Trip to Cairns - Part 2: The Great Barrier Reef

Green Island: After exciting times in the Rainforest, we headed back to Cairns for some time on the reef. We stayed at a backpackers in Cairns and got up the next morning to catch a boat to Green Island for the day. We had a little too much fun on the boat, and had a great time snorkelling and hanging out on the island. The most exciting thing I saw snorkelling was a most beautiful bright purple starfish!! It was awesome! All the fish were bright, vibrant colors...so gorgeous! We got back that evening, with enough time for some sushi and sleep! :)

The Rum Runner Overnight Boat on the Reef: After Green Island, we stayed another night at the backpackers, called Global Palace, and got up early the next morning to pack our bags and get on the Rum Runner boat for a overnight trip on the reef. We got on the boat at Cairns Harbor which was luckily a 5 minute walk from our hostel. We showed up with suitcases and all, not realizing our sleeping quarters were MUCH smaller than expected! Even the crew looked at us like we were crazy when we brought bag, after suitcase, after bag on the boat. Our room was about 4 ft by 7 ft. TINY! We just laughed. Somehow we managed. Amy shared a bunk with the cook on the boat (a girl mind you), and Bobbi and I shared a bunk "room". We headed out 4 hrs to the reef where we would be spending that day and part of the next day. On the ride out, we had a crash coarse in scuba diving by one of the scuba instructors on the boat - we learned about the equipment, breathing, hand signals, re-pressurizing your ears, etc. WAAAY easier said than done. So, once we hit our first reef spot, a scuba instructor took us in groups of 3 or 4 out for our first dive. Amy, Bobbi and I were in a group together, and our instuctor pretty much lost all patience with us. We were freaking out about breathing, about getting water in our goggles, etc. Scuba diving was great and all, but i was focused SO much on breathing through that little hose that i honestly didn't get to really soak it in and enjoy the reef. We were down for about 20-30 minutes, and I was relieved when we were done! It takes a brave sole. The only thing that kept pushing me to not give up was the fact that a 12 yr old girl on our boat did the first dive with no problems, so that's what i had to keep telling myself! If she can do it, I can too!

After our intro dive, we had the choice to do more dives or snorkel. Bobbi, Amy, and I opted to snorkel the remainder of the time, which turned out to be AMAZING! We hit several more areas on the reef where the reef was literally 1-2 feet below the surface of the water. We would jump off the boat and reef was right there. We saw little Nemo's, some HUGE fish, amazing coral, and no sharks thank you! It was definitely an experience of a lifetime! On the way back to the harbor the next day, we spotted a baby humpback whale which jumped out of the water several times for our entertainment, and it was an awesome way to end the trip. :) We took an underwater camera which needs to get developed, so those pics to come soon!