March 17 -- Great Barrier Reef

Headline:  Australian Icon Found!

We didn't have to look too hard to find perhaps the most famous part of Australia -- a massive coral reef that runs some 2000 km off the coast and is in fact the largest living thing on earth.  There was a time on our trip when we weren't quite sure we'd make it to the reef despite it being one of the modern natural wonders of the world.  Today, we're so glad we worked it into our grand tour and it was a fitting capstone to an incredible trip that just kept on getting better.

We hooked up with a reef tour company recommended by our concierge at our hotel in Palm Cove and after an early pickup we were whisked off to Port Douglas about 45 km up the coast from our hotel.  With little delay we were escorted aboard an 80 foot, three decked catamaran and outfitted with our snorkeling gear.  Ninety minutes later we made our first stop at the reef.  Despite partly cloudy skies, spirits were high amongst the 35 snorklers and handful of divers.

Into the water we went and the sights just below the surface were incredible to behold -- all shapes and sizes and colours of fish.  Small inch long little darters swimming in tight schools to large tuna sized fish that lumbered near the bottom portion of the reef.  There are over 1500 species of fish on the reef, each with it's own unique colouring and marking.  Besides the fish there were amazing specimens of coral, anemone, giant clams, sea cucumbers and all kinds of sea life I don't know the names of.  It was the live production of Finding Nemo.

We took an underwater camera with us so hopefully when we get the prints developed we can add them to the blog.

It's been a long day and I'm lacking time and energy to fully describe the experience today.  I just know that it would have been truly unfortunate for us to have missed the Reef.