Day 112

20/10/2009

Best guess at where we are this morning as I don't have a GPS with me is:-
19 47.06 S
149 09.52 E

Up before the sun and after watching it rise we had breakfast on deck. We put on stinger suits and wet suits and were in the water before 8:00 for a guided tour of the reef edge to the north of the pontoon, then a leisurely float back to review at our own pace. (Actually the current was so strong it was a challenging swim).

Walking around the pontoon about 9:45 we saw a turtle swimming towards the reef. Beth had seen 3 yesterday whilst snorkelling but this was my first.

After Beth's problem clearing water from her scuba dive mask yesterday, we had today's dive before the boat arrived giving plenty of time to get it right, which wasn't needed as she had it sorted immediately. We went down to the edge of the reef and were able to swim around a little and get the feel of diving. Might have to talk to somebody I know who recently qualified as a dive instructor about having lessons when we're back in England. Water temperature has to be at least 27C though.

Unfortunately the boat turned up on time, so we went straight back in the water for a final hour of snorkelling, then had some dinner, rode on the semi submersible sub to see a different area of the reef, then lazed on the sundeck for the last hour, amazed at how many people had come out to the reef across quite choppy water and lay on a sun lounger for most of their 3.5 hours.

The return trip was across a similar sea to that we'd come out across yesterday, so there were a few people suffering again.

A really great experience - well worth the cost, but now we're back to a campervan for another 12 days.

Town - Airlie Beach
Distance +3261km