Well it's 2013 and it's high time I get cracking on the rest of this 30 before 30 list, you reckon? What's that, does my use of the word reckon seem odd? I bet it does and that's because it's usually reserved for use by individuals of an extremely southern or, it turns out, Australian, persuasion. That's right, I am in Australia! Well, actually, I'm technically in Border Protection purgatory waiting on my return flight to L.A. after 10 days in Australia. I traveled here over the Christmas holiday with 6 friends, two of whom live in Melbourne and the rest of whom came from the US for 2 weeks. Kim, Will, Jessi, Peter, Jill and Aaron and I spent the last 9 days getting a full dose of Australia's beautiful summer weather and experiences. One of those, I have decided to count as my 30 Before 30 item that I left blank for a miscellaneous adventure: Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef!
I arrived almost a week after everyone else on the trip due to work and family obligations, and met up with the crew in Sydney. We began out adventures with a 3-night trip to the Hunter Valley wine region just northwest of Sydney and had a great time taking in Australia's wines and the beautiful views of the Hunter Valley. Aside from a major fall where I skinned my knee and the top of my foot, it was very relaxing.
On my 4th day in Australia, we headed back to Sydney and boarded a flight to Cairns, one of the jumping off points for the Great Barrier Reef and its many wonders. We checked in to our AMAZING accommodation in Port Douglas, Queensland on New Years Eve and cooked up yummy apps while drinking all the wine we had gotten as we rang in the new year.
On New Years Day, we were up with the sun to go out on our snorkeling trip with Poseidon Adventures. The trip took us 1.5 hours and about 14 miles off the coast of Queensland to the Agincourt Reef, where we dove in 3 different spots. When we boarded the boat, they offered motion sickness medicine for $3, but I declined because I didn't have a history of motion sickness and because I didn't want it to make me tired. Wrong choice. I will explain.
The trip began with extensive safety and technique overviews from the staff. We were given masks, snorkels, fins and a lycra suit to protect us from any jellyfish or coral we may come in contact with. The first dive was relatively murky and not ideal. The sun wasn't shining so it was hard to see much. I did rent an underwater camera, though, and managed to get some decent shots:
Near the end of the first dive, I started to suddenly feel nauseous, so I returned to the boat in a hurry only to find out that I was not alone. A few of our group had come back with a case of the upset stomach.
I felt pretty sick throughout the boat ride between the first and second dive site, but seeing as I had paid good money and was on the Great Barrier Reef, I went back out for dive number two. As soon as I got in the water, I felt a lot better, and got some great photos of the beautiful coral at the second site:
A giant clam!
After about 20 minutes of feeling fine, though, I suddenly got really nauseated and decided to separate from the group. It's a good thing because within about a minute, I threw up. In the water. On the Great Barrier Reef. Awesome. Luckily, I felt better after being sick, but I still returned to the boat where I managed to choke down lunch.
For the third dive, my friends used the camera. Here's a pretty cool shot they got:
On our third dive, we saw a giant sea turtle and a sting ray and I'm so bummed that I didn't get pictures. On the way back to shore, I got sick on the boat again. It was not fun!
We spent another 2 days after our diving adventure up in the Port Douglas area. We toured the Daintree Rainforest with a crazy tour guide who really just wanted to teach us how to live off of the land, whereas we just wanted to see pretty views. We returned to Sydney and spend another day and a half exploring Sydney, which was really fun. We went to Paddington Market, which had great clothes and jewelry for sale and then went to Manly beach, which I hadn't done last time I was in Sydney. It's a really cool little beach area with a boardwalk and all kinds of beachy sores and restaurants. We also had great beers in Sydney and went to a restaurant that we really loved when we went there a couple of years ago.
And now I'm on the way home and back to the grind of the real world (and the rest of my 30 Before 30!!)
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