A Day on the Reef

Today we traveled to the Great Barrier Reef! Wow was it amazing. It was an all day event. We met our boat at the Marina with about 50 other tourists at 8:00am. It took us about 2 hours to get to the reef, but this time flew by. My dad and I had signed up to Scuba Dive, so we spent part of the morning going through an instructional class. We also took some time to "hire" a underwater digital camera for the day(which means we rented it).

The boat slowed down near the smallest island I've ever seen. Literally you could have walked all the way around this island in about 10 min. My dad and I were in the first group to dive. There were three first-time divers and one instructor. We suited up in our "stinger suits" which protected us from jellyfish, put on some fins and goggles, and headed toward the beach. In the shallow water we put on our air tanks and tested out some skills we had talked about on the trip. It is really weird to breathe through a tube like that. And my instincts kept telling me to take a deep breath before going under even though I knew I'd still have oxygen underwater. The four of us linked arms and began our adventure.

We linked arms the entire time so no one got lost. The water wasn't as clear as we thought it would be, and it would only take a few seconds to lose the group in the water. I was on the end so I could take pictures, and at first I was clinging to my Dad's arm, terrified of the unknown. I kept reminding myself to breathe (which takes some thought when you're underwater), and eventually I got into a steady rhythm. As we swam through the coral I loosened my grip to the point where I almost lost my dad's arm. The sights were amazing! The fish were swimming right next to us. We saw giant clams, sting rays, anemones and clown fish just to name a few. We stayed under for about a half hour and then returned to the boat.

Once on board we met up with my mom again, who had taken a submarine ride to check out the reef. We ate lunch, and then my dad and I went snorkeling along the shore for almost an hour. Snorkeling was neat because we were closer to the surface and the colors seemed brighter in the sunlight.Around 2:15 all the passengers boarded the ship and we headed back to the coast of Cairns. It was a very relaxing ride which included champagne and music like "Enya."

We went back to our hotel and cleaned up for dinner. We should have been exhausted, but I think we were still on a high from the day's experiences. We ate at Outback Jacks. As an appetizer we tried the Kangaroo and Crocodile plate. Both meats were a first for me, and I have to say the Kangaroo I could do without, but I really liked the Crocodile. It's a little like chicken, but it also has a seafood-like texture that's hard to explain. After dinner, we walked around the nighttime shops in Cairns and got some Gelato.

It was a pretty amazing day to say the least. It's on my bucket list to see the Reef, so it feels very good to cross that off my list.

Just a note, I have a new favorite fruit. It's called "lychee." I don't think I can ever get it in the States, so I'm just trying to soak in as much as possible while I'm here. Let me know if you've every heard of it or know where I can get some at home.

Again, all of our pictures are on a different site and if you'd like to see them, please don't hesitate to email me. mnruberg@gmail.com