One of the key highlights of Australia is the Great Barrier Reef (aka GBR). A natural wonder of the world, and the only living organism to be seen from space. We knew we were going to scuba dive this phenomenon, but we didn't anticipate how much we would dive!
As mentioned in my previous post we went diving in Port Douglas as a result of winning the cane toad race. This dive boat took us to the outer reef - only 1.5 hour ride on a massive catamaran from town. Port Douglas is famous for being the closest town to the reef (closer than Cairns). We didn't have our camera this day so you'll have to take our word for it (well, we brought the camera, but forgot it's battery back in our room). (Though we got this 'shot' of the boat :)):
The diving here was great! We didn't go down too deep (only about 60 feet) and ascended to the more shallow part of the reef on the way through the dives. The colours of the coral in the GBR are phenomenal. Greens, purples, and blues could be seen everywhere. My favourite was the blue staghorn coral as it is a bright baby blue with darker tips. There are also loads of fish eating off the reef - you can even hear the parrotfish biting at the coral - its like a cacophony of scratching all around you when you are in the midst of a large feeding session. when we came up there was a massive maori wrasse under the boat that was just as big as me! He likes to hang out and get his photo taken, like the one below:
After we completed each dive that day we also went out snorkelling as the reef was so shallow and bright with colours near the surface, we just didn't want to miss out. It was tough snorkelling though as there was a massive current and the waves kept pushing water into our snorkels. Diving was much more pleasurable. I'm glad we did the one day as it prepared us for the big kahuna GBR dive trip. 
Two days later we went on a 3 day live aboard dive trip from Cairns to see a different part of the outer reef. It was basically 4 dives per day with very early morning wake ups. You start to feel woozy from all of the compressed oxygen in your system, but the dives make it worth it. The great thing about diving the reef is how shallow it is. So that means less equalizing and decompression and other potentially scary diving stuff.
The boat trip was run by Pro-Dive and it is a well run operation. Basically all day you dive, then eat, then dive, then eat. There are 33 people sleeping in cabins on the big dive vessel (called scubapro) and 6 crew. We did 11 dives in 3 days, which included 2 freaky but relaxing night dives. When we jumped in the water for each night dive there were sharks circling the boat but thankfully they scattered when we jumped in (they don' like our noisy bubbles). Those divers out there will know what the symbol Syd is doing means :)
It seemed insane, but the schedule was so well planned that it all happened naturally. The boat itself was very cool, with cabins on 3 different levels and lots of toilets... quite an upgrade compared to the close quarters of the backpacker-focused Whitsunday sailboats where there was only 1 shower for 26 people.
This is the first time that Syd and I were sent on our own to dive and navigate ourselves (without a guide). Though we did have some help from our supervisor (Arek) who did a picture map with compass directions and funny story before each dive (above). It was a bit scary at first but eventually it was nice to have the freedom and comfort of just each other to dive with. We rented a digital camera for the trip so that we could get some choice shots.
We especially loved the parrot fish.
The funky and beautiful coral formations, including this one which was 15 feet high and looked like a mushroom (which served as a great reference point -- 300 degrees back to the boat!):
The hawks bill turtles (often eating off the reef)
The clown fish were adorable but so hard to find
And the multitude of spotted stingrays.
I also enjoyed taking shots like this:
In my ignorance I laid down beside a dangerous fish called the Titan Triggerfish (who was actually guarding its nest in the sand). I just thought it was a strange looking fish. Thankfully it didn't attack or I would have had a nice chunk out of my side from its sharp teeth!
Astrid.
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