Whitsundays....the great escape

So the week of Easter weekend Brittany and I decided to travel to the Whitsunday Island. The Whitsundays is a chain of 74 islands all around the great barrier reef...and they are absolutely beautiful! To get there was a full day of travel. We woke up early to catch a bus to Byron, to hop on a greyhound to Brisbane (a three hour drive), board a train to the airport, to get onto a plane to Prosperine, then on another bus to Airlie Beach...but when we finally arrived 12 hours later, it was worth it. We checked into our hostel and the front desk guy quickly told us what we should do with our visit and then booked it for us. We signed up for a package for "backpackers." It is a two day adventure around the islands.
So the first day, Brit and I got on a large boat that took us around some of the outter islands then attached to a large pontoon-like boat. There we had the option to snorkel or SCUBA (of course, we dove), go on a glass bottom observation area, a submarine, lay in the sun, go down a big tube water slide, or just simply swim off the boat. It was so much fun and of course, Brit and I tried to do it all. The second day, we boarded a sail boat that took us around another loop of islands. We stopped at Whitheavan Island, one of the most famous islands. It was incredible! The sand was so soft and white, and the water was crystal blue. I have never seen such a beautiful beach in my life! On the sail boat, Brittany and I were just laying on the trampoline-like area soaking up the sun and acting really crazy (singing disney songs, quoting movies, and laughing like idiots) We were having a blast acting silly...and we figured no one knew us and half the people on the boat didn't even speak English (by the way..it was really neat to be surround by so many people from across the world. . . it was sort of nuts at times!) Well, after we got knocked over by a huge wave and the whole boat is laughing at us...we get asked "are you from the states???" Now many times since I've been here, I've been asked that and sometimes I'm a little reluctant to answer. Once you admit your from the states, people like to talk politics or ask about current situations...and it's really uncomfortable. (I sometimes just say "yes" when people ask if I'm from Canada...haha) But Brittany and I didn't lie and told him we were from the states....and turned out he was a current student at IU! He (Anthony) and his friend, Amber, are Indiana U students that are doing their student teaching in Sydney! So we hung out with them the whole day (and took full advantage of the open bar!) Needless to say, we had a really amazing time. We were able to relax in a semi-quiet atmosphere with beautiful surroundings and meet some incredible people.
On Friday, we flew back into Brisbane where Ken and Mary picked us up. Brittany and I spent the next couple days at their place in the Gold Coast. They once again, opened their house to me and made me feel right at home. It was really nice to be able to spend Easter with family. (And the Easter bunny found me all the way in Australia ...haha Thanks, Mary!!!) I was really sad to leave Sunday evening, knowing it would be my last time in a loonngg time that I would be able to visit them. It has been great to spend time with family I hardly knew before. I can truly say that visiting their home and getting to know them has been one of my favorite experiences in Australia.