Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is virtually indescribable. It is certainly one of the most amazing places I have ever had the chance to encounter and an awesome display of marine life. It took about 3 hours by boat to get out to our first dive/snorkel spot for the day, and just to put things in perspective, the reef stretches over 2300 km and covers more than 340,000 square km. So Cairns is just one of the major cities/towns for getting out to explore the reef, but is definitely the most popular and supposed to be one of the best. When we finally got out to the reef, I was immediately taken aback at the immense beauty of this place. Suddenly I was a part of another world it seemed, swimming alongside the most beautiful fish in the world. As soon as I had thought I had seen the most amazing fish ever, another would swim by. I saw hundreds of different species of fish, with every vibrant color you could imagine (I even found Nemo!). And they acted as if I wasn't even there, swimming within only inches if me; sometimes so close they brushed my leg as they swam by. I even saw one of the bigger ones eat a small fish and you could hear them constantly feeding on the coral. The coral itself was a spectacle in its own right. No less impressive than the fish swimming around me, it too was made up of many beautiful colors and included some other amazing plant life. At times I would be snorkeling only inches above the coral (it was that close to the surface) then before you knew it, it would drop off into a seemingly endless blue ocean. I also saw some of the big turtles (not sure if they were loggerheads or green turtles- they are both enormous and difficult to tell apart).

I had bought an underwater camera and after the first 5 minutes I had used almost the entire roll. I could have easily taken thousands of pictures- that's imppressive the reef was. It truly lives up to its designation as being one of the natural wonders of the world. After a couple more dive/snorkel spots, I had a great meal on the boat and enjoyed talking with some of the other travelers from all over the world. The next morning I got up at 6am for a sunrise snorkel which was amazing. I was lucky with the weather the whole trip and had mostly clear skies and sunshine the whole time. The sunrise over the reef with the rays streaming through the water was beautiful and many of the fish were out in large numbers to feed after a night of sleeping. We were also told that sharks were in the area and deperately wanted to see one so I went over to the area where they would supposedly be. But unfortunately I could not see/find them and was mildly disappointed. However, later in the day on my last snorkel of the day, I was swimming along one the reef edges and a white tip shark approx. 9 feet in length was suddenly only a few feet below me. I was able to follow him for a few minutes until he dove toward the ocean floor. It was so cool!! One of the most memorable experiences of my life.

It was such a great trip and wish everyone could have been here to experience it with me. The Great Barrier Reef is definitely a must do- I promise you will be blown away. I would post some pictures, but right now I am not at a computer where I can do that so I will try to post some after I get back to Brisbane.