I managed to pick up a minor bug two days before setting sail on our cruise and have been battling the effects ever since. I thought I had bypassed the worst of it mid last week until I had a rather inexplicable adverse respiratory event while snorkeling. Had it happened anywhere other than the middle of the Great Barrier Reef I am fairly certain that I would have ended up with an ambulance on my doorstep. Fortunately, I only had to contend with a life guard who provided me with a bit of O2 and reminded me to relax. Easier said than done when your lungs are have mysteriously filled up with frothy fluid for no apparent reason.

So what did we get up to?

We spent many hours laying on the deck chairs alternating between sun and shade as well hanging over the railings observing the beautiful surroundings. Away from the sight of land, the water is such a rich, deep and inky blue. It seems like the colour would just absorb into your skin if diving in and the air was just so clear! Passing through the Whitsunday islands at sunrise and sunset was also a great spectacle.

There was also many hours spent shacked up in our cabin. Initially, it feels a little small but it doesn't take long to be familiar and the size is not noticeable. We had a view out to the water although we did wake up one morning to find a boat staring back at us! Once we tuned the TV there were many movies on show as well as CNN, the reading channel and sports. We saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Quantum of Solace, Batman, Yes Man, something about dirty cops, and a few different sections of Bride Wars and Marley & Me. Apart from movies there was bit of snooze time too.

I have had my fill of junk for a very long time. There were quite a few dining options available but most of the time was spent in the buffet. By the end of the week I felt nauseous contemplating fatty cooked breakfasts. We went for a sit down meal one night although, we didn't realise until we arrived that there aren't very many tables for two so there was a bit of forced socialising going on! The food was very tasty and the service quick though. There was also a delicious calzone from the pizzeria and ice cream from the on board New Zealand Natural, not to mention various cocktails!

Unfortunately, my body was quite rebellious when it came to this less than perfect diet of severe over indulgence! I watched as I bloated like a puffer fish, developed a double chin, experienced dry, peeling skin which broke out into a fantastic mass of acne not to mention the constant feeling like any meal regardless of size was about to explode from under my rib cage like one of those Species movies!

While in Cairns we opted for this little adventure to keep active on grade 3/4 rapids. The experience really wasn't very scary. I felt far more anxious when we were turfed out to go down two of the rapids on our backs. It is somewhat disconcerting when going down a blip and suddenly getting sucked strongly underneath the surface of the water for what would have been seconds but felt like an eternity! When we were allowed to sit back and cruise for a bit, the scenery was just gorgeous! So very green and untouched! Simply stunning!

We also spent a little time roaming around Cairns to see what we could see. The first thing which struck us was just how quiet the place is... There are a lot of cars parked in the street but not many people about. The roads are disproportionately large in comparison to the total activity. Most of the people we did see were also tourists and I suppose the number of tourist type shops reflected this...

Port Douglas was our opportunity to go snorkeling. It was a bit of a rough ride over and I felt decidedly sea sick. The reef is very impressive and it is quite an experience to see all the different types of fish swimming around. There were schools of stripy zebra style fish, medium sized silver ones, things that looked like a cross between a sea horse and eel, bright yellow fish and even a giant beast of a fish with big blue lips. That was the one if was most impressed with as it would have been half my body length and as high as I am wide but yet flat. We first got to see it during the first feeding where it surfaced with its big blue lips! Amazing! The second feeding brought out a fish that had a habit of spitting water at the host if he didn't feed it and a super fast black fish that would zoom around at top speed stealing all the food! I felt envious of the folks who were in the water and up close and in particular one little four year old who who even able to pat the blue lipped fish!

The health and fitness component of our trip comprised of boot camp five of the seven days on board. This was a lot of fun and also the source of a lot of pain! For me, it was a good opportunity to test my fitness out which added a motivating factor on return. I was definitely outstripping the competition and a few whispers of "wow" and "I thought I was fit!" left me glowing from the inside. We did shuttle runs, versions of tunnel ball with baby medicine balls, push ups on tyres, running with tyres, running in partners with said tyres threaded through a three metre pole above our heads, lunges around the exhaust funnel (~100m), burpees, resistance bands, toe tapping/hopping on tyres, star jumps and a myriad of core, shoulder, chest & bicep exercises using the medicine balls and tyre-pole arrangements.

It definitely made a change from the weights/cardio/kettlebell arrangement and after many days of doing push ups while our partner traversed the funnel via lunge, I felt a definite improvement in strength for today's work out! My old disappointment was not being well enough to really thrash it out for the last two and hardest sessions.

The experience was awesome! There are so many opportunities available and so much time to do whatever the heart desires! The staff are really lovely too and help to make the experience special. Soon after embarkation, we opened our cabin door to discover a congratulatory note for our honeymoon accompanied by balloons! :-) Everyone is so friendly and helpful! Room service takes on a whole new meaning as not only do the sheet and towels get fixed up, everything else in the room gets rearranged into neatness too, whether it be piles of paper or empty water bottles!!! The ship is an incredible network of people all working together. Everywhere you turn there is a staff member doing something e.g. stealing your empty plate, painting a wall, cleaning a deck chair, vacuuming the carpet etc. It is impressive!! This is something that I'd definitely like to do again!

Anyhow, I've had a day or too at home now and today I'm finally feeling better. :-) Just in time for work tomorrow... Boo! Ah well... Had my first workout today and was in good form. Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things again!