eh-lee and the whitsunday islands

We go on a big raft! We snorkle! We go to a beautiful white sand beach! We do donuts on the raft! It is close to paradise!

Truthfully, the big raft is an air-filled, bright yellow bubble raft with a roof, not a Huck Finn wooden thing slapped together. We are in a group of about twenty, with two guys steering and leading. Of of them has a very long mullet. They advise us that they don't go back for lost hats that blow away, “unless it is still on your head.” They motor our raft very quickly and do S-shaped maneuvers that make you nearly fall backwards or forwards. I hate these in the beginning but then love them on the way home. On our way out, we pass a raft picking up a girl who fell out.

The snorkling is so-so. The water is too cold to really enjoy myself. I see plate coral (shaped like a big plate), brain coral, “traditional” coral, but everything is in earth tones. I see a bunch of fish, big humpnose three feet long, rainbow fish, large black and yellow clownfish, tiny silver sardine-like fish, and very small jellyfish.

The best part about our rafting trip is Whitehaven Beach. White, soft sand, barely any waves, deserted. Whitehaven is on par with the beaches of Thailand, but the water is a bit chilly. I eat my tomato/cheese/avocado sandwich and start a new stupid girly book. We hang out in heaven for two hours.

We get a Greyhound overnight bus to Cairns. Greyhound sucks. They assign you to seats, and they place you in the BACK ROW NEXT TO THE BATHROOM. Plus, they have the heat going from underneath your seat, so even if Naomi finds an empty row and you can both lie down, the heat coming up through your jacket and straight into your face will prevent any sleep from occuring.

Australian thing of the day: Tropical flavor and Berry Blast Mentos. Pineapple is delicious, mango is weird, passion fruit is just gross. All of the berry flavors are yum, but are really just like eating Skittles, the purple pack. I might be getting over my Mentos addiction.