Nemo = Found

We had an amazing day on the outer reef today. After a slightly stomach-turning ride out, we arrived at the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs – some of the northernmost reefs accessible by day boat. Sarah did a few dives and then joined Jonathan as he snorkeled around. We purchased a waterproof case for our digital camera so were able to capture photos and video from underwater.
We saw an incredible diversity of wildlife – sharks, clownfish, turtles, rays, barracudas, and about every type and size of fish imaginable. We even saw some fish that we have cooked for dinner (slight pang of guilt, but we got over that quickly). We saw a lion fish, played with sea cucumbers and stuck our hands in a giant clam. The coral was unbelievable and it’s hard to imagine that we only saw a drop of it. The reef extends for over 2500 kms. A picture can’t do it justice. It really needs to be seen!
On the ride back to shore we chatted with a traveler who was a year ahead of Sarah in undergrad – and was even in Kirkland house (what a small world!).
It was a perfect completion to our trip. Exhausted from our day in the water, we returned to our favorite camp spot. Tomorrow morning we’ll do a quick inventory on the camper, Jonathan will spend some emotional alone time with it before we say goodbye and we’ll head to Cairns for a night in a hotel before our way-too-early flight on Saturday.
See you all back in the states soon!

Shark Bait – Ooh-Ah-Ah!

Monday we took our first trip to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Though we had snorkeled a bit on fringing reef further south, this trip was more elaborate. We boarded a large catamaran that sailed out to the Low Isles reef – part of the GBR. This reef actually has two permanent islands associated with it so after the catamaran moored, we took smaller boats in to the shore, from which we snorkeled around the beach/reef. Right away we saw green turtles, giant clams, all colors of soft coral and lots of cool fish – butterfly fish, parrot fish (Dory), angel fish, etc. Though we didn’t see Nemo we DID see a bunch of reef sharks. They were all about 6-7 feet long and really neat! I was a bit nervous when we saw the first one, but after the next few it became less rattling. Jonathan tried to catch a big 2’ fish that was quite interested in us, but the fish was a little too slippery for him.
Even though it is not stinger season, I chose to wear a HOT lycra suit(which provides protection from marine stingers or box jellies) – it was also 100% UV protective and you can never be too safe. Below is a pretty picture of me getting into it. I wanted to take it home so I could be a smurf for Halloween…no luck though.
No photos of the actual underwater stuff yet (we had a non-digital camera).
We are going to the outer GBR on Thursday and are looking forward to what we’ll see out there! Grab shell dude!

Self portrait on the catamaran

Think this will pass for professional attire when I start working?

Another boat sailing to the Low Isles

Life is rough for Jonathan