting to know the crew and fellow travellers we would be spending the next few days with. After a good night's sleep we set off ready to snorkel and beach to our heart's content in our oh-so-attractive stinger suits we were required to wear. Anyway, we soon arrived on Whitehaven Beach, or rather just on the far side of the island and so gained the benefit of the walk through the rainforest to the beach itself. We were suitably awestruck by the beach, it's pristine sands undulated away from us into the distance and before long we were actually on it gambolling about marvelling at the swarms of tiny blue crabs that inhabit it and the stingrays that lurk in the shadows not to mention the fact that we ran into some friends from uni on the beach - of all places on Earth! Not only was the beach itself spectacular, but we also had some decent weather for it, the sun came out for approximately three hours during our entire Whitsundays trip, almost all of which was on Whitehaven Beach, while we larked about. It was to be, undoubtedly, one of the highlights of our entire trip. The following day we snorkelled some more of the Great Barrier Reef (which, written now seems extraordinary, but at the time seemed almost mundane) before heading back into Airle Beach to enjoy a last couple of nights there before moving on further up the coast to Magnetic Island and onwards towards Cairns. 

I will, however, have to leave you there as my bed is calling and I can't resist but rest assured that there is so much more to come!

Happy travels, whether they be across continents, countries or even just your own imagination.

Joe