So our east coast odyssey has come to and end but what a way to finish; on The Great Barrier Reef. For those of you who don't know it's the largest living organism and is visible with the naked eye from space. It's the beautiful home to some of the most incredible fish, corals and other marine life imaginable. We were on a prepaid trip to see it and left around 9am. It was, without any doubt, the best organised, most friendly trip, i've ever been on. The boat was very fast and we had only just finished our safety briefing and collected our stinger suits, snorkels and fins, before it was time to enter the water at Hastings Reef. The weather was incredible and so the water was very clear and warm, and the visibility was excellent too. We got in and swan/drifted for ages just watching all the fish. We'd bought an underwater camera to take some shots to see how they looked and once we'd figured it out, we got clicking.
I know you must be getting sick of me saying this, but you really have to see this thing. It's just amazing. The number of fish blows your mind and the size of some of them freaks you out a bit. We saw giant clams, a turtle, and a host of other fish whose names probably aren't Red fish, Blue fish with yellow bits, or Looks a bit like Amy Winehouse fish, but were christened as such by us.
Then back to the boat for a BBQ lunch of steak and fish, pasta, salad etc. We stocked up and then sat in the sun while our captain (Shane, obviously) motored off to the second reef. On arrival we were immediately welcomed by a giant maori rasse, easily the same size as me, but far more friendly. We got in again and took more photos. We saw a whitetip reef shark swim under us (quite far under us Mrs White and Mrs Wickenden please don't panic) which was fantastic. Even though she said she'd rush back to the boat if she saw one, Leanne stayed in the water quite a long time after seeing Jaws. Bless her. We saw loads of weird looking fish and acres of beautiful coral. It was wonderful.
So that's the east coast complete. We're off to Alice Springs on Sunday to see if we can handle the flies and the heat. Next update to follow shortly. Love to all.