AIRLIE BEACH, AUSTRALIA

In the morning, we got our first good look at Whitehaven Beach: Seven kilometers of unbroken snow-white sand on an uninhabited tropical island. Not bad! We were shuttled over to the beach in the zodiac, and hung out there for a couple of hours. It was a cloudy day, unfortunately, so it wasn't quite as brilliant as in the postcards, but it was still really nice. When I walked down the beach, I saw a small shark and a big stingray cruising around in the shallows, as well as some little jellyfish washing ashore. I couldn't tell if they were box jellyfish, but they looked similar, so I decided to stay out of the water, just to be safe!

After lunch, we set sail across the Whitsunday Passage again. This time, to preempt any possible seasickness, I took two of my prescription anti-nausea pills. Which worked fine, although they made me so sleepy that I immediately conked out in my bunk and only awoke as we were pulling into port.

Later, after showering and changing at our hostel, Chris and I met up with our fellow shipmates at Beaches restaurant and bar, and shared some pitchers of beer. A fun bunch, all of 'em.