Well, after a great stay at the resort in Bundaberg we were refreshed and ready for the road once again.  We say goodbye to air conditioning and a queen size bed, and “hello old friend” to the open road.  The drive wasn’t much to see when we first started out and even when we arrived in the Town of 1770 it was again one of those small Aussie towns you could bat an eye at and miss it.


The Town of 1770 is one of only a few places in Australia where the sun sets in the west over the water. The historical legacy of European settlement is rich in 1770, marking the site where Captain Cook stepped ashore. 


After visiting the info center of 1770 we experienced our first taste of Mamino ice cream (possibly the best) and ‘least melty’(which is a criteria of Amanda‘s!) ice cream we have ever had, we were told of a few places to visit while in 1770. 
The main look out is a peninsula nestled into the western side of Rodds peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Coral Sea and Bustard Bay had magnificent coastal views. The lookout was spectacular. Standing on the peninsula surrounded by the endless ocean clear blue sky’s was wonderful, even saw pelicans watching for fish. We stayed three nights at the beautiful spot. We parked the van to camp for the night in the small parking lot at the tip of the peninsula lookout. One unforgettably clear, warm, night there we laid on the ground and looked at the stars, while listening to our one and only neighbour play his guitar. That was an amazing feeling. 


 12 kilometres to the south,  is the small town of Agnes Waters.  Mainly just a small marina, some shops and what seemed to be the one and only attraction,  “Scooteroo” (“the Original and the Best Chopper ride in Australia”). Well, we were excited because were else can two people ride a chopper for $80 for 3.5 hours and see some breathtaking views? We had a blast and not only did we have a fun ride (not a real Harley by the way…) but we got to see 1770 peninsula in a different view-a breathtaking sunset. 


After thoroughly enjoying our stay in 1770-Agnes Waters we hit the road again because we had booked a sailing tour for 3 days two nights to the WhitSunday Islands! We are so excited. So many people had told us of their wonderful experiences sailing to the famous islands. When we got to Airlie Beach we were early by 3 days, which made us even more anxious and excited. The morning we went we were all packed and arrived early at our meeting point at the marina where Summer Time, our sailboat, was waiting! We met Sam, our dive instructor and 13 other new friends we would be having a blast with for our official Great Barrier reef dive, sail and kayak! 


We boarded and then met the other two crew members, Brad (the captain) and Britta our ’hostie’. Brad introduced himself and told us we were in for a treat because we had picked the best sailing and adventure boat to tour the islands. We learned various rules of the boat.  The main ones to remember were: no wet suits downstairs, no excessive drinking, etc and no ’wings, strings or things’ down the toilets!

 Also 1 minute showers were only permitted per person each day.  Brad explained that there were no rules stopping you from gambling your one minute over a friendly game of poker, or saving up two days worth for a double length shower!  So we were off!! 2.5 hours later, aboard the 70ft traditional oiled timber sail boat, crystal clear views on a perfect 30+ day, a little choppy at times, brought us to our first destination: the world renowned White Haven Beach (a protected island just north of Airlie beach, nestled amongst many other islands)

 We had got to know everyone on the sail over and what a great group of young people we all were. Nick and I had huge smiles for the days to come. What was said to be overcast, rainy weather so far had turned out to be crystal blue skies and perfectly hot temperatures. A dream come true. At White Haven we put on the thing we would be wearing most of the time for the next 3 days-our wet suits! A short walk through the dense forest brought us to a lookout.  From there we could see over the magnificent silica sand, and water that took on many shades of green, dark and light blue. All of us were speechless, it looked just like a post card. We all went swimming with our suits on, these are worn because its jelly fish season. The sand was incredible, so fine. We spent a couple hours there and waded in very shallow warm, but cool refreshing water. We even saw sting rays! 

Nick and friend from Ontario playing
a strategy game after dinner 

Later back on the boat Sam briefed us for the next day-diving and snorkelling! We had a lot of questions about our 9 meter dive, but Sam was a great teacher and patiently listened and explained everything. We all woke up early as we were spending the whole day anchored at Lucheon Bay exploring the reef! And what another beautiful day we woke up to! Nick and I were definitely excited and a little nervous about our first dive but Sam was a great teacher and made us feel comfortable and confident! Nick, myself and two other first timers were the very last group to go, that way we got to take in the snorkelling and get used to that before the diving. Right after jumping into the water we could see coral of such bright colours, schools of fish of all different shapes and patterns that we had only seen on TV. We were instantly amazed and couldn’t get enough. We couldn’t wait to go diving. After we got fitted with proper weights and got our BCD vests on, we were ready to go to the beach and do our in water practice test. There Sam taught us our hand signals, how to breath and how to resume breathing under water in case your mouth piece comes out. Also he told us how it was important to try not to hit your fins against any coral as everything is living!!!!

 That day we did 2 dives and couldn’t get enough. Another follow first timer asked the crew if she could just do one more dive very early in the morning on the 3rd day (our last day). Sam asked Brad, the captain and then asked us if we wanted to go. He told us early morning dives were amazing. He was right!  By the time we got into the water it was 5:30 am and what a great way to start the day. After our dive we came back and had breakfast. Oh I forgot to mention how great the food was, so much variety, and always fresh. We really were spoiled all around on this trip. 

Ok, so the last day was our kayaking. Sam lead us as we paddled in our rafts of two, just around the corner of were we had anchored each night at Hook Island. There he told us some history on the formation of the islands. We also saw our first mangrove tree. A very interesting tree which root systems are buried in the sand at sometimes deep levels of water close to tropical shore lines.

After the kayaking we had to go back to Airlie beach. Many sad faces were seen on the boat then because we all had had such a great time. All and all, we saw sting rays, a sea eagle, a giant turtle swimming, dolphins eating bright orange squid after dinner the first night, and many different fish,(including Dori and Nemo) the brilliant coloured coral, and a crown of thorns star fish. Spectacular!  


Our time aboard the ship Summer Time will be something we will never forget and it will be one of the highlights of our trip here in Australia for both of us . We made great friends. We shared the incredible first time experience of not only diving but diving the Great Barrier Reef. We got to experience nature in a way that may not be seen the same in the future. Incredible.

From here we will continue north.  Destination: Cairns.  We are under a tight schedule as Amanda has a job starting in two days.  With 800+km to roll over sully will get little rest.  Nick will start his job hunt right away.  What we earn over the next few weeks will have to serve us until we reach western Australia some 6000+km away.  It will be strange going getting back into a full time position as it is at this point that “routine” no longer fits into our routine.