Ok, I am way behind my blog writing... I know... sorry :)
Anyways, I've been to Hervey Bay and went Whale Watching. It is sooo different when you do that from a boat than from the coast. Those humpback whales are so curious and come super close to the boat. Just wonderful. Mommies show off their little ones and you get awesome pictures. (they follow someday... on FB)
I decided to go on a 2 day Fraser Island tour. Of course I was curious about the Dingos, as I am a huuuuuge fan of them. And believe it or now... not ONE Dingo showed up.... oh buuhuu... but we had two awesome days with our tour- guide Steve. And I finally met 3 Swiss girls... yay my first Swiss (and I see Swiss girls all over since lol). Anyway, Fraser Island is most certainly a MUST if you are close by. It's simply stunning and pure nature. The lakes are wonderful to swim (don't forget your swim goggles) and the trees and plants are just wonderful to look at. I very much enjoyed it despite not seeing a Dingo.
From Hervey Bay, it was a loooong bus ride to Airlie Beach (14 hours!!!). And I promised myself before, not to do that anymore... ah well.
Once in Airlie Beach (meeting another Swiss Girl) I decided to take a small plane (well not taking it myself obviously as I don't know how to fly...) and fly out to the Great Barrier Reef. It is breath taking and if you have just a wee bit of spare money, worth going. (Do the one hour trip as this takes you all the way out). You see all the Whitsunday Islands and you see the Heart-Shaped Reef. Simply wonderful.
The next day I went with Evelyine, (a French traveler whom I met at the YHA) to the Crocodile Safary. I am not a fan of Kroc Farms, so we went to see them in the wild. It was pretty impressive to see them all out there... and the young ones (1-3 years) are sooo tiny. Super cute. You kinda want to cuddle them. Well I wanted to. (Guess that's just me).
On Sunday it was finally time to go on to the Summertime. A timber boat that took 15 silly tourists (one of them was obviously me) out to the Whitsundays for 3 days. I decided to buy a diving mask and not to freak out on board.
The trip was unbelievable. The first day we discovered the white sands of the Whitsunday Island and went for a little swim and saw small sharks and sting rays.
The food on board was wonderful and the whole crew really funny. In the evening we "had to" look at all the pics that were taken during our day and went early to bed.
Next morning was "dive day" and of course I was really worried about it. In the end... I went diving 3 times, twice through a cave and I got hooked on it. (Thanks Mickey and Adam!!!)
During our last day, we had a bit of a Kayak Tour and then sailed back. As the weather got a bit worse and the wind picked up, it was perfect to sail. And nope, I didn't get sea sick at all. :)
Tuesday evening we met up with the crew and the group and had a bit of a "eat and drink" thing going on.
Wednesday it was time to say goodbye. I took the bus to Townsville and went straight to Magnetic Island. The first morning, I decided to explore the Koala Sanctuary and cuddled with Koalas, Snakes, Crocodiles and other animals. :) So yup I was in heaven :)
I wanted to leave the next day and make my way up slowly to Cairns do get my OW PADI license but in the end, decided to stay on the island and do it here. My instructor Maria, from Sweden, was absolutely AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I honestly love her for being such a funny, bubbly person who makes everything look so easy. Yes of course I freaked when I had to fill my mask with water in the pool and almost died... (I must look sooo terrified hahahaha) but in the end... not only did I pass my OW license test but I went on to do my Advanced OW License and yup... I am now an advanced OW Diver :) Can't wait to get into the deep again :) (Already checked out some wrecks to dive to).
Today is my last day here on Maggie Island and I went horseback riding and swimming with the horses :) Super fun. :) Now I guess it's time to finish my laundry and go for a last time to Geoffrey Bay to feed the Wallabies. I am a bit sad to say goodbye. I honestly like it here... Well maybe once I retire I come back here and have some horses and go diving all the time.
Anyways, for anyone who wants to learn how to dive and doesn't have tons of money to spend, Pleasure Divers is the place to go. Maria, Rob, Simon and Matt are all wonderful people and take you out to dive and teach you all you need to know. :)
And yup, who ever told me "once you see a fish you simply follow and forget you're underwater" was most certainly right. :)
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