Long distance Clara

Ah buses, don't we all love 'em? Well actually I don't really have any complaints about Greyhound Australia despite spending 24hrs out of a 60hr period with them. I went from Cairns to Hervey Bay (about 1500km) on two overnight trips, with 36hrs in Airlie Beach roughly midway.

Had originally planned to spend longer in Airlie as it is the jumping off point for the Whitsundays, but to be honest, after three days on the waves on the Santa Maria I felt I'd done my bit on the sailing front. Plus it was still only four days since they took a direct hit from cyclone Ului (some property damage but nothing more serious thankfully) meaning the water wasn't clear and the town was still busy clearing debris.

I did take a powerboat trip out for the day and Whitehaven is an incredible beach, but my new-found enthusiasm for diving wasn't best served by doing another intro dive off Hook Island. I hadn't expected great visibility, but had hoped to see a little more than the fins of my instructor....a 2 metre gap was all it took for him to disappear into the sandy green murk so I spent the whole time wholeheartedly concentrating on keeping him in view!