Jul 7
Great Barrier Reef
Today Miranda and I woke early and headed to the city center of Cairns, hopped on a speedy catamaran and arrived at the Great Barrier Reef! Although it was a gloomy, cloudy morning, our moods could not be broken by the salty weather.
As we drank our tea and coffee and watched numerous people get seasick the anticipation built. I couldn’t believe that I was actually about to see one of the wonders of the world, something I have heard so much about but have only seen in pictures! We were among a group of about 60 snorkelers (which is what Miranda and I did), novice and expert divers. I was a little disappointed to find out that we were only able to snorkle, as divers required a certification, that takes three days at the least, which is not the amount of time that I have in Cairns, as Miranda and I have to head out of the beautiful city on Wednesday and start our journey down the coast! But I do plan, in time, to recieve my certification if I can while in Australia.
Anyway, we collected our wetsuits, goggles and flippers and headed to the back of the boat and suited up. I was first (between Miranda and I, as she struggled to squeeze into her wetsuit gracefully 
) to jump into the warm water and catch my first glimpse of the reef. Even from far away I have never seen such life under water before, tropical fish of all colors and sizes swam in and out of the colorful coral. The color was amazing, even with with overcast day at hand. Miranda and I has purchased a faulty underwater camera that we had planned to capture the reffs beauty with, but as it worked horribly we are not quite sure what pictures we will come up with, if any at all! We swam around the reef and took in the underwater view for abuot and hour and a half before we were called back to the boat to grab lunch and head to a second location.
At lunch Miranda and I ate as if we were starving student travelers ( 
) who got a lunch buffet that looked almost as beautiful as the reef below! We ate until we could not eat any more, where at which time we were told we had another hour at out new location. Miranda and I suited back up and hopped back into the ocean only to be amazed once more. This location, which we were told the low tide affected, gave us up close and personal views of the reef just 1 meter below in some spots. Even better was that the sun peeked through the clouds just in time for us to see the reef, which illuminated the colors of the underwater world ten fold compared to the last location! We swam with the fish (which included more than I care to mention or know and Miranda even spotted a shark, where at which point I had to step in and convince her that it was no harm and that she’d be okay) and enjoyed watching their habitat and lives for about an hour and then headed back to the boat and eventually back to Cairns.
After our amazing day Miranda and I had some time to spare before our shuttle came to take us back to the hostel, so we headed into a few shops and eventually a Mexican resturant where we celebrated our day with a margarita. I opted for a less traditional flavor, lychee, and Miranda traditional, but always good, lime. We then headed back to out hostel, enjoyed our free dinner and here we are, checking our email and bragging to you about our AMAZING day!
Tomorrow we head to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas on a day trip. Wednesday we say goodbye to Cairns and hello to the coast of Australia, where at which point I can’t remember where we are headed! I will keep you all filled in on my travels, but until then…see ya!
~Claire