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Published: August 9th 2006
Today we woke up to the first day of rain!! I was at frist dissapointed, but wet is wet...and you can't stay dry when you are snorkeling! The ride out to the reef is usually a bit rough (a lot of the boats are nicknamed 'vomit commets' if that tells you anything) and the bad weather only makes the trip worse. A lot of us sat on the third level outside, only to be completely drenched from the waves in the first ten minutes. You would have thought the students were on a water ride, they were screaming and laughing and switching sides to try to stay dry (futile). After a two hour ride, we were all ready to get off the boat! (As a comparison, I sat on the first level on the way back and felt like I was in a car wash. I couldn't see out of the windows at all.)
Once we were there, the rain had stopped, there were virtually no waves on the reef, and everyone had a great time. The water was a little cloudy because of the wind, but I can tell you that a 'bad' day on the Great Barrier Reef is better then a lot of 'good' days anywhere else. The reef, the largetst living organism, is the only living thing that can be seen from the moon, to comapre in size, you can also see the Great Wall of China.
Because there is a full moon and that effects the tides, there was a really low tide, which meant we were closer to the reef and by the time we left a lot of the reef was above the water. The low tide also helped to lessen the waves.
Tomorrow we have another ride on a 'vomit comet' but only for about an hour (compared to the 2 it took us to get to the reef). We will be going to Fitzroy Island for some kayaking, snorkeling, and a big hike. It usually rains on the island, but we are all troopers and will have fun no matter what! I am sure I will be delivering some exhausted students on Friday night!
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ruben & loreta
non-member comment
can't wait
we can't wait to have you guys back here. we're really excited to hear about everything that you've experienced down under. the gifts aren't really all that important as long as everybody gets back safely and in good health. hope you all have a nice flight back, we're sure everybody's gonna be exhausted by then.