Tuesday 30 November 2010

The GREAT Barrier Reef!

 
Well, I wasn’t going to update until after my trip to Cape Tribulation as I figured there’d be not much to write home about between where I left off and today, but, sorry to make you all envious… too much great stuff has happened!!

The couch with which I surf!
So first off, I made the Pie for Katherine and Steve, they seemed to like it (clean plates!). Then fell hopelessly asleep during harry potter and half blood. Hopefully that was the last of the jetlag! Woke Monday morning and went into town to sort out my camera, which was successful. Then met a lovely yank from Michigan, Heidi, for lunch. We got on v well and even shared a little weep about leaving beloved boyfriends at home.

Me at the botanical gardens!
That afternoon I caught a bus back to steves and went to the Botanical Gardens – simply beautiful. V relaxing! Came back to an empty house to chilled out for once and did nothing! Had to get a reasonable night to prepare for my Reef Experience!

Well I can honestly say that I was not expecting much, I’m not a fan of massively touristy things at the best of times. They have a tendency to be underwhelming, impersonal, stressful, and well, a bit shit. So you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when all the staff were mega friendly, they very first people I spoke to I simply adored and subsequently spent most of the day with (and am meeting in 20 minutes for dinner tonight!). And we hadn’t even seen the sea yet!

Lara & Fernando!
So after getting along super well with Lara and Fernando (from Milan), I had to go with a different group for my dive (yes, I did a bloody dive!!!). 3 lovely young german girls. Lovely they were, dive capable, they were not! So after 20 minutes of floundering about like tangled idiots, our time was up, and we were pulled up by dive master Pat, mercilessly mocked, and sent back to deck! 

Amazing Dive Master Pat
...I had one of those weird things were I was kind of sure I was doing it all right and that they were, bless them, holding me back, how very arrogant of me! …Or not, so it would seem, as Pat, v subtly, grabbed me, shoved my breathing apparatus back in my mouth, and ducked me under the water. He then grabbed my hand and dove (is there such a word??) me all the way to the ocean floor where I had a one-on-one dive experience. It was amazing.

me and the sea cucumber!
Spent rest of day snorkelling with a marine biologist  (who made me hold a sea cucumber!) and Lara and Fernando. We saw 2 sharks!!! (that deserves 3 exclamation marks). And loads of sih n coral of cousre. Would tell you the names of the reefs but my memory is awful, some outer reef cay and soemthing else!

Angel Fish
Anyway...I shall be late for dinner with them if I natter any longer! Bring on cape trib at 7am tomorrow morning!

UPDATE: Just back from dinner - what a fantastic evening. God bless those two people who I met this morning - I feel as though I have known them forever - and that's not just because they refused to let me pay for my dinner and bought all the wine and beer! Think I may have made a couple of friends for life - and they're spanish who'da thought! Simon would love Fernando - when I asked if he wanted water - he said "no, its dark, after dark, no water, only booze" or something to that effect!

Me and Lara :) 

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