Great Barrier Reef

Feeling Small

As cliche as it may sound, there are simply no words to adequately describe the beauty and massiveness of the Great Barrier Reef and we only saw a very small part of it.  

Initially, we had only planned on spending one day on the Reef going out of Port Douglas with Quicksilver.  The day we went, the seas were rough.  Very rough.  There were a lot of people sick on the boat and compared to most excursions offered in the area, it was perhaps the biggest boat available.  Thankfully, we did okay and took some medicine before leaving just in case.  However, once we got to the Quicksilver Pontoon, that was another story.  I am a strong swimmer, but I was afraid.  I needed to just let myself float and not try to swim.  However, because of the rough seas, I wanted some sort of control over where I went and wanted to get back quickly if needed, so, I was reluctant to let the waves carry me.  This resulted in me giving up after about 15 minutes in the water.  My husband explored a little more and was a bit more adventurous.  However, I tried to keep my eyes on him as much as possible because he is not a strong swimmer.  He did well though and took quite a few lovely pictures except he zoomed in on most.  I wish we had more pictures of the grandeur that is the Reef, but he wouldn't give up the camera, so, lesson learned- we need to buy another digital underwater camera if we go back!  (The one we used was a Panasonic Lumix.)

Because the water was so rough, many of the people decided not to get in the water.  This made it nice because the water wasn't crowded by any means and in fact after lunch when I decided to give it another try, there were maybe only twenty people in the water.  Thankfully the water calmed down a little at that point and I was smart enough to take a noodle with me to help me float a bit.  

This particular reef was nice and quite large, but we enjoyed our second trip out quite a bit more (more on that later).  However, the one thing I have to say about the Reef is that I have never felt so small and so inconsequential.  It goes on and on for what seems like forever and it is a world completely different from that which I know.  The Reef was majestic, overwhelming, and a bit intimidating.  

Sharks anyone?  Not this time.  Day two is another story.