Whitsunday Islands

Second leg of the Australia adventure was a three-day cruise on a tall ship called the Solway Lass.

It's a boat built over a century ago in Denmark (or Holland) was sunk by the German navy at one point, was sailing in Scotland for awhile then somehow turned up in Fiji, purchased and renovated by and Australian.

Most days, we sailed with a motor but a one afternoon we were on sail.  There were 30 passengers, the majority were Dutch and German.

The Whitsunday's are in the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.  From the sea, they look a great deal like the San Juan's in Washington State.

But then you get a place like this, the Hill Inlet on Whitsunday Island!

That spit of sand is called Whitehaven Beach!

The water was warm and the finest sand you'll ever feel between your toes.

The Solway Lass has a net up front in which anyone can recline and watch the world go by......with the ocean right under you.

Snorkeling EVERYDAY!!!

Carlos and Padrig, our new Irish-Australian Friend.  One of the funniest people we've ever met!

Here's a picture of me snorkeling, but I ALSO scuba dived.  Getting in the water and breathing underwater took some getting used to.  I almost gave up....perseverance and I was rewarded with amazing coral reefs, fish and a turtle the size of a car!

We had a rope swing off the boat.....Carlos happened to have taken a picture on the one time I did a back flop.

That strip of sand in the middle of the ocean?  Langford Key.  You've seen those photos in the vacation ads of people lounging on random sand spits in the middle of the ocean?  That was us!

On the third and last day...another day of snorkeling and lounging in paradise.

Post cruise carousing with Paddy's parents and girlfriend!