March 6--We Did It! Indescribable!

Love is metaphysical gravity.  --Buckminster Fuller

    Indescribable, but I'll give it a go. Today we snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. A more perfect day could not exist--sunny, calm, warm, no need to "adjust" to the water temperature--everything perfect. The GBR is the only feature on planet earth that is visible from the moon. It stretches approximately 1300 miles along the coast of Australia and it is, very justifiably, one of the world's seven natural wonders. It is a series of reefs, not one continuous reef. 

    A large catamaran took us out to a permanently docked pontoon where the diving and snorkeling equipment is. There is a huge roped-off area in which to snorkel, with several square floating pipes anchored for resting spots. We got into our lycra suits (I shall be eternally grateful that no photos were taken of me), and selected fins and mask/snorkel to fit. The workers were quite talented in putting on life vests so that they didn't bunch up around our necks. We seated ourselves on the take-off platform, put on our fins and masks and off we went into a World Of Wonder. 

    The variety of coral and fish types and colors was, to me, infinite. Each kick of the fins brought something amazing into view. There was some coral fairly close to the surface. We snorkeled along a couple gullies where loads of fish were swimming in and out. We saw sea cucumbers tidying up the ocean floor. Lanie and I covered as much ground as possible. We had no idea of the time, but when we decided to head back to the pontoon, we had been in the water even longer than our guide Wayne, almost two whole hours. 

    The bar on our boat had ice cream which was a very popular post-snorkel treat for our group. We got back to our hotel around 5:45. Lanie and I went to the Lagoon (huge public swimming pool), just so we could say we had stuck our feet in. After showers (priceless!!!), we went out and enjoyed excellent chicken Pad Thai, just around the corner from our hotel. 

    We are tired but incredibly blessed travelers!!

        Leta

I did not take this photo, 
but I saw lots of these, big and small