snorkeling on the reef

Yesterday I ticked another one off by going snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef! The one word I would choose to describe the experience: wicked! A few others would be: amazing, refreshing, awakening, tranquil and peaceful! I went to a group of islands called the Frankland Islands about off 8kms off the coast. The boat launched from the Mulgrave River where everyone was squinting at the mangrove infested banks for a glimpse of the elusive crocs. From the green waters of the river we merged into the sea, leaving the land behind and seeing the water slowly turn to such a vibrant clear blue. Some might call it turquoise but I think it far too bright blue to be called that. The smells very distinctively changed as the boat floated out into open waters, leaving the mud of the river behind for a fresher salty breeze.





We arrived at Normanby Island to be transferred into a smaller boat with glass windows in the bottom. On the way in we saw a baby manta ray. Well I'm not sure if it was a manta ray or a sting ray...this one had a long stinger so now I'm leaning toward the sting ray. That set the mood for the day. As we were getting a snorkeling debriefing on the beach, who should swim on up to the waters edge but a green sea turtle. WOW! I was so stoked and wanted to jump in the water right away. However, I took the polite option of waiting for the woman to finish her speil before running down the shoreline after it. Got a piccie on my water camera so don't know how that will turn out. Some of the others got to see the turtle later on when we were out on the glass bottomed boat so I was pretty annoyed to miss that. The reefs were amazing, just off the beach were all these incredible coral gardens with tonnes of parrot fish, zebra fish and the yellow tailed blue ones. They all just swim around you, it's a surreal experience. I had so much fun just being able to stick my head underwater and swim for ages just checking out this whole new world under there, so much life. It's also so sad to see the bleached dead coral which is heaped on the floor and, I suppose, more abundantly so because of the tides washing it up to the island.





My highlight of the day was without a doubt the turtle but amoung others was a squid sighting, it was an almost translucent yellow with big black "eye" spots. I tried to get a pic of it but it swam so incredibly fast, it was so speedy and creepy with all the tenticles. I am so keen to got scuba diving now, it's beyond imagination how much life there is just teeming under the sea. There was also a big one of those clams with purple in it's centre and when it was threatened by me coming closer it closed a little and turned a darker indigo with these bright blue circles. Mindblowing. Of course I was in the water the whole time and enjoying the feeling of being in a caressing 23 degree water temperature that I completely forgot that only one side of me would be exposed so thoroughly to the sun: my back. It wasn't till I got home that I realised my back and the back of my legs felt so very hot and to my absolute horror saw boiled lobster lady in the mirror ( just on one side though.) Oh stupid, stupid girl! I must admit I have been trying so very hard to get a tan after being so white for so long but I wanted to do it slowly and avoid, if possible, looking like an English tourist. That's down the tube.



I'm loving work at the moment, the studio flow is really good between all the girls and that makes it fun and easy. Mostly being in Cairns I'm just planning the next day off and what activity I should do next. I'm thinking going all out for a skydiving adventure landing on the beach and only from the 14, 000 feet max height of course (that just goes without saying, really!) I'm also up for the jungle surf which is up past Port Douglas. It's a series of flying foxes that send you flying through the jungle at extreme height and speed, I'm totally up for that! Well internet time is just about up for me. I am looking forward to extending this and actually replying to some emails that are WELL overdue (sorry!) I promise I'm saving for a laptop to capitalise on the free Wifi at Maccas! Till next time, see you on the beaches...