"Hamlet of Hedonism"

We did it again. Once more I received an early morning phone call wondering why I was not getting on the bus for a day trip. This time Amy and I double checked our alarms and woke up with (we thought) and hour to spend getting ready, but our leisurely morning turned into throwing things into bags and a repeat run across the hostel grounds due to writing down the wrong meeting time. Basically we suck. Thankfully I have my cell phone or me would have missed out on ocean rafting. Instead of doing a sailing trip around the Whitsunday islands (almost a requirement) we decided to try ocean rafting since it advertised itself as seasick-free. On the bus we met Thomasina who was traveling from Ireland with two friends who decided to spend the day in bed. Our raft sped around the islands and stopped at an aboriginal cave and then off one of the island's shores for some snorkeling, my new favorite activity. Most people were geared up in wetsuits but I thought it was pretty warm and decided I could save ten dollars and just go in my swimsuit. The water here really is turquoise and perfectly clear. I followed a school of giant rainbow fish through the multi-colored coral and used Amy's amazing underwater camera to take some pictures. I didn't think I would be so amazed by the reef, but I am so I will be shelling out even more money to try scuba diving and see a famous shipwreck and more fish and coral this weekend. I reluctantly got back on the raft and we sped away to Whitehaven beach. The sand looked and felt just like flour. We had a picnic lunch on the beach that was not very fun because the terrifying seagulls were trying (and often succeeding) at stealing the food from our plates. I hate birds. Despite my best sunscreen application my back managed to get even more burned while swam around. We then sped back to Airlie Beach and raced against another ocean raft which made me happy I chose this over sailing.
Today we checked out of our hostel and I said goodbye to Amy, since she has to return to the real world and I don't. I took the greyhound to Townsville and listened to a very entertaining fight between twin sisters when one of them realized she had accidentally booked her ticket for two days ago. For the next half and hour while waiting for the bus the one twin yelled at the other for being an idiot and repeatedly threatened to kill her sister if they could not get on the bus. Luckily for them, the bus driver didn't seem to care. Tomorrow I am going to try and hold a wombat at the wildlife sanctuary in town, go to the reef aquarium, and meet up with a girl from my outback tour who is working here. My new goal is to cuddle as many Australian animals as possible. If I can figure out how, I am going to post a few pictures my guide sent from the outback tour.