Great Barrier Reef Adventure!!

Today we got up early and headed down to Cairns to catch our boat that would take us to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a 2 hour ride out to the boat that we’d be staying the night on. The Kangaroo Express!! So let me start by saying that the place where we were staying provided beach towels so we brought them with us. But, for whatever reason when we were unloading our bags from the car we decided to leave them in the car, thinking that they would provide towels…at least to shower since we were there overnight. Well, we soon learned once we boarded the Kangaroo Express that no towels of any kind were provided. And here we had perfectly good towels just sitting unused in our car. Now coming in out of the ocean it was fine…I mean it was blazing hot so it was very easy to drip dry.  But we had to get a little creative with our shower. I had a swim shirt  and Heidi had a similar type shirt that we ended up using as our towels because they would dry fast! Oh yes, nothing like drying with a shirt!!


Since we were spending the night on the boat we were allowed 5 snorkels.. The first place was absolutely beautiful. I have never seen so many bright colors in the ocean in my life. I took some pictures, but they just do not do it justice. The starfish were electric blue, some of the fish were purple and teal and  there was one that looked like it had leopard spots. Amazing!!!
Later that day I decided that I wanted to do an intro dive. I have never done any sort of scuba diving before so I thought why not give it a shot on the great barrier reef!! There were three of us that did the intro dive and our instructor pretty much did everything for us. We just had to breathe….and breathe I did. Maybe a little too much, but I am happy to say that I finally calmed down and did not panic. It was great and now after giving it a shot I definitely would like to get certified!

I really enjoyed the the time on the boat. The food wasn’t so hot, but maybe it was because I didn’t have much of an appetite since it was so hot where we ate….it just made the food not appealing!. 

Now those who know me know I get sea sick pretty easily  and have to wear the patch when doing any sort of sailing or boating deep in the ocean.  Now the boat ride back to the shop wasn't as fun as the rest of the trip. First of all I was sitting on the edge and the waves were so  rough and high that I was soaking wet within 20 min. of the beginning of the trip and had to get up and move. It all went downhill from there and  I was wearing the patch and still feeling sick!!! So Jennifer…..you aren’t the only one that can get sick even if on the patch! Luckily I didn’t, but oh I came so close!!!! I was never so happy to reach land!!!

I loved being on the water. It was so blue and the reef spots were so turquoise.  Like I said earlier. I can't even describe it's beauty!