October 11th, 2009

I had the most amazing day at the reef! Cam and I were planning on buying ferry tickets to Green Island to go snorkelling ($75 per person). As luck would have it, the assistant principal at Cam's school has a boat and offered to take us to Russell Island, a place that only locals can get to. Cam and I, our housemates Isaac and Teresa, and Rowan (the AP) spent the day out on the reef snorkelling, fishing, and exploring the island. We saw some pretty amazing coral, fish, and even a few turtles (or maybe it was the same turtle the whole time?). Isaac took Rowan's harpoon gun out snorkelling and managed to spear a huge (and terribly smelly) striped fish. I would have taken a picture except I was trying not to vomit. I like to eat fish, but I don't really enjoy watching them struggle and suffer (specifically when they have been impaled by a huge harpoon, and Isaac has sliced open their belly to pull out their guts).

After snorkelling/harpooning Rowan took us out into deeper water so we could fish with lines. It was relaxing and there were a few little bites but nothing came of it. We finally headed back around 4, by which time we were all pretty exhausted. I feel pretty lucky to be living so close to the Great Barrier Reef.