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Published: February 6th 2006
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Trev & the sea cucumber
Yup thats me holding a type of sea cucumber though can't remember the exact name of it, but it felt slimey!!! Cyclone, my arse! The weather in cairns was beautiful, in fact too hot for a couple of days! It was especially bad when our air conditioning broke down in our room, it was like sleeping in an oven!!
The day we arrived in Cairns (off a rather dirty, damp and uncomfortable 12 hour bus journey!) we bumped into two of the girls we'd spent load of time with in Thailand, Gemma and Carolyn. It was so good seeing them so went out that evening with them to celebrated Caz's birthday and that they were leaving the next day to go home. We had a bit of a weird night. We went to a hostel/bar/club called Gilligans. First off they wouldn't let me in as I had no ID so I had to go back and get it. Then they wouldn't let Gemma in coz she was too drunk (which she really wasn't, the bouncers in Oz take their jobs far too seriously!). Then, they wouldn't let trev in the upstairs club because he was wearing cropped jeans! We spent more time outside so gave up, got pizza and went back to the girls hostel to carry on the party.
Kim & the sea cucumber
Same same but different We relaxed after that and didn't do much for the next couple of days, I had promised Mum we'd give our livers a rest! We just look around the shops and chill out by the Lagoon there (you can't swim in the sea as theres lots of Jellies, sharks and Crocs hanging around waiting for an easy opportunity!)
On tuesday, we went out on a dive boat to the Great Barrier Reef.
Geeky Reef info!!
The Great Barrier Reef is the most extensive reef system in the world, it contains the world's largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusks. At 2000 km long, it is also the biggest structure make by living organisms. It can be seen well only from the air (for a global view to appreciate its magnitude) or from underwater (to appreciate the intricacy of its details).
We booked to do just an intoductory dive, one because we didn't really have the time to do a PADI course and two, I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not as many people apparently dont take to diving and panick once
Clown fish aka Nemo
Kim got so excited when she saw them that she almost used up all her oxygen!! they get in the water suited up . How wrong was I! It was one of the most amazing things we've ever done and are now gutted we didn't get certified in Thailand where it was really cheap. We arrived at Michaelmas Cay and squeezed into our wetsuits, heaved on our tanks (so heavy) and jumped in. We then had to do tests under the water like clearing our masks and regulators (the mouth piece you breath from). We both did it easily and started our dive. It was so beautiful down there and the instructor showed us lots of differnet types of fish and got us to touch the inside of a giant clam, which close on your hand when you do. We dived to a depth of about 6 meters though It did not last long enough and so when we surfaced, straight away signed up for the second dive at a different reef called Hastings. The second dive was even better as the instructor trusted Trev and I to move around on our own a lot more and didn't wear wetsuits as they restricted us the last time. The sights were so fantastic, the corals was even
Watch your hands!!
Picture shows a giant clam, feels slimey and leathery when you put your hand inside and closes really quickly and thankfully not fully! more colourful and there was even more fish. We also held a spiky Sea Cucumber which was really odd! After the dives we did loads more snorkelling, Trev kept diving down and chasing the fish! Apparently he was helping them out as it kept them aware of possible future attacks from predators! Yeah right, it was just mean! We didn't get to see any sharks or turtles but thats a great excuse to do it again!
On our last night we went out with Emma who we'd been with since the boat trip in the Whitsundays. As we were about to leave Landy, Maura and Ti showed up. It was fantastic to see them and they came out to celebrate with us even though they'd just got off the Bus (love you guys). We went to The Woolshed where it was "Beach Party" night. Great cocktails and flower garlands!
We're now in New Zealand which looked so beautiful when we flew over but we're only in Auckland at the moment, so its just another City to explore tommorrow. We've hired a car with two other people to get round the North Island so sure there'll be loads to
update soon.
love Kim xx
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mum
non-member comment
fish!
So you've got over your fish phobia then Kim. Hello Trev.x