Chasing sharks and turtle stalking

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Days 129 - 131

Went and had a look around town and Stuart had a much needed haircut - the first in the 4 1/2 months since we left!! In the evening had yet another FREE meal at the Woolshed for all of those who know it! Not bad for free! We went to some night markets and had a chinese massage which was nice and relaxing then went to bed as we were so chilled out and needed to be up early doors.

Woke up to more rain and walked down to the boat for our day trip on the Great Barrier Reef. After a couple of hours we stopped at Hastings Reef and snorkelled for about an hour. We did a five minute introductory scuba dive to see whether we like it. We did, but unfortuantley we didn't bring any money to do a full dive however at least we know we get on with it ok and will do some diving in Malaysia. The snorkelling was great though and the coral was amazing and the colours of the fish were unbelieveable. Had some lunch and then sailed onto another spot. This was even better, if a little rougher with even more spectacular coral. Stuart got really close to a big turtle and was watching it for ages. Meanwhile Carly was chasing after a shark she spotted but they're quick little buggers! We also got chased by a jelly fish which was really ugly. Then at the end we both saw another turtle which was medium sized but we didn't manage to get that close to it as it was pretty deep. It was a really brilliant day. The company we went with was Compass, they were fab so if you're ever in this neck of the woods do it! In the evening we treated ourselves to a mexican meal and a jug of sangria. We took photos with an underwater disposable camera so check back in a while and we'll scan them in :-)

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Photos

Turtle
It was so cool seeing a turtle in the wild after seeing the little hatchlings in Bundaberg, we've got a real soft spot for them!