The Great Barrier Reef Experience

March 12, 2010

GOOD MORNING Australia Day 2.

I now know that the bug that greeted my day yesterday was some sort of beetle because we saw clearly this morning what a cockroach looks like. Those loud expressions that came from my voice yesterday came again this morning though from Kate. As she summoned me to her room, I saw a very ugly, large (about a 50 cent piece size) cockroach with antennas that were about 2 ½ inches long on the floor in her shower. I startled him and he sped across the bathroom floor - man he was fast!

Next I know, Kate is moving her suitcase to my room. “What are you doing I ask?” She replied, “I’m not staying in there anymore.” I’m sure he came up from the drain in the shower or the sink and that there are many more where he came from. At any rate, I have a bedmate for the duration. Seriously, like I am going to protect her from those creep crawlers…..eewwwww

We had an early morning departure from the hotel at around 730am. We drove 45 minutes northward up the coast to Port Douglas where we were to leave on our expedition to the Great Barrier Reef. The drive was beautiful - much like Turnagain Arm, except the road was narrower and a bit more curvy. It actually was giving me a little nausea and I was the driver.

It was an hour and a half boat ride from the marina to the Outer Reef. We took the complimentary ginger pills once aboard in hopes of deterring any sea-sickness and am thankful we did because it was pretty rough. We scoped out a spot on the upper deck (3rd story) for the ride and were splashed by waves most of the way out.

The salt on our skin was plentiful - love that natural exfoliater! The company we choose to go on has a platform stationed at the Outer Reef which we docked on. It is quite an operation that they have.

I was impressed by the knowledge, service, professionalism, and must mention the food! A delicious seafood lunch was served. Fresh prawns (which Kate wouldn’t eat because the heads were still on…didn’t stop me, of course), many salads - including a seafood salad with fresh crab, squid, mussels, and shrimp, fresh fruit, rice & beef vegetable stir-fry, and a curry (I didn’t eat that) dish.

Having been snorkeling in Hawaii and Mexico I have seen some pretty fish, but none like what I saw today. Though I didn’t see Nemo, I saw so many other beautifully bright (neon green, blue, purple, pink, striped, spotted) fish. I saw one with bright red lips like she was wearing lipstick. A pink one came at me like she was trying to kiss me, only she was telling me to back off (which I found out later from one of the crew). The underwater world is a totally different existence of life and again makes one think about the how intricate our world really is. We had three hours to explore - saw and learned so much. We also took a ride in a semi-submersible glass bottom boat. I was a little apprehensive as to what we would actually see as I have been in a glass bottom boat in Mexico and was not impressed. This experience was quite the opposite. We got up close and personal - it was almost like we were in Finding Nemo or The Little Mermaid.

There really are those big curved shells that the fish live in! The coral is amazingly beautiful and so diverse. It was such a wonderful experience! I am thankful we had this opportunity to explore a very small part of one of the world’s seven natural wonders.

Once we arrived back to the hotel, the little one stopped at the front desk to “complain” about the cockroach encounter this morning. In the most polite way, the front desk lady said “This is Queensland, Miss.” And gave her a bottle of cockroach killer that she said will kill it with one spray. I bet we don’t see him again…