Sail Away!

Sail Away Catamaran on the left.

Blue stinger suits protect us from jellyfish stings.

Low Isle on the inner Great Barrier Reef

Purple staghorn coral

A school of fish.

Today was my first day to snorkel that Great Barrier Reef - one of the seven wonders of the natural world and the only living thing that can be seen from the moon.  We went with Sail Away Adventures.  They picked us up from our hotel and took us to the marina.  We boarded the catamaran and were given our supplies - snorkel, mask, fins, and stinger suit.  The blue stinger suits cover us from ankle to face and include hoods and mittens.  Although not the most attractive look I do appreciate being protected from the sting of the jellyfish and the sting of the hot sun.  At the inner reef we board a glass bottomed boat and disembark on Low Isle - an island made out of coral debris.  Our naturalist guide takes us out.  I join the group on the outer right side.  As I pause in the water to listen to the guide, out of the corner of my eye I see a huge gray fish on my right.  It's head is bigger than mine and it has a severe underbite.  This fish is huge and right freaking next to me; a mere 10 inches from my face.  I can't help but scream into my snorkel.  The fish is turned toward the guide as if it is listening too.  I move away into the crowd of snorkelers.  The guide talks but between her accent and the ear plug in my right ear protecting my perforated eardrum I can't get most of what she is saying so I quit listening.  We are given time to swim on our own.  We can swim from the island out to the boat and back.  I swim out towards the boat.  The coral.  The fish.  The diversity is amazing.  All the beauty puts me in a spiritual frame of mind.  There is so much life down here under the water.  The water is pretty clear and it feels warm at 86 degrees.  We swam for two hours.  I saw damsel fish and parrot fish.  I saw spaghetti coral that moved back and forth in the current.  Watching the fish and coral move back and forth in the surf was very relaxing.  The inner reef has more soft coral than hard coral.  Some coral looked like lettuce, some like broccoli, some like boulders and some like brains.  Once I get near the boat the water is too deep for much coral so I head back toward the island.    Brindled terns startle me with their sharp calls so close to my head. With my disposable underwater camera I look at a pretty piece of coral and wait for a fish to swim in front of it before I take a shot.  The camera doesn't do the reef justice.  It was many times more beautiful in person.  I see a giant soft clam about six feet long.  Inside the clam is a brilliant purple.  The scalloped edges are vivid turquoise with gold flecks-so very pretty.  As my shadow passes over the clam it snaps shut.  After a few minutes the clam opens again.  I try to make it snap shut again by snapping my fingers.  It's impossible to snap your fingers underwater.  I swim back and forth and side to side exploring the reef.  There are so many amazing things to see here.  My friend and I are the last ones out of the water.  Swimming for two hours doesn't feel like work at all because the view is so amazing.  Lunch is served on the catamaran and at first it looks like a carnivore's delight.  I see prawns, beef, ham, chicken, salads, fruit, bread, and wait, is that falafel?  It IS falafel!  Score!  I love falafel.  We were hungry after all that swimming. On the sail back to the marina I sit with a group of Dutch tourists.  They chatter to each other, laughing and joking in their language which sound a little bit like German.  Surrounded by the 25 Dutch people with their round chins, ample bosoms, sturdy bodies, and their language I feel like a little girl again.  My grandparents spoke in German when they didn't want us to understand what they were saying.  I feel great - full of good food, exhausted by fun and surrounded by safe people speaking a language I cannot understand.  My friends and I are offered a free glass of wine compliments of the captain.  I think our travel agent had something to do with this but it was flattering anyway.  I decline the wine but took a coke zero and enjoyed every drop.  After we are dropped off at the Bay Villas we shower and change but are too exhausted to go anywhere tonight.  I spent nearly the entire day in my bathing suit - just like I did when I was a child. Today was an awesome day!    (Other Australian words we're comprehending:  Motorway=highway as in Motorway Patrol, Nappies = diapers, Car Park=parking lot, Caravan Park=campground, No Worries=you're welcome, Mate=friend, Paddock=pasture, Cheers=Goodby)