'They don't call it the Great Barrier Reef for nothing!'

Last weekend, I headed north to Queensland with my friend from work, Erin, and her brother, Marc, who is here visiting for 6 weeks. Our destination was a little town called Port Douglas, about an hour north of Cairns and our main mission...to snorkle the Great Barrier Reef!!

With all of the devastation that Queensland has had in the last few months...massive flooding and a cyclone...we were a little worried about the weather and the conditions of the area. We did see some trees branches down and a bit of debris and we had quite a bit of rain both nights that we were there, but no rain during the day! The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas was absolutely beautiful...gorgeous and lush tropical rainforest and mountains on one side and ocean and beach on the other! I was glad I wasn't driving, so that I could enjoy the pretty scenery...and because I don't know how to drive on the wrong side of the road, ha! We could even see lots of waterfalls and trickles of water coming down from the mountains on the rainforest side...my family knows how much I love those!

We checked into our cool Port Douglas Plantation Resort and got ready to head out to dinner. Port Douglas is a fairly small town, mostly filled with resorts. There is one main street with lots of restaurants, pubs, shops, etc and it was a really cute, sleepy little town. Just very laid-back and easy going, very relaxing! We had a nice dinner out and some drinks and then headed back to get a good night of sleep before our snorkeling adventure!

We were picked up at 7:30 in the morning and headed to the marina to get checked in. Our snorkeling tour was with a company called Wavelength and I can't say enough good things about them! We headed out to our boat and right away, they tell us to ditch our shoes in these buckets and we won't see them again until the end and they hand us each a wetsuit looking thing. Oh boy, a lycra bodysuit, exactly what I wanted to wear! They were lighter weight than wetsuits...they actually called them sunsuits. They say that sunscreen is very damaging to the Reef, so they have everyone wear these instead...to protect ourselves and the Reef. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be getting any sun at first, but I am sure I wouldn't have worn enough sunscreen and gotten fried, so it was a good thing to have the suits!

After we all got settled, we headed out! It was about a 1 hour and 45 minute boat ride to get out to the outer edges of the Reef. The boat was not huge and the water was pretty choppy...I was glad I had taken some sea-sickness medicine! The views were just beautiful though...Erin and I decided that the rainforest-y mountains that we were heading away from looked like the scenery from the tv show, Lost...so pretty! It was a bit cloudy at first, but cleared up throughout the day.

I was starting to get pretty nervous as we were getting closer to our first spot...but I didn't end up needing to be nervous at all! We snorkeled in 3 different spots throughout the day...an hour at each spot. That first time I put my face in the water, I just knew I was experiencing one of the coolest things I will ever do in my life! I was a part of this whole other world under the water and I loved every minute of it. Now, time for some pictures...

Looking good!! ;-)

At our very first site, we saw a beautiful sea turtle! She was laying on the sea floor for a while and then she got up and swam away! (We did buy the CD of the pictures that one of our guides was taking underwater, so that is how we have these next pics!)



Oh my...can't believe I am posting this of me!





Here is Marc, Erin and me at our last spot! Shortly after this photo, the guide told us that we were about as far out as they like for people to go and to head back to the boat. I think that freaked us out a bit and we swam for our lifes back to the boat! At this particular spot, the Reef came very close to the top of the water, so the boat was anchored kind of far away. As I was swimming back, all of the sudden, the Reef stopped and I was just in the deep, dark ocean...kinda freaky!

Goodbye beautiful Great Barrier Reef!

When we got back to the marina and were paying for our CD, we were talking to some of the guides and people that work for this tour company. I was telling them how much I loved my first snorkeling experience and that I can't imagine any snorkeling ever being better than this. That is when this cute older worker said to me...'Well, doll, they don't call it the Great Barrier Reef for nothin'!' Amen to that!

(This blog took too long and too much room, so stay tuned tomorrow for our second day of adventures in Port Douglas!)