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So the morning we jumped on the ship we were up, packed tent down etc and at the dock for 7:30am! We caught a boat called Compass to the outer reef, about 2.5hours from Cairns. Then jumped on the transfer boat to The Reef Encounter which looked really nice from the Compass boat... then climbed on and walked into the saloon area...we were gob smacked ...thought we were on the wrong boat cos it was so nice and posh!!(bar, dvd area, sofas, tables and even potted plants! lol was much nicer than any hostel we had stayed at.) And the rooms were even better!CLEAN.
So while we were passengers we were living the high life (lol) fed fantastic food...first time we had eaten fruit n veg in ages! salads, steaks, roast dinners...and desserts to die for including home made cakes/pies and custard!! yum yum.
So the ship started off at Hasting Reef where the first swim/dive session was...i was really embarrased to be the only passenger not to go in the water. Then i got chatting to the really friendly crew and an English Dive Master Trainie called Leah...she asked me to think bout going snorkelling with her at
the next Reef site... she explained that we could take out a big life ring that i could jump on at any time... and that we could just take it slowly and see how i felt about the fish!...then when Ant got out of the water and was raving about how amazing the fish and the reef was i thought i'd give it a go.
At the next loaction Turtle Bombie and Twin Peaks Reef Site everyone headed out then me and Leah got ready.. i wasn't happy about dangling my legs in the water cos i could see the fish... but Leah was really calming and she talked me all the way through it. so we slipped into the warm water (26degrees) and headed towards the Reef. the first fish that came near me was a black and white fish which made me smile cos it looked like it was wearing a Newcastle strip... so my Shearer fish (as i nick-named them) helped me realx... then the rest of the fish were just too pretty and amazing to be scared of.. we snorkelling for ages and and saw lots of incredible under water life including huge giant clams,
gorgeous Parrot fish, groups of squids, sweetlips and even spotted Ant and Louise scuba diving a few metres below us!
So after that encounter i was in the water at every snorkelling session after that... getting more and more confident. Ant was doing loads of dives with Louise and saw turtlues, cuttle fish, unicorn fish, spotted rays and on the night dive he saw two HUGE 4metre Moray Eels, and lots of tipped Reef Sharks!
The next day after a fantastic full english breakfast (hash browns and all!) we were having more water sessions where is finally saw NEMO!! also saw a trumpet fish, Lionfish, more Shearers and a flat sand fish! we moved onto the next location... and arrived at the Norman Reef as Hosties! we were shown how to do all of our lovely new jobs like cleaning tiolets, making beds polishing cutlery etc.
Then at the next dive call i had a chat with a dive instructor called Puck who was really canny... on the first day he told me he would get me scuba diving but i didn't believe him! so we had a chat and he convinvced me. i got a pink tank strapped
to my back and were surprised at how heavy it was... Ant and Louise waited for me at Leah gave me a briefing (e.g NEVER hold your breathe, breather deeply, how to clear my mask under water, how to clear my regulator. Puck sat next to me at the back of the boat... then we rolled in i was nervous fro a second then some deep breathes and i felt totally relaxed!
Puck held onto me for some of the dive then i got more confident and swam with Ant for a while... it was amazing down there like another world. the colours were class and Puck kept pointing out incredible fish and letting me touch the different textured anemone and coral. we saw more Nemos, Sweetlips, and two Huge Flowerer Cod (about 1.5metres)... it was Awesome! and only filled my mask once when i was laughing at Puck messing about under the water... after that dive i was buzzin!
Was down to hard work after that... the only breaks we got were eating, diving or sleeping...or watching the big Bronzewhaler Reef sharks at the side of the boat as the cook chucked out food scraps for them just
before the night dive! and the boat's photographer decided to get a bit closer in a little dingey! The early starts as a hostie was probably the worst thing... waking up at 5:30am in the not so nice hostie quarters... but i think i got the best job (louise got to clean tiolets and empty ash trays at that time) i got to wash the boats windows.. and by the second day i timed it right to be able to watch the sunrise while i was cleaning!
Unfortunately Ant was getting really ill the second morning he had a fever and stomach pains so had to stay in bed all that day until he was sent back to land that night. For lots of different reasons we decided i should stay on the boat for the night and see him the next day... was really sad when he left but serving lunch for 82 people kept me going.
After luch me and Louise had to make beds...which was a porper mission on a moving boat, rocking from side to side...but we decided it was better than just makeing beds in a hotel in London cos when ever we wanted we
could just look up and see The Great Barrier Reef!! We went snorkelling again and saw some pufferfish and some really colourful coral.
The next day it was the same sort of routine up early, watch sunrise, get breakfast ready, clear it all away finish dishes, make some beds, do more laundry, get ready for lunch clear it away... then it was time for us to leave our home on the sea and transfer back onto the Compass boat and head back to Cairns. Me and Louise were so shattered we couldn't be bothered to go snorkelling on the other boat but the water was so clear we didn'e need to anyway... could see all the fish and 2 turtles even came to the surface! We eventually got back to land and Ant met us off the boat he was feeling much better.. just had odd stomach pains now and then. so we went back to the tent and collapsed!zzzzzz
The last few days in Cairns have been really sunny perfect weather (i know Megan and Charlotte would never believe it!) i had a fab birthday waking up in the tent and opening my cards... did a couple
of jobs in town then went for a lush $6 meal and went to see Shrek the Third (which is sooo funny).
So we are leaving to fly to Alice Springs tomorrow (June 10th) and are going on an Ultimate Party bar crawl tonight in Cairns to celebrate my birthday and our last night with Louise. after tomorrow it will just be the 2 of us again which will be very strange!
Take care everyone.. hope the British summer has finally arrived for you! Missing you all!
Chow for now xxx
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missing u all!
wow!!! looks like ur stil havin an awesome time n emma im so impressed u finally found some love for the fish!!! Whoever the girl is who cured the fear is a miracle worker n needs her own daytime tv show! hope u had a good birthday too (i sent a txt but not sure if it delivered??!) n whilst ur out on ur party bus im relishing the fact that i have painted nails n straight hair as i get ready for me n megs welcome home party!!!! Enjoy ur last nite in cairns, drink like its ur last nite on earth, n i'll prob hear from u once uve made it thru alice springs (guesin ayers rock isn't gonna be flooded with comps!!ol!) wish we were back there with u, take care x x x