The Great Barrier Reef - Wow!

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Have a whole week in Cairns which is a real luxury. Have booked ourselves an apartment 'spurge' to reward ourselves after 10 weeks in a campervan – what bliss! After 18,066km driving across Australia we found it very strange to be in one place for so long.

The main reason for our visit to Cairns was to experience the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef. Our day trip to the Reef started very early, with a 7am check-in at the Pier before boarding our boat for the day 'Ocean Free'. It is only a small sailing vessel with room for around 30 passengers which was ideal for us – no massive groups on a packed boat.

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Around 3mins out of Port we raised the sails and started our journey across the coral sea bound for Green Island which was around 2½ hours away. No sooner had we got into the open sea, the crew came around with a plate piled high with chocolate muffins – mmm, what a fab start to the day.

Arrived at Green Island at 10am and set anchor around 1km offshore at Pinnacle Reef for snorkeling. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a morbid fear of water so snorkeling would be a massive challenge for me! Lee spent sometime babysitting me whilst I clung to the side of the boat before I gave in and came back on-board. Lee then spent a while snorkeling on the Reef.

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After a very delicious lunch on-board, we ventured ashore using the boats tender. You can walk around the entire island in around 40mins – its so tiny. We visited the underwater observatory at the end of the Jetty which cost around 5 dollars each. Well worth it as the fish were amazing – 100's of different fish all huddled around the windows. There are no nets etc around the observatory so all the fish we saw had choose to be there.

After around an hour ashore, we went back to the boat for our second snorkel of the day. By now I was so determined to overcome my irrational fear I had a second attempt. Lee and some of the others on the boat were taken on a 'coral safari' by one of the diving masters – really interesting. He saw giant clams, sea cucumber, loads of different corals and some beautiful fish. I again hovered by the side of the boat, but this time had a go and stuck my head under water. Amazing – could see some huge fish (one looked like a small shark!). Was so pleased with myself as would have been so disappointed to have missed the view from under the water.

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Left the Island to return to Cairns in the middle of the afternoon. Had a great trip back with the crew hoisting up the sails and cutting the engine so we spent around an hour just using the wind. Served fresh fruit, wine and cheese and biscuits on the return (also a couple of VB's!) What a great day!