Hello All!

So today I fulfilled a childhood dream. My words cannot even describe the beauty and awesomeness that was snorkeling on the great barrier reef.

I didn’t sleep well last night again. I don’t think it is the fact that it is a twelve person room I more attribute it to my change in diet. I went from low sugar, med carb, and high protein to high sugar, hugh carb, low protein. As well I know I am emotionally eager to get home, as much as I have absolutely loved and cherished this Queensland trip. Seriously this place is awesome. And that isn’t just the volleyball talking.

Anywhoot I got up ate breakfast and headed to the wharf. I checked in and was a little early as I usually am, I normally try to leave plenty of time. So I sunscreened up and then went and joined the queue waiting to bard.

I then realized the line I was waiting in was for a picture in front of a captain wheel with the name of the boat. I knew I wasn’t going to pay the exorbitant price for the picture so I just went around the line so I could get a premo seat on the boat. And I did.

I got on the upper deck, a forward facing seat on the starboard side. It didn’t have direct forward views but I got about 75% of the way their. As well with the breeze and such it would help avoid any seasickness. I read for the next 30 minutes or so and then the boat departed. But some Asians were left behind so we turned around and picked them up. We weren’t that far out but I was chill and just went with it.

The ride out was pretty with the mountaneous coastline covered in a variety of rainforest. We dropped off supplies at an Island resort (spacing on the name ATM) and then headed back out. The swells were fair, not as bad as white island, but for some reason the catamaran seemed to move more. Anyways there were people vomiting everywhere. It was gross.

The announcements made were in 4 languages what I think were English, Spanish, Mandarin (or Cantonese I can’t spot the difference) and Japanese. So that was cool. Unfortunately the top deck speaker wasn’t working so I couldn’t hear any of them. I was like sweet as it will all work out and continued enjoying the ride and reading when it wasn’t too choppy. Along the way they attempted to sell more upgrades and special packages.

We arrived at Murray Reef (It was something like that) at the permanent pontoon placed there. The pontoon was about 120 feet long and contained lots of tables, a diving prep area and snorkeling supplies. I was expecting some explanation but none came. Being myself I didn’t wait but like two minutes then started getting my equipment with some other self starters. The crew were busy gathering the other boats and doing other things and if we were snorkeling we just kind of got the stuff ourselves. It wasn’t bad, just not what I was expecting.

Got my lifejacket, snorkel, mask, and fins and headed to the platform to jump in. I think I was the third or so person in the water. There was a lifeguard on duty as well to help. I thought we could explore the entire reef area which was huge but about 50 feet outside the safety line I was told to turn around.

The coral reef was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Granted this was my first time legitimately snorkeling in the ocean so it took a good 5-10 minutes for me to adjust to breathing only through my mouth, being a swimmer I am used to exhaling constantly through my nose.

I quickly found a sea turtle which a guide had told us earlier was somewhat rare on this reef. (He had also mentioned it was a very low tide so it would be best to snorkel early). I lost track of time watching this amazing creature. It was a fair amount larger than my torso and about the length of from the top of my head to my waist. The way it glided and swam through the water was beautiful and effortless. An amazing creature. I continued snorkeling and looking at the variety of corals and fish. Seriously it is something I will never forget. All of the fishes with their brilliant rainbow of colors and the coral with their unique formations.

I finished snorkeling after a little over an hour when I felt I should get water. (With the way the tides went you were almost always swimming upstream. I got the provided lunch and loaded up my plate, buffet lunches are money to a backpacker. I ate and talked to an Aussie brother and sister with kid over lunch. Normal conversation, not the best.

I then waited about 10 minutes and went for a ride in the glass bottom boat. It was neat as we got to go to a slightly different reef, but snorkeling was still better. However the experience of going in one was worth it alone. My favorite part was seeing the oxygen bubbles when the motor was in reverse.

That tour last for 20 minutes and then I went on the semi-submersible boat. Actually now that I remember it I went on the glass bottom first then lunch then semi-submersible.

I like the semi-submersible boat better because the glass was easier to see out of. Again the bubble effect was really neat. There was also a good guide who pointed out interesting corals and named fish and whatnot.

After this (it was about 2:20) I went back and got my snorkeling gear to get back in. This time however I ditched the fins and lifejacket as they were not required and I am a natural breathstroker. That made it easier to dive as well. This time was even better. I got to go down and get a closer look when diving. I made it about 13 feet before the pressure got to be too much for my ears. As well in the heavily salted waters I was more buoyant.

I loved watching all of the fish and looking again at the coral. There were all types, brain coral, the tree types, giant clams, and many more types. Some of the larger stand alone corals (well they had other things growing on top of them) are up to 1000 years old or older. I also saw many of those things that pop open and shut. About 45 minutes in some random Chinese guy came up and said follow me I found some cool fish. This was about 2 minutes after thinking I was a little disappointed I hadn’t seen a nemo fish yet. Sure enough the universe works in mysterious ways and he had found where they lived. They weren’t the nemo type as they only had one type but they were still clownfish. I watch them and the other fish who had congregated in that area. It had a really strong tide and I had to keep light swimming to avoid being pushed on top of the coral.

I loved seeing the variety of tropical fish. Like I can’t even describe all the types but it was all the things you hear about. I especially liked the yellow ones. My favorites were this medium sized fish that had zebra type stripes on the front and really cool rainbow type scales on the back. There were also larger fish that some of the photographers were playing with, but they were around 16 feet or more deep so I couldn’t get to them.

I was also lucky enough to see another turtle swim by. This one was much smaller but still an amazing creature. I got to watch a school of fish feeding on the moss type algae and such that grows on the coral surface. They fed in a school and made really interesting noises as they searched the coral with their mouths and by fanning their fins.

I really enjoyed looking at some of the less colorful coral and trying to spot the fish hiding there. And in the other types of coral that had lots of folds. I was surprised how much life was hidden there. I saw a few sea anemones namely concentrated on the sides of the large old coral formations.

Seriously there as so much to see and describe I was just overwhelmed. I was seriously smiling the whole time. An amazing experience I already would like to go back. I feel a tremendous feeling of satisfaction for something I have thought about doing sense I first learned about the GBR back in elementary school. It is wonderful to have a dream come true and I am severely thankful for it. It is something I will surely never forget.

The ride back was a lot choppier than I had expected but there seemed to be less vomiting, at least on my level. So that was nice.

We stopped back by the island resort and picked up about 30 passengers. The ride back treated us to a beautiful sunset with the rays being filtered by the clouds and down to the ocean. Unfortunately my zoom on my camera is broken so I will have to do the best with what I have.

We got back around 5:45 and I decided to go check the volleyball courts. Unfortunately the weather decided to rain so I withdrew some money to cover the remainder of my trip and then headed to get something to eat. I purchased my last kebab at a shop along the waterfront and ate it with a Coke joyfully. I will miss kebabs, but then again burritos are good too.

I then got a ridiculously expensive one scoop waffle cone from BR and sat by the lagoon (that is the pool on the esplanade) and did some thinking. I headed back to the hostel, showered, and just finished packing my backpack a few minutes ago. I have a lot of stuff like usually.

In conclusion though the GBR surpassed even my expectations. I am wonderfully happy with my experience.

Getting up at 3AM to catch a bus to the airport. Flight to Brisbane at 6 AM and then to SYD at 9:45. Arrival at noon. Gonna train to the hostel, pick up my other bag, and do some more fun stuff in city. Flight out the next morning to ATL baby!!!

On a wonderful high and level of contentment,

-Mathias