The Great Barrier Reef

THE REEF AND LITTLE SILVER FISHIES

A BIGGER FISHIE

THIS BRIGHT BLUE CORAL WAS MY FAVORITE TYPE OF CORAL I SAW

Sunday, the 15th of February, 2009 will be a day that I will always remember as it's the day I went to The Great Barrier Reef. Our group had an early breakfast and then a quick walk to the marina where we boarded a big boat and situated ourselves for two hours of tanning/chatting while we sailed to the reef.

THE BOAT

SAFETY BRIEFING BEFORE SAILING

SAILING AWAY FROM CAIRNS

When we stopped on the reef for the first time everyone had the choice of snorkeling or scuba diving (or staying on the boat, I guess). I just snorkeled as I'm not a certified diver and the snorkelers were swimming in the same area as the scuba divers. We all wore stinger suits which are full body (including hoods) blue suits to protect your skin from jellyfish. We all looked very silly in them and enjoyed the discussion of buying a suit and wearing it out that night or at least buying a beach ball and playing "seals". At this first swimming spot I was able to see a ton of fish and coral. A huge school of four foot long gray fish swam by us and I even found a couple Nemos hanging out around an anemone (insert Nemo's stuttering attempt to say "anemone" here). At this spot we were given about 45mins to an hour to swim around before reboarding and getting ready for lunch.

BRETT, ME, KYLE, AND MORGAN SHOWING OFF OUR TRENDY STINGER SUITS

ME AND KYLE BEFORE SNORKELING

NEMO AND HIS ANEMONE

THE TURQUOISE COLOR OF THE WATER WAS JUST INCREDIBLE

TAKING A BREAK FROM SWIMMING/DIVING

THIS IS ME, CHAR COOMBS, SNORKELING AT THE GREAT BARRIER REEF (SO HAPPY I CAN TYPE THAT SENTENCE)

THE BIG, GRAY FISH

The crew had prepared a buffet-style lunch with salads, rice, veggies, crackers, fruit, and pasta which was all very scrumptious (the vegan options that is, can't account for the meat/dairy but didn't hear any complaints). Once everyone had eaten and reclaimed their tanning spots we sailed a little more until we were about 800 yards from a tiny island. We were given the option to grab our snorkeling equipment and get on a smaller, glass bottom boat and ride to the island. I took this option (don't know why you wouldn't) and was able to get a few pics of all the birds on the island before snorkeling around the reef once again. It was here where we saw a few turtles, some dolphins, more colorful fish, and teeny tiny jellyfish. We had no choice but to swim through the jellyfish to get back to the boat but because of the stinger suit I was okay. The only stings a couple people had were on their lips and didn't hurt anyway apparently.

A VIEW FROM THE BIRD SANCTUARY ISLAND

LOTS OF BIRDIES

GETTING READY FOR THE SECOND SESSION OF SNORKELING

A BIG, BLUE FISH

MORE CORAL

TO GIVE EVERYONE A GIGGLE

SWMMING AMONGST A SCHOOL OF FISH

I FOLLOWED THIS GUY FOR A BIT AS HE HAD ANOTHER FISH ON EITHER SIDE OF HIM SUCKING STUFF OF OF HIS GILLS

It was another two hour sailing back to the marina so once again we worked on our tans and just talked. Some people's "tanning" ended up becoming "extremely painful burning" but I did it too the first few days I was here. I learned that Australia has no o-zone and that's why the sun is so strong and why even though I've worn SPF 30 everyday since I've been here I've still earned quite a good tan. So yes, sunscreen is vital to avoid burning/melanomas. During the day, I ended up meeting two girls from England (yay!) who are traveling around Australia for two months before starting a teacher training program. They ended up coming out with us all that night and will be on the Gold Coast next week so we are hoping to meet up once again.

STEPH, ME, AND MARGARET ON THE BOAT

LOVELY