Our trip the reef has really been the Piece de la Resistance of the holiday and we were really pleased that all three children went snorkelling with us. We thought they were particularly brave considering the water was about 30 feet deep and more in some places. Luca was very reluctant at first but when he put his head down and saw Wally, the huge Maori Wrasse, he really wanted to have a go. Wally, who had a wife - Sarah, was like a kind of marine labrador puppy, desperate to be patted.

We had to wear our 'super hero' style lycra suits (quite flattering I thought) to protect us from 'stingers' (box gellyfish), but we never saw any. We had a trip around the reef in a semi-submersible where we saw turtles, a white-tipped reef shark and lots of squid.