The Great Barrier Reef

Day 9:

Today was the day that I have been most looking forward to, we finally get to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Once again we left bright and early to get on the boat to first head out to the Green Island resort. Sadly though it was a day full of rain and clouds, with only a few visits from the Sun. After an hour ride on a very choppy sea, the boat finally arrived on the island. I immediately went to the brief scuba diving instruction course to get a grasp of all the basics to scuba diving. Without much time left on the island, I visited the local gift shop and picked up a few souvenirs. Getting onto another boat we traveled an additional hour over the still uneasy sea to get up close and personal with the reef. After allowing my stomach to settle some, I had a small lunch then quickly put on a wet suit and began snorkeling. I was amazed how close the reef was to the surface and memorized by the species of beautiful marine life.



After a frighteningly close experience to what I believe to have been a whitetip reef shark, I returned to the ship with little time to spare before it was my turn to scuba. Having just snorkeled, scuba diving was not as difficult as I thought it might be, and my group of four rapidly descended to the ocean floor. Only an estimated twenty meters below the surface, we explored seeing things I have only seen behind a thick wall of plexiglas. I saw giant sea clams, another shark, a clown fish in its home of anemone, and several other type of fish, some being surprisingly friendly. Although my time underwater was brief, I loved every minute of it and would love a chance to dive there in the future. After returning to the island I took a much needed shower then ventured down the street to finish off my shopping list and get rid of the remaining Australian money I had remaining. I returned to the hotel for our farewell dinner at the Bushfire restaurant. It was a Brazilian style restaurant that utilized the same techniques Spanish cowboys did by seasoning and marinating various meats then cooking them over an open flame. In my eyes, this was by far the best food I had my entire trip. I then concluded the evening by saying goodbye to our tour guide Graham Mitchell and strolled off to my room to pack for the long journey back to Manhattan.