July 13 - Barrier Reef

What a great day! It started out by receiving birthday wishes from all of my family back home. That meant so much to me! While I love travelling with the students,  I really don't enjoy being away for special occasions.

Then, when we got on the bus, everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me. What a wonderful way to begin!

The boat ride to the station at the Reef took 1-1/2 hours. There must be something going on atmosphericly, because the waves were pretty stout. We were headed into them, and there was considerable rocking of the boat. Had a few feel nauseous,  but the overcame with the help of my "magic bracelets."

The Reef was amazing! Even though the waves made it a little tough for me to snorkel, everyone really seemed to enjoy it. Before we went, we got confirmation the 12-year-olds were permitted to scuba, so some of the group took advantage of that opportunity, too. We did see a nice variety of fish and coral. Some if those who dove saw a giant clam!

I expected the boat trip back to be a little calmer, since we shouldn't be traveling against the tide, but it was about the same. We did experience a little rain once we neared Cairns,  so maybe that was the culprit.

At dinner tonight, everyone sang to me again and the students bought me the group pictures from the Reef, which they all signed. They really are a great group of people.

Thanks to Will who helped me with the pictures today. I was having trouble navigating both camera and waves. :)










Comments

  1. SusanJuly 15, 2017 at 11:33 AM

    How wonderful to see the reef while it's still alive.

    ReplyDelete

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