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Published: April 30th 2015
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Gd' ay everyone, today we went out to The Great Barrier Reef and it was magnificent. It was an early start, picked up at 08.20 am, (well that was early after Toad night !! ), we were taken down to the marina where we boarded our boat, 'Calypso', (bubbles), 48 not including the crew were on board. Off we went and an hour and a half later we arrived at 'Opal Reef', we were given sting suits and I must say 'ladies' they do wonders for tummies !! I think I had a flat one !! The first in 40 years !! Need to get one of those, could wear it under winter clothes !! So we were all kitted up, suit, snorkel googles, flippers (toe much better, thank you, if you were still concerned !!) oh and I took a noodle incase I tired, due to lack of excerise whilst away !! (Noodle is used across tummy, so you can float better, as I was going to be in that ocean til I was dragged out. Stu didn't bother with one, so after we were given safety precautions, signs that we had to use whilst in the sea to let
crew know we were fine or drowning !! Could give you a demonstration if you were here, but it would be a bit like when an air steward do their safety routine !! On the way we past the 'Low Isles', this is where Steve Irwin died after that stingray attacked him. So after a bit of a bumpy journey, the boat stopped, on goes all the gear and we jumped off the back of the boat. Now the question of sharks ran through Stu and my head's, we were told that there may be a possibility we would see them, but they are 'timid' and won't bother us !! Ever heard of sharks like that, cos I haven't !!! Stu in the meantime, said to me, 'don't worry I'll keep a look out for the bugger's' !! Thank god for Stu, I say !!! So off we flipper !! Water is quite cold, glad I have my sting suit on, sting suit by the way is to prevent us getting stung by jelly fish, yes another little hazard in the ocean !! Well I must say it just took you're breath away, another world underneath there. We saw, wait
for it, sharks below us, OK, not killer sharks but reef sharks, all the same a shark is a shark, dont trust the little bugger's, so speedy flippers off we go !! Pretty amazing though, we saw Pufferfish, fantastic coloured Clams, Star fishes, beautiful huge Maori Wrasse's (Google that one), Parrotfish, Clown fish and we even saw a Stingray, as well as endless colourful, odd looking fish and the coral was amazing, bright colours. When you snorkel over it, you think you're going to get rip to pieces because it is so close to you're body, honestly it truly is just spectacular, the colours, the noise, yep it is quite noisey down there, you can see the fish eating from the coral, just fascinating stuff. So after one swim, we bordered the boat again and went to another side of the Reef, jumped off the back of the boat again, explored around, then some of us went off with a crew member who 'free dived' down and showed us different things, explaining how the fish feed and naming the coral and pointing out particular things, which was great because we learn't quite a lot that way, things we never knew.
The crew explained to us how to 'free dive' but quite honestly, that was not going to happen in a 10 minute lesson, I'd have to sign up for a 6 month course and then try it out in a swimming pool, it was never going to happen TODAY !! We then had lunch on the boat and one of the crew members gave us a presentation on marine life showing us pictures. Afterwards we were driven to another part of the Reef and back in the water again, I said to Stu, 'I've had my fair share of exercise today', that'll do for another week !! It really was fantastic, words fail me for once !!! The Great Barrier Reef spans 2000 km, covers an area larger than Great Britain and parts of it are estimated to be around 18 million years old. It has 3,000 reefs and coral cays, more than 1,500 species of fish, 400 types of coral, 5,000 species of mollusc, some of the world's best tropical islands and 30 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises. The Great Barrier Reef is the only natural structure visible from outer space. It really is another world underneath. We
got back at 5.00 pm, so we are absolutely whacked out, just cooked salmon, going to bed soon. This is hard work !!! (just to let you know, loading photos is very slow here, so check back on my Queensland entries).
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