I slept really, really well. I didn't even hear the other four people come in, although Mikey says that it was 5am for one of them. We had to check out of our room because we're getting a room to ourselves tonight, so we'd already packed our bags and we just had to sneak down for breakfast and we managed to leave without waking anyone. The car picked us up at 8.30 and took us to the marina.

The water was beautifully calm and it was a hot, sunny morning. The sea was deep turquoise and the only notable thing on the ride to the first island was a huge clunk and bump. 'Oh,' said one of the crew, 'We've hit a whale.' Fortunately it didn't look like the whale was hurt (although it would have been dangerous to go and have a look) and the boat was undamaged, so we carried on to Whitehaven beach.

Which is, without doubt, what paradise looks like. The soft, silica sand is pure white, the sea is clear at the shore and many shades of blue and green as you go further out, the eucalyptus trees on the beach offer shade and the whole island is engulfed in a swarm of large blue and black tiger butterflies. A few of the other islands were visible on the horizon and the water was littered with nice-looking yachts and sailing ships. We were ferried ashore in a small motor boat. An elderly couple were in the boat with us, both keen snorkellers ('At our age dear, they don't let you scuba dive, the insurance is too expensive), and as they reached the shore the lady gave her husband a big kiss and I heard her say, 'Well, we've finally done it, darling. Whitehaven, after all these years.' Sooooo sweet!

We were given an hour or so to walk on the sand, paddle or swim, or just lie in the sun, and then we had a massive barbecue. Joining us were a bunch of incredible lace monitor lizards who came along in the hope we'd drop something. They were about three feet long, and incredibly fast when they wanted to be. Really lovely to see.

A bit later we were taken to the other side of the island to walk to a lookout where we could see the whole of the bay. I have never seen anything like that in my life, and it's really hard to describe. The white sand created tiny, tiny islands in the sea, which was hundreds of stripy shades of blue because of the varying depths. There were even people walking between the islands because the water was only waist-deep.

I took hundreds of photos, but I don't think any of them will show the incredible variations in colour, or the hugeness of the view. It was truely remarkable.

Back in the boat, we were taken to Hook Island to do some snorkelling. I've never done that, preferring to scuba dive, but the boat crew (one of whom knew almost everywhere in England and said he particularly liked Kidderminster!) said that even as a divemaster he preferred snorkelling because the colours were so much more vivid in shallower water. Mikey and I gave it a try, and they couldn't have picked a better spot. There were plenty of fish and some beautiful corals, and while the enormous green Maori wrasse was getting all the attention (one woman almost jumped out of the water because she thought someone said 'rats') I found a swarm of jellyfish to play in. They were only tiny babies, but they did that fantastic pulsing jellyfish thing, with their little tentacles trailing. They are my favourite non-fish fish in the world, and I would really like a tank of them at home when we have the time (and money) for a saltwater aquarium. I'd stick an ultaviolet light on them and just sit and watch for hours, like a lava lamp that's alive. So I was happy for ages, and took some photos with my new underwater camera, and even picked up a few of the jellyfish so that the scared people could see. Really amazing. But, I still much prefer the feel of scuba, when you're in the water world with the fish, rather than just looking in from the top.

Then we were given cheese (perfect!) and we headed back to the shore. Once on dry land again, we walked past an incredible sandcastle that someone'd spent seven hours sculpting, and we decided to stay for another couple of days and go diving. It's apparently much better here than in Cairns, and there's no beach up there anyway, so we looked into diving options, cancelled our bus and room reservations, booked another couple of nights here (4 nights, 4 rooms - the spoons will be satisfying!) and sorted out a diving trip for the morning. Neither of us like boats, and the trip that the boat crew today recommended is the bumpiest of them all. In fact, he said if we even think we might feel sick, don't even look at that boat. So we've chosen a catamaran, which should be calmer (we hope) and the forecast for tomorrow is wind at 6-10 knots, which is quite light, I think. It gets stronger on Monday. They'll pick us up at 7.15 which is an unnatural time to expect someone to be awake, but if it's anything like today, it will be well and truly worth it.