The Great Barrier Reef

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What can I say about the Great Barrier Reef?? No surprises why this is one of the 7 wonders of the world. I got on my dive boat in the morning and did two morning dives. The water was so clear and I could see all around me for what seemed like miles. Very strange to qualify back in march and then they just literally give you a map of the reef and tell you not to get lost whilst booting you into the water.

I loved every minute of it. The first few times I was put with a buddy who was pretty much all over the place, and didn’t know any hand signals, couldn’t control her buoyancy and couldn’t remember where they had parked the boat, but apart from that it was amazing. The fishes I saw were incredible, with bright reef and little fish and then monster fish the size of me.

Once the afternoon rolled by, I went onto another boat for the night. This boat was pure luxury with amazing cabins. No time to think about that though as you get straight back into the water again. I even did a nighttime dive which was ridiculously scary. You are sat there eating dinner watching as the day turns to night and the sky becomes pitch black. This is when the sharks come out to play. We were given torches and got into the water. You could see eyes everywhere. You could see the shrimp glowing in the reef, and around every corner you are looking for sharks. I did see a giant turtle asleep on the bottom of the sea bed, but you have to be careful not to wake them or they get up for air and become shark food. Still, rather them then me!! You get the big fish swimming behind you waiting for you to shine your torch on some prey and they swoop it next to your ear and get the fish. Luckily with all the torches, it’s very hard to get lost and you can see each other ok. Bit of a worry that it’s hard to see your gages though.

As you can tell, I survived the night dive and it was pretty exhilarating. I got up again at 6.00 in the morning and went on a morning dive to find the fish waking up. I saw string rays and sharks. I then went in again and 9am and 11am and by that time I was well and truly knackered.

The diving was amazing. I can’t believe how amazing the water is and the fish are brightly coloured and exotic looking. To top it all off on the way back to the harbor we saw whales swimming along side us. Could it get any better??

I landed back into Cairns on dry land. I explored the town and went to sunbathe by the man made lagoon. After this whole mammoth three weeks I took a flight from Cairns this morning. It took me three weeks to drive up the coast, but merely three hours to fly to Sydney. I would tell anyone to fly from Cairns as the aerial view of the Great barrier Reef is something else!

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