Today we had to wake up really early - 6.30 am to be precise - which as you can probably imagine, I was not too thrilled about. The reason for this rude awakening was our snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef. I had been growing increasingly worried about this trip as the holiday progressed. Even on the evening before snorkelling I didn't know if I was going to get in the sea. I was torn by two feelings: 1. I should get in because thousands of people do it every day and don't get killed and the Great Barrier Reef only has 30 years left so I should take this chance to see it.
2. Sharks! Jellyfish! Ahhh!
It was like a tug of war between two sides of me. Mum had given me various encouraging talks 'Look at it rationally Megan'. I was thinking to myself there is nothing more irrational about my thinking right at this moment.
I woke up on the morning of the trip and was feeling surprisingly confident. The journey to Port Douglas was a 40 minute drive along a winding coastal road. I bet you will be thinking 'the scenery must have been beautiful'. It was, but driving on a winding road at 7.30 am whilst still trying to get round yourself is not the most enjoyable experience I can tell you.
To go to the Great Barrier Reef you have to book a guided trip with one of a range of companies. We booked with Wavelength because they got some awesome reviews on TripAdvisor. We arrived at their office and were told to go to the back to get a wetsuit. I was first and Dad asked the lady if she could give me a horrible wet one. She gave me a bone dry one and instead, gave Dad the wettest one she could find!
We got on the boat and I noticed that there were some kids a lot younger than me. If they could do it, then I could too. I took an hour and a half hours to get to our first of three sites. On the way, we got kitted out with flippers and a snorkel mask. By this point, I was more nervous than you can imagine. I talked to the marine biologist called Suz, to get some reassurance. She told me that you have thirty times more chance of being killed by a cow than a shark and 100 times more chance of being killed sitting down or by a vending machine falling on you! Another thing that took my mind off snorkelling was encountering whales. About twenty of them surrounded us. It was incredible. They were quite close to the boat and were very large indeed! 
I was hoping that this time would never come but we arrived at Turtle Bay (our first site). I was really excited about seeing turtles! We were allowed to get in the water so I walked to the back of the boat and got in without even thinking about it. I was shocked! As soon as I put my head under the water I was overwhelmed. I began to swim and saw beautiful coral and fish. Within the first thirty seconds i saw a large green turtle. It swam so close that I could almost touch it. It was graceful and awesome at the same time.
The marine biologist then told us that we were going to Shark Alley!!! My face dropped but I carried on. We saw the first shark and I was scared at first. I realised that it wasn't interested in me at all and I watched it swimming along. It was brilliant. I was surprised when our hour was up. I had to get back on the boat and wait 10 minutes for our next stop. The second stop was better than the first. there was loads more coral of different colours. The fish were larger and colourful. They came really close to us including one maori wrasse that swam to the boat with me.
After the second stop we had lunch and the marine biologist did a talk. It was really good and she explained more about what we had seen. It was interesting and funny. Dad was a swot - answering nearly all the questions correctly!
I was cold and wet (so was my wetsuit) so I decided to stay on the boat for the final stop which was the deepest water as well. I sunbathed on the empty upper deck and watched Mum and Dad snorkelling. Mum said that they saw loads of fish and she saw some jellyfish in the water when she was swimming back to the boat so I'm glad I didn't go in! I had a fantastic day - one of the best of the holiday - despite a little nervousness to start off with. I was thinking about my day on the way home and I couldn't believe that I had been swimming with sharks and turtles!
Speak soon
Megan xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment