When you hear about 'must do' activities, or 'things to do before you die', there is always a suspicion that it won't live up to your expectations, and will leave you a bitter empty husk, left to live out your days as a hermit.

Snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef is definitely not one of them. I finally mastered the knack of breathing through my mouth (which is more difficult than it seems!), and could concentrate on what was around me. It was fricking amazing! I don't know what was more eye-catching: the fish that swam around you in every conceivable colour and some that were very unusually shaped, or the coral, which was just so... weird! I don't know how to describe all the different shapes and textures of coral, but it was like looking down on a little world, with it's own terrain that pushed up towards you and dropped away without notice.

My favourite fish had to be the parrotfish, who were a greeny/blue colour, and had a little beak. They would swim down to the coral, and eat all the dead stuff: you could hear them crunching it down! I also saw an epillet shark, which slinked along the sea bed in brown and cream.

I've taken some photos with an underwater disposable camera, and though I'm very pleased with them, they don't match up to the real thing: you'll have to imagine the rest!