Great Barrier Reef...
What a beautiful day!
They said it was the best snorkeling/scuba in the world and they weren't kidding!
Today started very early... breakfast at 6:45, bus to town at 7:15, on the catamaran by 7:30. the boat and crew were awesome- the front of the boat had huge nets that we could lie down in, and plenty of space to walk around and lay out in the hot Queensland sun. It was a 2 hour ride from town to the reef. You definitely don't want to swim in the water near Cairns because its full of very mean little jelly fish ( Irukandji) whose sting is fatal. So you have to travel out to the reef (hence why its the barrier reef) to get to the crystal clear waters and all the beautiful corals. The ride was beautiful (pictures to follow at a later date), and all the hills surrounding Cairns with the rainforests were simply gorgeous.
We finally arrived at the reef around 11:00. After a brief introduction, we divided up into groups- snorkelers and scuba. I decided to snorkel, mainly because it was $60AUD for 30 minutes, and you could see all the same things snorkeling. So, we had to hire 'stinger suits' (mainly lycra wet suits) because there's still a risk of running into nasty poisonous jellyfish out in the reefs. Very unattractive, I can assure you. Several of us took a tour in the glass bottom boat they brought along with the catamaran so we could learn about the Australian flora and fauna before jumping in. Then finally it was into the water! It felt so nice after several days of being ridiculously hot. Colleen, Stephanie and I stuck together and swam all around the reefs. We were only in the water for about 45 minutes, but we saw plenty.... brain coral, fire coral ( you dotn want to touch this!), finger coral, spaghetti coral, spider shells, starfish, butterfly fish, unicorn fish, sea cucumbers, clown fish (or as our guide called them... NEMO!!), and many many many others. After that we went back onto to boat for lunch and a bit of relaxation and then went to the second spot for the day (upolo cay, I believe).
This spot was even prettier with those crystal aquamarine waters you see in National Geographic and all that... we went back into the water, and Colleen and I swam around. The current was much much stronger, but it was worth the extra effort. The corals were more vibrant here, and we saw 3 blue spotted lagoon rays! Soooo beautiful! We also saw some gorgeous parrot fish and many other types of coral. After this we hopped back onto the boat for 'tea' (cookies [biscuits] and tea/coffee) and the relaxing 2 hour ride back to Cairns. All and all, simply wonderful. Took many underwater pictures, so I'll post those once I get settled.
Tomorrow- up early, then packing, breakfast, orientation meeting, mobile phone time, then off to the airport. For those of you keeping score at home.. here are the flights for tomorrow:
Cairns to Brisbane : Virgin blue flight 874 (departing 2:30 arrive 4:35)
Brisbane to Canberra: Virgin blue flight 564 (departing 6:00 pm, arrive 8:50 pm)
Then its off to begin the adventure in Canberra!
Love you all! More to come later!
Lo
They said it was the best snorkeling/scuba in the world and they weren't kidding!
Today started very early... breakfast at 6:45, bus to town at 7:15, on the catamaran by 7:30. the boat and crew were awesome- the front of the boat had huge nets that we could lie down in, and plenty of space to walk around and lay out in the hot Queensland sun. It was a 2 hour ride from town to the reef. You definitely don't want to swim in the water near Cairns because its full of very mean little jelly fish ( Irukandji) whose sting is fatal. So you have to travel out to the reef (hence why its the barrier reef) to get to the crystal clear waters and all the beautiful corals. The ride was beautiful (pictures to follow at a later date), and all the hills surrounding Cairns with the rainforests were simply gorgeous.
We finally arrived at the reef around 11:00. After a brief introduction, we divided up into groups- snorkelers and scuba. I decided to snorkel, mainly because it was $60AUD for 30 minutes, and you could see all the same things snorkeling. So, we had to hire 'stinger suits' (mainly lycra wet suits) because there's still a risk of running into nasty poisonous jellyfish out in the reefs. Very unattractive, I can assure you. Several of us took a tour in the glass bottom boat they brought along with the catamaran so we could learn about the Australian flora and fauna before jumping in. Then finally it was into the water! It felt so nice after several days of being ridiculously hot. Colleen, Stephanie and I stuck together and swam all around the reefs. We were only in the water for about 45 minutes, but we saw plenty.... brain coral, fire coral ( you dotn want to touch this!), finger coral, spaghetti coral, spider shells, starfish, butterfly fish, unicorn fish, sea cucumbers, clown fish (or as our guide called them... NEMO!!), and many many many others. After that we went back onto to boat for lunch and a bit of relaxation and then went to the second spot for the day (upolo cay, I believe).
This spot was even prettier with those crystal aquamarine waters you see in National Geographic and all that... we went back into the water, and Colleen and I swam around. The current was much much stronger, but it was worth the extra effort. The corals were more vibrant here, and we saw 3 blue spotted lagoon rays! Soooo beautiful! We also saw some gorgeous parrot fish and many other types of coral. After this we hopped back onto the boat for 'tea' (cookies [biscuits] and tea/coffee) and the relaxing 2 hour ride back to Cairns. All and all, simply wonderful. Took many underwater pictures, so I'll post those once I get settled.
Tomorrow- up early, then packing, breakfast, orientation meeting, mobile phone time, then off to the airport. For those of you keeping score at home.. here are the flights for tomorrow:
Cairns to Brisbane : Virgin blue flight 874 (departing 2:30 arrive 4:35)
Brisbane to Canberra: Virgin blue flight 564 (departing 6:00 pm, arrive 8:50 pm)
Then its off to begin the adventure in Canberra!
Love you all! More to come later!
Lo
posted by Lauren @ 2/06/2005 08:36:00 PM
1 Comments:
At February 9, 2005 at 4:59 AM,
Anonymous said…
At this point I think you should be in Canberra. I hope the last 2 flights went well. I miss you tons as usual. I'm just sittin here after my classes are done for the day, waitin on my lunch to be done so I can eat cause I'm really hungry. Then I get to clean my room/apartment and do work out videos while I'm home alone and no one can watch me. :) And then I might get around to doin my homework for the nite, before Abbie and I go for our nitely walk. hey let me know when the number ou gave me to call is available for usage, so I can call somehow and talk to you. Okay well it's time for lunch!! Love ya a ton
-Christen
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