The Great Barrier Reef

As we flew from Brisbane to Cairns, we were lucky to see the reef from the plane. A truly amazing sight; in the middle of the dark blue ocean you can see spots of brilliant turquoise, with the white of the surf bouncing off the Reef. It is the only living thing visible from space. It stretches from the Torres Strait down the coast of Queensland; stopping just south of the Tropic of Capricorn. It is the biggest reef system in the world, encompassing 2600 separate reefs. It is 2000 km in length and at its broadest; 80 Km.
We headed off early to the Outer Barrier Reef on a day trip from Cairns. It took two hours to get there, and fortunately Stephen and I had taken travel sickness pills as it was rough journey until we reached the Reef. We were offered a taster Scuba Dive for 10 minutes to see how we felt and then if we wanted (and were willing to part with more cash) we could go down. I was very uncertain as diving is one thing I am wary of doing; Stephen on the other hand was much keener. If you are going to do a dive, the best place is here. Having spent 10 minutes practising the breathing and equalising and ignoring the fast rate of my heart beat, we went down. It was breathtaking (not too much though - that could have been problematic!) It is as if someone has taken a paintbrush with a a kaleidoscope of colours and painted the fish. The coral itself ranges in colour and texture. Our instructor showed us what we could touch. At one point we touched some coral that was softer than any man-made material I had ever felt.
After our dive, we went further to a reef called Paradise Reef and this time we had a go at snorkeling. Again we witnessed a variety of fish and coral but we could not get as close. It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world; I hate to be greedy as we have seen so much already, but we hope to get the opportunity to see the Reef again. Absolutely fantastic experience.

**PHOTOGRAPHERS NOTE: I apologise in advance for the quality of the underwater pictures, which is due to a combination of bottled oxygen, panic and a rubbish disposable camera**


The latest in dive wear!


Preparing to dive


Rebecca makes her way down


A real life Nemo!


Coral and fish