Great Barrier Reef

Float like a butterfly....
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You cannot go to the Reef without trying the introductory scuba dive. I had never tried it before and Scott had just once about 15 years ago in Mexico. I was a little nervous about it, but the managers of our accommodation recommended a very good boat (Poseidon) so we signed ourselves up. The boat took us to a portion of the outer reef called the Agincourt Ribbon Reef. The day included visits to three separate dive sites. We originally signed up for two dives just in case it didn’t go that well and knew that we’d have the option to snorkel at the other site. Of course, we found the diving to be fascinating so we signed up for a third dive. We were so thankful that we did as the third dive was our longest dive (over 35 minutes) and our most relaxed as we really felt more comfortable. There were just three or four of us to one dive instructor which was great. Among the fish we saw was a shark (not the type that would want to have us for lunch thankfully), parrotfish (too many to count), huge clams that we could have literally fit into, sea cucumbers, a sting ray and many others as well as endlessly stunning coral. The boats marine biologist went through the fish that we saw once we were back on board headed for home. I could definitely see how one could get the diving “bug”.

Our green turtle experience
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In addition to our visit to the outer reef, we went snorkeling at the reef just off of a very small island in the Low Isles on the inner reef. This area is known for its green turtles as well as more beautiful coral and fish. We were disappointed after our morning swim that resulted in no turtle sightings, but after we ate lunch, we spotted one just sitting and relaxing on the soft coral. We even spent about 10-15 minutes swimming with a turtle all on our own which was quite cool. Of course, the coral here was fantastic as well as was the fish. There were many baby sharks in the water around the boat at lunch and Scott spotted a 6-7 ft shark just before the end of our snorkel.

Scuba, sharks, turtles, crocs -- a fantastic ending!!

Hide and seek anyone?
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In addition to the Reef, we visited Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation. The Daintree NP is a rainforest and this is where you definitely realize that you are in the Wet Tropics. It was so hot and humid that a short walk was all that we were up for. The vegetation along our walk was incredible as was the beach that runs right out from the forest – most unusual. A scary thing happened on our drive home that afternoon however. A van driving in front of us had a large steel ladder on top and it came flying off and floated up into the air. It was as if it happened in slow motion and I saw my life flash before me thinking it might come through our front windshield. Luckily, Scott has cat like reflexes and maybe someone was also watching over us because the ladder flew to the side of the road and landed there and not on us. We were feeling very lucky that day……

I wonder if the Blue Man Group is hiring???
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Finally, we enjoyed a sunset river cruise in Port Douglas in hopes of seeing a crocodile as we hadn’t yet seen any while in Oz. We immediately found one adolescent croc on the shore and hunted further up the river for another. Just before the end of the cruise, along came a croc named Bandit. He was almost four meters long and moved quite stealthily in the water. We saw him snap at something just as we were leaving though we didn’t see what it was. Needless to say, we wouldn’t be lounging with our legs over the edge of the boat as they can jump 2 meters out of the water.

Bad hair day (oh... and that's a sea cucumber)
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Next, we sadly make the trek back home to Minneapolis which ends this chapter and we begin a new one that we have yet to define.

Look for our final year long journey summary that we’ll be posting on the blog…..

FINAL THOUGHTS ON AUSTRALIA:

Our first observation was that we found Australia to be more similar to the states than any other country that we’ve ever visited. From the big malls and super store chains to the morning news programs which are almost a copy of those in the states, it all felt just like home. That is with one exception, costs were significantly higher than at home.

It's going to take a lot of butter and garlic to get that clam down!
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Our favorites for our visit here in Oz were:

1. Scuba diving and snorkeling in the great barrier reef – stunning

2. Whitsundays sail and snorkeling

3. Watching the hatching of baby loggerhead turtles

Low Isles
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4. Seeing the fairy penguins, koalas, roos, crocs and tassy devils

5. Beaches, beaches and more beaches…..couldn’t believe how many and all were beautiful. We almost fully converted to beach lazing – only wish we would have taken a surf lesson.

6. The Great Ocean Road

7. Wines, wines, wines – loved them all here just as I did in New Zealand and probably more so with the red wines

Self portrait is a little more difficult under water
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As for our most bizarre memory, we found enjoyment and entertainment in listening to the parliament sessions on the radio in the car. The ruling party and the “opposition party” as they are referred to spend the entire session pointing fingers at one another and really seem to have no constructive points or recommendations as we could see. I’m sure that our process in congress is the same or even worse at home, it’s just that I’ve never had or taken the time to listen to it. It’s quite fun listening to it all. I’ll have to check into that at home.

Copy cat!
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We also found the Aussie dialect very intriguing. Specifically, words that end with an “r” don’t seem to have the “r” pronounced and words that end with an “a” tend to be spoken as if there is an “r” at the end. For example, America sounds like Americer when some Aussies say it and when some say surfer, it sounds as if they are saying surfah. I might be crazy…..or not.