Traveling alone feels weird.
Trippin’
Even though they speak English in Australia, the accent is often hard for me to understand. (Some even cough with an accent) Making travel arrangements on the fly takes loads of time and work. I’ll never complain again, Marilynn!
Fish
Got to take a tour if you want to see the reef. Many leave from Cairns. I’m at least 30 years older than the 40 other folks on this snorkel/dive tour of the Great Barrier Reef. We speed to the outer part, about 50 miles from shore. None of the kids talk with me (many speak Chinese anyway), and they totally quit looking my way once I remove my shirt to put on the mandatory full body stinger suit. (Mare would have taken take a photo of that)
These Aren’t Mushrooms
But underwater is where it’s all happening, Baby!
Seriously, This Is Not An Aquarium
I take terrible photos on land, and have no business trying to take them while bobbing around in whitecap water during a rainstorm. Touching the wrong button produced a ten-minute “selfie video” of chaos and a few views of me coughing and gasping for air. Despite drinking lots of salt water, I managed to snap a few nice ones down under.
A Coral Cliff
The miracle of technology creates cameras for photographically challenged.
A Colorful Fellow
So, there you have it. A short and sweet unedited tiny sample of The Great Barrier Reef.
Coral
A fellow traveler at Lake Baikal in Siberia once told us, “Some people just have to see it.” The Great Barrier Reef will certainly blow your mind, if you ever get the opportunity. I had to see it. Thank you, Abundant Universe. Cheers. Ron Mitchell