Paradise

So, I am currently in Airlie Beach writing this blog. On Wednesday, I flew to Hamilton Island with Oliver (German) and Jack (American) and met up with Jochan and Hans(Germans). We hung around the rich beautiful resort island for a few hours, basically just driving around on the golf cart. It was fun, until security pulled us over for apparently driving the cart too fast. Then the guard couldn't read the German driver's license. It turned into a pretty funny story. Basically, I think the mall cop type guard was bored with dealing with old rich people all day, so he wanted to mess with us. Shortly after this, we left on a ferry for Airlie Beach, checking into a hostel. We just explored the one street town for a little bit, checking in for our sailing trip the next day. We added the optional dive in which Jochan made a huge fiasco because his transaction did not go through apparently. German bankers, don't fight with them and their credit cards. We had a good night's rest and woke up the next day ready for our trip. Unfortunately, it did not leave until 2. So we ran some errands around town getting sunscreen and food and sunglasses. We then boarded the British Defender that afternoon with a crew named Ritchie, Lachy, and Alex. They were all very nice people. Basically, everyone on the boat was either English or German. It was fun though, hearing everyone's stories and where they had been. I have a whole new apprecation for backpacking. One guy has even been traveling for 7 months now, he plans to see the whole world. Such an amazing opportunity. The sun set early on as usual. Dinner was delicious grilled chicken and rice. After dinner, we hung out under the stars. Oh the stars. The most amazing and beautiful stars I have ever seen. It was definitely cool seeing the Southern Hemisphere's constellations. The next morning, we were up bright and early to see this spectacular sunrise. A sunrise that was actually hidden behind and island, and slightly less than spectacular. Oh well. It got everyone up and early to go to Whitehaven beach, aka Paradise. Honestly, I can say, out of all the places in the world I have been to. This has by far been the best. It is on Whitsunday Island and it is a national park, so it is untouched. Literally, not a building, road, or car in sight. Amazing. And the sand. The sand was like flour on your feet. It was so pure and white. No rocks, no seaweed. Nothing. Pure Bliss. Pure blue water. Not a soul in sight except the few people you went there with. I have never experienced anything like it. No picture can capture it. After that, we headed to Luncheon bay for some snorkeling and diving. Now, I am not much into coral and such, but it was beautiful. So colorful. The fish were huge and colorful and came right up in your face. So much fun. Then the weather turned a bit for the worse, and we spent the rest of the day on the boat just hanging out and hearing stories. The next morning we were up early to snorkel around Hook Island. Nice, but not nearly as nice as the other site. Then we headed back for shore, and here I am writing this blog. It is amazing how we keep running into the same people. I would like to backpack around some day. Anyways, I will post pictures and stuff on Melbourne next time.