Great Barrier Reef

The weather this day was a bit dodgy with clouds, high winds, and even a spattering of rain. Though of no concern to the marine life living amongst the coral, this was of great concern to the human life operating the tour; an hour and a half boat ride is required to get out to the reef, a ride which would be rather rough and rocky this day due to the winds. But, we are thankful for this weather because through it we discovered something Australians are not laid back about - besides chip portions, footy, and cricket, that is - seasick tourists stuck on a boat for an hour and a half! Once on board, we found the staff liberally handing out free ginger tablets to calm tourist tummies. Medicated anti-nausea pills could also be bought for a minimal charge. Of course, the expectation of seasickness made some of us feel more queasy than the rocking motion of a high-speed catamaran ever could. To be on the safe side, though, we all took medicated pills, an effort which rather promoted nausea for Elise who has trouble swallowing pills. Happily, there was no hint of tummy problems once the boat started moving, and most of us skipped medication on the ride back and were absolutely fine.

Our destination was a very large pontoon moored next to a portion of the Outer Reef. Once there, we all donned spiderman suits, aka very becoming (ha ha!) bright blue skin tight lycra suits, to protect us against jellyfish stings. This was the tail end of jellyfish season; their stings are potentially fatal. We just didn't want to mess with that risk.

The snorkelling was great fun. The water was warmer than the air. We paired up adults and kids so we could keep track of each other, though we still managed to lose Elise at one point when she decided to strike out on her own. We went out for 30 - 40 minutes at a time and then came in for a break. Though the coral was not as colorful as I had expected, the fish certainly were. Some of their vivid hues even rivaled our lycra suits! The photos really don't do justice - to the fish or the suits. Unfortunately, I don't know most of the species we saw. Kids inform me that we did see some trumpet fish, angel fish, clown fish, and parrot fish. We found a giant clam. David saw an interesting fish interaction that started as a large fish was being dogged by a very small fish. Eventually, the large fish slowly opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth. To David's surprise, the small fish then eagerly swam into this toothy cavern and started picking its way around those sharp teeth. It was eating bits of debris found there. David tried but couldn't get a photo of this underwater dental hygiene moment. Most of the kids enjoyed a semi-submersible boat ride as well. This was a smaller boat docked at the pontoon with glass walls so that marine life could be seen without snorkelling.