Today was spent at sea. We boarded the Wavedancer in Port Douglas Marina at 9.30 and cast off at 10am for a 1 hour trip to the edge of the Great Barrier Reef and the Low Islands.

Catie seemed to be trying to channel her grandad's sea legs on the trip and wandering the vessel like she was on dry land (and to be honest she's not that great on two legs on dry land). She took a tunnel and came up with a gushing blood nose, a frantic hunt for tissue followed and she recovered quickly.

Low Islands consists of two islands, Woody Island, an uninhabited coral/mangrove island, apparently there are 34 species of Mangroves in Australia and 24 of them are on this island. The main attraction though is Low Isle - which is a smaller vegetated, sandy, coral island surrounded by 55 acres of reef - a "typical" tropical island like you see on the movies.
We dined on prawns and seafood for lunch on board our boat and then Liam and James hit the island for some swimming and exploring time. As we lay in the surf sharks swam by within 3 or 4 feet of us which was quite sensational. Liam was tempted to run but all the other passengers began coming toward us and our spot for a better view, so we stood our ground and just watched it cruise by. Apparently they are not interested in eating humans, we were told by one of the crew that sharks generally will bite something to work out what it is, and a tyre is as much at risk from a shark as we are, they tend to go after us, cause we are prone to sudden movements when we see a shark.
We built sand castles, though the sand was more stoney than sand and the build was looking unlikely until Liam found a sandier patch further up the beach. He then ferried water in buckets to assist with construction. The fortress we erected helped as a location beacon for our shoes and towels while we sat and Liam told me stories in the surf about Octonauts and sea life. His fertile imagination is able to fill nearly 2 hours of remote island tranquility with inane chatter! Liam also earnt some Octonauts credits when he rescued two starfish and returned them to the sea - unfortunately we didn't see Captain Barnacle, Quasi and Peso.
Suzie had grand plans to join us but Catie decided she wanted a sleep, so after we ate lunch Suzie stayed on the boat with her and she slept til 15 minutes before departure (pretty much the entire time we were anchored at the islands) putting a significant dent in Suzie's day, plans and fun.
On the return trip a bloke was playing guitar and entertaining the passengers so Suzie, Liam and Catie went to take in the show. He played twinkle twinkle for Catie so she showed her dance moves from school with all the twinkling hand gestures much to the pleasure of the crowd and their oohs and awes, and ahh's motivated her to entertain for another number, wheels on the bus. Catie continued to woo the crowd and delight the group. The performance gene is strong!
Back to the resort for a swim and fish and chips after a cold Riesling.