Mar 1: Great Barrier Reef

The Spirit of 1770 is a twin hulled boat that can carry roughly 200 people out to the reef. They run tours every day. For $160 they will take you to and from Lady Musgrave Island, a coral atoll that juts out of the sea. The atoll had a channel cut into it in world war 2 when the navy considered trying to hide ships there to disguise them from radar. This little lane allows the boat to sneak through, creating a small and safe area for diving and snorkelling.

To say the boat ride out is a bit bumpy, is sort of like saying Edmonton gets a bit cold in the winter, or that Toronto has a bit of traffic... Every seat has two plastic barf bags in the seat pocket ahead, and the tour guide gives light-hearted but thorough demonstration on how to use them before the boat leaves harbor. I am pleased to say I managed to keep my food in me... though not before turning an awkward shade of green.

I'm not really sure I'll do a good job of explaining how I felt about snorkelling the reef for the first time. What do you say when you refer back to your life's todo list, and you check stuff off starting at the tippy top?

I spent about 3 hours puttering around in the water, probably the better part of it touring a turtle cleaning station, a nest shaped formation in the coral, the indentation created as green sea turtles come to rest while cleaner fish tidy off their shells over the course of hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.

Despite my liberal application of sunscreen. I did get a sunburn. It turns out that I have lost some weight since I got here, and my boardshorts have gone from snug fitting to loose. I burned myself a perfect belt-shaped ribbon starting from where the shorts should sit, down to where they in fact slip down to once I start swimming. Hard to complain about it too much :)

A little over 2 months into the trip, and I've completed all (both) of my objectives. I guess this means I've got 4 months left to relax, have fun, and work on my tan.