1770

Regular viewers will be thinking that is must be impossible for us to "top" anthing we have been so fortunate to have seen throughout our five months in New Zealand. We too, thought MIlford Sound the ultimate. Not so. For today we snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef............ Sadly we didn't have an underwater camera so there is no account of our encounter. But everything you have ever seen about the Reef is exactly as it is. From Jacques Custeau's early films back in the '70s, the colours and forms of the Reef are truly mind blowing when you are actually there looking down on them.... I consider myself truly lucky having been fortunate enough to have travelled so extensively with both work and holidays, but today has been the most ultimate experience to date. Julie narrates the story from here.... by Tim x

Goodness, today was a big day. We set off from the harbour at a tiny place called "The Town of 1770" - named after Cpt Cook's first landing in Australia. The catamaran left at 8am and we sailed (pretty lumpy) for 90 minutes out into the Pacific ocean. Temp 26 degC, clear blue skies. Our destination; Lady Musgrave Island; a tiny desert island nature reserve, surrounded by a coral reef lagoon. This is the most southerly point of the Great Barrier Reef - it stretches north from here for over 2,000kms.





On arrival we anchored in the lagoon, then off on a glass bottom boat to the island itself. We walked one side to the other (c.10 mins) with a talk about flora and fauna...the amazing thing, a campsite, right in the middle - to use it costs $4 a night although you have to take every conceivable supply with you, water etc.





Back to the boat for a leisurely buffet lunch, we could then don our wetsuits and snorkel gear and get into the water. As the day goes on the tide goes out and the water gets more shallow, and warmer, so the later you snorkel the better. We all went in for a while and were awestruck at the coral, fish, sea-slugs - and just the unrealness of being there! The guy running the glass bottom boat promised us sight of turtles if we went on his next excursion, and we could get dropped off in the lagoon and swim back if we wished, so we did. WE SWAM WITH TURTLES!!! (pro. Turdles)...I still think someone needs to pinch me so I wake up! ;0)





We sailed back taking a slight detour to avoid low-tide in the harbour, which meant we encountered Dolphins and two Humpback Whales on the way back, oh, and a sunset for good measure. Arrived back at the harbour after dark, exhausted, overwhelmed, slept until 10.30am next morning................phew...................this one goes into the record book.