Great Barrier Reef

     With good weather forecast, our first priority was a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef.  The GBR is composed of groups of reefs that stretch for approximately 1600 miles along the Queensland  (Australian state to the north of New South Wales) coast.   In most places, it is around 100 km offshore, requiring a boat ride to reach it.

     The trip from Hamilton island to Hardy Reef takes about 2 hours so we opted for a fairly large boat operation, Fantasea, so that the kids could move around during the boat rides.  The first hour of the trip was pretty smooth since we were still among the Whitsunday islands.  The second hour was a bit rougher in the open ocean but we are all lucky to have no problems with it.  We were also excited to see more humpback whales, this time in groups of three or four at a time.  The expelled water from their blowholes is the easiest and best way to spot them.

    Fantasea operates a large pontoon platform at the reef with several viewing options, something we felt might be nice since the water temperature was OK, but a bit cool after a while.  We donned our wetsuits and snorkeled first.  Amazing underwater scenery - fish (yes Caroline, we saw Nemo!), anemones, giant clams, coral, sea cucumbers, sea turtles and lots more fish!  While warming up, we spent some time on a glass bottomed submersible boat and an underwater viewing platform. 

Gorgeous colors!

This sea turtle was gnawing on some algae growing on the pontoon platform.  Mia got back in the water and swam alongside him for a bit - a highlight for her!

As the tide went out, lots of coral was exposed.  For this reason, the reef is growing out now rather than up. 



I had fun playing with the camera settings amid the gorgeous colors on the trip back.



     

A great excursion!  So glad we got to do this while we're here.