After doing our Melbourne meet-up (which went fantastically, thank you to everyone who came!) We hopped onto two different planes to reach Airlie beach in Queensland.
This is the gateway to access the great barrier reef and Whitsundays Islands.
We took a trip on the sailing boat 'Siska' which was an overnight affair. We swam with fish, visited the Silica sand beach, paddled with sting rays, photographed the swirly waters and spoke to Nicki who worked on the Siska about the working visa - She is from Surrey but has been in Oz for a long time now and is loving life working hard on the boat.
My highlight of the whole trip apart from the meet up was the Reef sleep - In the day we settled on a large pontoon floating amidst the Great barrier reef, we did some snorkling, even had a massage! and then come nighttime we were served dinner on the pontoon and then went up to our 'swags', zipped ourselves up and fell asleep under the Milky way (I even saw some shooting stars!)
I have to add - These were my first poached eggs EVER at 'Salt' in Airlie beach. They were lovely!
Check out Tasha's Australia Vlogs too here
Airlie beach is a beautiful area, dotted with palm trees, people on their travels and many bars and restaurants along the main road. I have never seen sunsets quite like the ones I saw in Queensland.
What was insightful though was talking to the people working on the sea, about the working visas - I spoke to the captain on the boat which takes you to the pontoon all about the reef, it's future and how we can help preserve it.
I will have more information on my vlogs soon also! I wanted to say another thank you to Tourism Australia and The body shop for making this possible for Tasha& I.
Two very different parts of Australia which are both appealing and beautiful in their own ways,
Sammi x