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Published: February 23rd 2012
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Dive Log
gotta have it stamped! Been a while since I posted.....lots of planes and traveling in between blog posts......
I headed out of Canberra on Tuesday Feb 21st and flew into Brisbane...about an hour and a half flight.....short layover and then from Brisbane to Proserpine, another hour and a half......the heat was incredible.....weather from Canberra to the north of Australia is so different.....from our summer weather to intense heat and humidity.......good practice for Bali! Short bus trip from Proserpine into Airlie Beach. Typical summery type beach town......luv it so far.....my hotel is situated right across from the beach and the view is spectacular (score 1). Who wouldn't want to live here?????? Walked around town trying to decide amongst the dozens of tour places who/where to book the Great Barrier Reef Dive Trip.....I wanna get it just right.....as luck would have it (and I do have a wee bit of Irish in me), I end up booking with a girl that lives in St Catherines (her dad is a piper and plays at OPC for the Toronto Pipes and Drums).....starting to feel lucky......(score 2)
Trip starts out well, as this is "off season" and there are fewer people on the boat (score 3). The trip
out to Knuckle Reef will take a total of 3 hours including 2 stops to pick up people on other islands. I looked at the weather report before booking this trip and out of the 4 days here this was supposed to be the best day, and guess what?, spectacular weather (score 4). Within a half hour of arriving at the pontoon, we where in the water diving....as luck would have it there are odd numbers in diving so I get the dive master and one other girl, I like the odds (score 5)......his name is Ilia and he is from New York of all places.....first visitor, Wanda a Maori Wrasse.....scared the beegeezuz out of me cuz I was looking the other way......apparently Wanda likes the scuba divers and gets up close, and I mean up close.............lol.......the dive was perfect, low tide means that we are quite shallow in the scheme of things and the sun is making the reef dance with brilliant colors (score 6). The fish are incredible and we see thousands.....all shapes and sizes.....the coral is amazing.........dive lasts 45 minutes and I have air to spare (score 7 for being aerobically fit).......
Within an hour of
that dive I am up in the helicopter for a short ride around the reef and to see a totally different perspective......as luck would have it, did I mention I was part Irish?.......in order to get me up in the air, they would have to find someone else to share the ride.......no takers? the boss lets Becca (staff member) go, and we are off (score 8)....This is a must do....Richard was the pilot, and with him and Becca I had a great personal commentary and saw things that they spotted that I would not have.........incredible.......
Back to the pontoon and off to snorkel...........there is something very quiet and serene about snorkeling......the tide is still out and I am able to hover about 3 feet over this Great Barrier Reef (score 9)........
Score a 10 for the most perfect ride back.........out on the deck and didn't move from my vantage point and all I could see was the blues and the greens and the sun dance off the water...........I have seen heaven on earth..........and I'll be back...........
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Lori Powers
non-member comment
Hello
Great blog Barb. Looks like you're having a lot of fun. It's dark, dreary, and cold here so enjoy every bit of that sunshine that I'm seeing in those pictures. Have a great time!