The Great Barrier Reef

Cairns is right beside the Great Barrier Reef, so for Greg’s Canadian bday - he decided we should celebrate twice since the time change let it be his bday for 2 days. - we headed out to the Great Barrier Reef for scuba diving and snorkelling. The day dawned overcast and our worries over visibility were unfounded as we jumped into the waters at the first reef and the underwater world below unfolded before us in great colours, shapes and marine life. This was our first solo dive together and we navigated around the coral to discover massive fish, the size of a small child, a sea turtle snoozing on a coral shelf, a white tipped reef shark patrolling the area and hundreds of different species, shapes, sizes and colours of tropical fish! It was incredible and the forty minutes flew by as if it were just 5 minutes.

We jumped into the next site to see what the snorkelling world had to offer and these pictures should give you a taste of the awe we experienced by the marine life. Again we saw sharks, huge parrotfish, hundreds of fish in schools, coral with nemo fish poking out, pufferfish and a rainbow full of colours in fish and coral. There is no way to fully convey the enormity of this experience with the size of some fish equalling that of a small child, or the hundreds of fish that we would swim between - like a cloud of the black midgy flies only bigger and cool fish! The colours of the fish were stunning, the shapes and sizes so incredible it would seem as though you were watching a cartoon disney movie or a national geographic special and yet we were right there in the midst of it all. As we headed back to the boat and climbed onto the decks we were stunned to see a pod of dolphins leaping through the water. Apparently moments earlier they had been beside the boat and we caught their final act as they sped through the waters diving in and out and doing flips and spins through the air. What majestic creatures to watch!

The rain had thankfully held off until our way back when it belted down in buckets. We camped near the airport, but the swampy waters that surrounded us had us wary of crocs and the mozzies and midges left our legs chewed to pieces. My legs had more skin with bites than without! We spent the next couple days making over Hank and visiting our good pals at Bunnings, the hardware store that leant us the tools to build Hank, cut the wood for us and let us build the bed in the parking lot!