A Pirate's life for me.

(Mel) Back in Airlie Beach after a 3 day cruise around the Whitsundays on the largest wooden ship built in the Pacific. Beautiful ship, stunning views, great crew and nice bunch of people - Canadian, German, Belgian, Irish, Dutch and a few Aussies too. We went snorkelling a few more times which was great - swam among some big shoals of colourful fish and made friends with a pretty big Wrasse. I got stung by a jellyfish which was quite painful and a bit scary as some of them are deadly but you don't know until the poison sets in a bit later. I'm still alive though so all is well. Spent some time on Whitehaven beach which is just as beautiful as it looks in the pictures - white sand, clear blue water and little sharks that come within a metre of your toes when you paddle.

(Rich) The cruise was fantastic - the highlight being 5 dolphins who swam right up to the boat and chased it for 10 minutes! We also saw a humpback whale, squids and loads of fish. The best bit snorkelling in a strange kind of way was when I took in some seawater by mistake and was sick. All of a sudden hundreds of fish were teeming inches in front of me trying to get a taste of the congealed quiche and salad that had appeared there

Next stop Fraser Island, Dingos, spiders, turtles and 4 wheel drive vehicles driven by us! Tara for now.

All the fishes in the sea

(Rich) Mel and I are very burnt on the backs of our legs and one inch at the top of our foreheads. The up side to that is we got to spend a day Scuba Diving and Snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef. It was one of themost amazing experiences in our lives - after keeping tropical fish for 5 years it felt like we were being allowed in the tank with them! Big ones, small ones, massive ones, all multicoloured - we even saw a 6 foot shark (asleep), a big turtle and a manta ray. To get some amazing other trips in Oz in we're going to have to leave tomorrow to head for the Whitsundays - a yacht cruise for 3 days. Still over 4 weeks left to go. Can I take this much excitement?

(Mel) When Rich says 'we' went scuba diving, he is being very generous. I was planning on just going snorkelling but got convinced to try scuba diving too. I got all tanked up but found the whole breathing underwater thing far too freaky so decided to stick with the snorkelling. Still had an incredible time though and saw not only all the amazing fish but the reef itself which was really colourful and huge!



We had a yacht around the Whitsundays upgraded to a luxury one for the same price by the crazy old lady who runs the hostel we are staying in - should be pretty cool!

Off out for our last night in Cairns now. Byee

Sydney

(Rich) Mel and I had a total of 6 hours sleep between us last night. Not (just) the (drunk) Northern Irish person (loudly) talking on his mobile at 4am, but largely the result of going to bed at 3pm UK time. Resolved to remedy situation by getting up at 8 this morning and being so tired all day so as to fall unconscious into bed after finishing this post - hopefully this will be helped by the bottle of red wine we shared this evening.

(Mel) Arrived in Sydney last night and had craving for a cheap steak and chips after being told by many that Oz was the place for this. Wandered around the streets within a mile of our hostel for about an hour only to find we we staying in Chinatown - problem is we've had Chinese food for the last 3 days. Ended up opting for the "5 star" kebab shop - mm mmm mmm. I knew we had made a mistake when the guy asked me if I wanted chicken flavoured salt or normal salt on my chips.

(Rich) But we are having a great time - honest! Didn't feel like we rushed around too much today but managed to get in Ferry ride past Opera House (tick), monorail, Aboriginal art gallery and Digeridoo demonstration, shopping at "the rocks", museum, meal out in Darling Harbour, etc, etc. Nice city - off to Bondi beach tamoza (weather permitting).

(Mel) The Wake Up Hostel is really nice, although quite a change from the 4 star hotel we stayed in in Singapore. Pretty central and lots of facilities. Hung out in the bar for a bit last night and using their Internet connection now. Off to Cairns on Wednesday so will write more from there.

Changi Airport

Just at Singapore Changi airport using free Internet access before we get our flight to Sydney. Had a good few hours in Little India yesterday and had Indian fast food for lunch - McDonalds style but much nicer. Wandered around Marina bay and then sat in the big park in the centre of Singapore and watched the bats. Ate out at an Indonesian seafood place.

Big Bro

Can someone let me know who won Big bro please?!

Mel

Little India

(had to put yesterday's post on today as hotel Internet all in Chinese and we couldn't work out which was the 'publish entry' button!)

Now in Internet Cafe in Little India - a tenth of the price of the hotel Internet. Didn't get up and off quite as early as we'd hoped this morning but gradually adjusting to the new time zone.

Little India is a massive contrast to the exclusive shopping centre we went to Yesterday on Orchard Road. It's like Knightsbridge and Delhi within a mile of each other. Looking forward to some curry for lunch.

We fly to Sydney tomorrow morning.

Singapore

Just had a day out in sunny (and very humid) Singapore. We went to the botanical gardens and saw many thousands of beautiful orchids, turtles (not so beautiful) and bonsai trees.

The shopping centre was impressive but just like London - even the prices were the same, so we ate out in Chinatown - 2 courses and drinks for 15 pounds. Didn't quite beat the most amazing meal ever last night (Vietnamese) but was still good.

The journey was okay but we both realised that we can't sleep on planes (I don't know how anyone can). Also, having been told to arrive 4 hours early for the flight, were told to sit and wait to check in until 2 1/2 hours before the flight. Not much difference security wise at the airport, except that we had to take our shoes off to go through the security checks.

Looking forward to a slightly longer day tomorrow after getting up at 1.45pm today (6.45am British time though!)

Are we nearly there yet?

Hello and welcome to Rich and Mel Burley's holiday blog!

Over the next six weeks we're going to be traversing a number of very cool countries and will be updating y'all with pictures of where we've been and comments to match.

It's a good way of keeping in touch so feel free to comment on any of the posts - perhaps it'll also be a nice photo album for the future to show our kiddies!

Speak to you soon...