So I’m back on land briefly overnight, in between the boat trip and tomorrow’s all-day kayaking adventure. The hostel accommodation is as basic as ever, but it feels so good to be on dry land again and be able to take a shower! The boat was amazing – and fast – but living with another seventeen people in a small space with only two rather damp and claustrophobic bathrooms the size of an average wardrobe gets to you after a while! Rather reminiscent of my stretch in the lovely Cryfield residences last summer, now I think about it.

This morning I was awake at 6AM, ready to go into the water before eight. No diving today, but I did one yesterday and another the day before so that takes the total so far (both for this trip and for me generally) to four. Tonight I’m meeting a bunch of other people from the boat for a few drinks that the crew have organised, which I hope won’t impede my ability to get down to the pickup point for my kayaking tomorrow morning for 8.30.

On the organisation front I’ve managed to book some accommodation for the next stop at Hervey Bay, only some fourteen hours away from here on the coach! The Rough Guide describes it as “[an] unusual place, with dorms done up in corrugated iron and timber, and hung with Outback iconography”, so I’m hoping for somewhere with slightly more character than the YHA I’m staying in at the moment or the Greyhound bus I’ll be attempting to get some sleep on tomorrow night.