The Reef

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Well another great day in Cairns... Got a bit of sun burn on my back but still a wonderful and colourful day out on the reef.

We were up at 6am and had to be down to the harbour for 7.30am, not a problem for me as the night before I stayed in did some washing and had only 1 schooner of beer (Less than a pint... Damn these Oz measures), well the day kicked off with a good intro talk on the boat we were going out on called the Osprey. A nice cup of tea and we set off toward our first reef, where I would be getting wet doing some snorkling and having my first ever session with some scuba gear. My self and LJ a girl Nat met earlier in the week were in the last group to go out which gave us time to get used to the water by snorkling... during which time I bumped heads with a turtle, he looked like he had just had a smoke and me well I was shocked and my mask came off so had the sea down my throat, not a good taste but not as bad as the solent. Well the day rolled on and was a scorcher out on the sea until it was time for us to don our scuba gear and get a real taste of the reef, oh yeah.

So geared up me and LJ dropped down under the boat along with two Chinese guys one of which just freaked and went back up, me and LJ waited for the other guy to get sorted and the instructor to ask us one at a time to lift our mask and then clear our mask of water... really easy, the next bit needed a bit more courage as we had to take our mouth piece out and then put it back in and clear it of water by saying two really hard, well not so bad did it a few times to get used to it and the instructor was happy with both me and LJ so we all locked arms with the instructor and started to head down deeper got a meter or so down and the instructor was happy for me and LJ to break group and go off for a good look around just as long as we stayed in view and followed them as best we wanted, no turtles at this point nor sharks but hey we got right down on the sea bed and up close with a clam and a sea cucumber... very slimy feel. We got down to about 8 meters and the view was great we could see about 15 meters as the water was really clear.

Coming to the end of the day I booked myself on a helicopter ride back to Cairns, Nat and LJ did a tour in the heli over the reef but I couldn't get a seat and the last one was for the ride back... Great views and got some good pics and my first time in a heli... WOW.

Then the day started to draw to an end its now 6PM and I have had a shower and started to relax for the evening and again tomorrow a day of relaxing down by the lagoon... must put alot more suntan cream on as I got a tad burnt on my shoulders.

Thats all for now guys.

Mark

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