Finding Nemo

Oh wow.... tues was the BEST day..... I had signed up for a snorkel trip to the GREAT BARRIER REEF and was PRAYING for sun, cuz it has rained since I got here to Cairns!
Tues we got on the boat at 8:20am... got fitted for flippers and wet suits etc.... welcome aboard talk blah blah... off we go... 1.5-2hr trip out to the reef....
Many people got sick, yuck,... thankfully not me :) It was very rocky due to weather!
We finally got out close to the reef and it was perfectly sunny..... THANKS to everyone who prayed for sun it worked!
So with the package I signed up for I ALSO got an INTRO to DIVE lil session.... so I got my wet suit on and had to sit to get my tank put on my back,. whoa that is heavy...
stood on the back of the boat, 1 hand on my mask, 1 hand on my tank gauge, look off to the horizon and take one BIG step out.... PLUNK... into the water!
Soooo cool, learning to breath with this huge tank and all this gear on! My instructors name was TASSIE (tazy) he was great... sort of looked like MR NOODLES from ELMOS WORLD... anyways
We went under water and had to stop and go to equalize our ears every few minutes until they adjust to the pressure. Also kept getting water in my mask and had to get that out, tipping my head back and blowing out hard through my nose.. lol.
We went down a rope that was tied to the boat... slowly and safely... then we practiced taking out our oxygen and breathing under water with normal blowing out of bubbles.... weird.. then had to put back in my oxygen and blow out hard to get all salt water out of my mouth.. lol it took me 2 tries!
So we were all good... ready to explore, there were 2 of us doing to the intro to dive.
So Tassie took our arms, linked in his and we let go of the rope.. ready to explore the GREAT BARRIER REEF!
Wow.... it was amazing... truly breathtaking... it felt so great to just be so deep under water and to see and touch amazing things that we don't see everyday.
I saw Soooo many fish of different colors and shapes, saw many coral and plants.
I almost peed with excitement when a big TURTLE swam beside us.. it was magical... so we followed him and let HIM show us around the reef. It was so much like being in Finding Nemo.... the current is going and the bubbles are all around and you can float around.. so cool.
The turtle left us and we went exploring again on our own, he was a great guide though :)
We went to some plants to look for Nemo and he wasn't there :( I wish I had bought the underwater camera they offered on board, but didn't have cash with me (dang it)
Memories are all in my head- FOR-EV-ER!!!!
We were about 9 feet deep in the reef for about 20 mins.. BEST experience ever!
We came back up to the ship to drop off our dive gear and still had 2 mins before lunch. so we went to join the snorkelers around the reef.
Incredible sights... we were right over the shallow parts of reef so the waves would just carry us around and I had to do a "Mission Impossible" stretch out your arms and legs to stay flat move.. just to avoid hitting coral!
Fantastic fish.... black n white stripped, blue and red stripped, and then i saw it.. NEMO!!!
i was soo excited, like that was my goal.... so neat to see Nemo in the reef!
I saw one purple and blue fish that looked like it had bright teal eye shadow on (thought of Michelle Cappo) and thought they should use this color at MAC and name it reef teal or something cool.
I saw some lil blue fish that were SUCH a BRIGHT blue it was crazy. So many fish and they all just hang out, some swim around and some schools just float with the current.
We saw one HUGE HUGE HUGE fish.. serious it was the length of me... sort of flat, like skinny width ways but HUGE top to bottom... he was chasing another fish.. right under me!
CRAZY.... the snorkel guide with us said "I think that one is territorial but not dangerous" ..lol THINK... thanks..... I was so nervous it was going to come and eat me.. it was HUGE! I loved it though.. it was blue n green!
I just looked it up its called a WRASSE!
I saw an Angel fish like GILL from finding nemo!
I really felt like a MERMAID living with all these great friends under the sea, I never wanted to leave the Reef.
During lunch a turtle came to the surface to say hi! too cute!
After lunch we went back out to snorkel different parts of the reef for another 40 mins!
This was such a great day.... an amazing and very memorable day for my whole Aus trip and in life! On the way back to Cairns I sat on the top deck and just enjoyed the sunshine!
Got back to land around 4pm... def got some sun, red shoulders and face :)
Home to shower and then we went out to the movies to see INCEPTION.... meh. I mean I hate going to see NEW movies that everyone is talking about, too much hype! Brett wanted to go so we all went.. it was good, well done etc... but just seems like its similar to Matrix and Avatar... everyone is plugging themselves into something. It was good but just not my fav, not great!
Long day.... home to bed!
Wednesday was my last day in Cairns, Brett took us hiking in one of the National Parks and we also swam there and did some cliff jumping. It was cold at first but so nice n sunny, my FIRST full sunny day in Cairns, I loved it!
We swam under the waterfalls and jumped off some cliffs and laid on the rocks in the sun. Perfect day! Came back to eat some nice sausage on bread with cooked zucchini and salad!
Uploading pics to fb and blog and then I have to pack and get ready to head south.... my ride is coming to drive me to Townsville tonight :)

Much love