Great Barrier Reef

I couldn't come to Australia without seeing the Great Barrier Reef. I needed to fly up to Brisbane for work. From there, during a few days that I had no appointments, I was able to take a Greyhound Bus (yep, they have those here too) for 12 hours up to a city called 1770 which is at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. I sat in the front of the bus so that I could see out the front as well as the side. I asked the bus driver to keep an eye out for kangaroos and other animals and birds and he took me seriously! He would point out wild horses, kangaroos, and all sorts of birds.

The bus dropped me off at a backpacker's hostel. Wow, I felt old among all of these 20-somethings. Did you known that Australia has set up a system where a backpacker can get a year long visa if they will travel around and help at least three months of that year in harvests throughout the country. But for $24 Australian dollars (which is even cheaper when translated to US dollars) a night, I could handle a bunk in a room with several other girls.

I had booked the next day on a boat called the Spirit of 1770. Their shuttle picked me up at 7:30 and by 8:00 about 200 of us were on a great boat for a 90 minute trip to a lagoon/island in the Great Barrier Reef called Lady Musgrave. The boat docked beside a huge pontoon from which we could go snorkeling all day long. But the first thing I did was take a small boat over to the island for an island tour. Lots of birds called Notties (I kept thinking she was saying naughty birds). I also saw sharks and turtles off the shore and through the glass bottom boat.

Once back on the pontoon, I immediately suited up in a full-body wetsuit because ... for the first time in my life ... I was about to go SCUBA DIVING! This boat has a 30 minute introductory dive that I could do without all the classes and certifications. I couldn't believe it! I had always wanted to go scuba diving just once to see what it was like ... and here was a wonderful and cheap way to do just that (about $55 US dollars for the dive). Our instructor taught the 4 of us how to use the regulator and how to clear our mask if water got in while we were at the bottom of the ocean. Then they put a belt of weights around each of us (wow, heavy!) and then the big backpack full of our tank and regulator and other stuff that I didn't even know the names for. We hopped in the water and our instructor slowly brought us down to the bottom, stopping along the way to try to regulate the pressure in our ears. We were all finally at the bottom of the ocean in the Great Barrier Reef!! Somebody pinch me!! We were only about 7 meters down but hey, that's enough for me! We followed our instructor all over the place. Amazing coral and the most unique fish I've ever seen. I bought an underwater camera but don't have those back yet (old fashioned film camera). But here are a few shots of me getting ready to go down. When we returned to the boat, I continued to be amazed at the fish as I went snorkeling. Such a great trip!!

The next day I took the train to Buderim where Rosemary, an ELIC alumna, picked me up. I'll be staying with her for an entire week. She's been great! We've gone for a drive in the hinterland which are the hills behind the coastline. We've eaten fish and chips (french fries) in Maloolooba. I went to her water aerobics class ... what a hoot ... I think I was the youngest person to ever attend. :) Last night we went to the Outback Spectacular which was a dinner show with lots of horses. I learned a lot about Australia's history and enjoyed the great show. Here we are in our Australian cowboy hats called akubras.

Lest you think I'm not working at all, don't you worry, I am :) Today I spoke at 3 different services and also enjoyed being a part of an ESL ministry at the local church.