Week 22- Australia (Cairns) Day 4
Today we went to see the Great Barrier Reef and were all really excited. As always we were up early and walked down to the harbour to check in. We were on the 'Passions for Paradise' boat. As we checked in we bumped into Dorothy and Steven again... They were on the same trip! This is about the 4th time we have bumped into them on trips so we all found it very entertaining!

We boarded the boat and had a nice cuppa tea on the front of the boat. It was a beautiful day so we were straight into our bikinis and sunbathing on the deck. We had to fill in a few forms for scuba diving, I was hoping they were going to allow me to dive (Whitsundays couldn't find my PADI licence). Brad had also got his medical note so he could scuba dive today!! We spent the first part of the sunbathing and then it was time to dive. At first they weren't going to let me but my sister had sent me a different scuba qualification I got in Turkey and they accept that.. Phew! Me and Gem went down together and Brad went down with the people who had never tried it before. Wendy decided to just snorkel.

The dive was really cool and we swam along with a turtle for quite a while, he was really chilled and not bothered by us being there. We only went about 8metres but the coral was amazing. We also saw Christmas trees, a massive string ray and some nemo :-) Our instructor wasn't that great so we decided not to go down for the second dive. Brad wasn't able to dive because his ears were in too much pain from the skydive :-( He got half way down but couldn't go further. The doctor told him if they hurt not to push it as they could burst and he wouldn't be flying home!

It was freezing cold when we got back out the water so it took a while to warm up. It was then time for lunch... We had a massive plate of chilli com carne in wraps and different salads. It was really yummy, we also had fresh fruit afterwards! When we stopped at our second destination for the day me, Brad and Wendy decided to go snorkelling. The sea was quite choppy so it was hard to swim but the fish were INCREDIBLE. So many beautiful colours and sizes. There were a few massive bat fish hanging around at the back of the boat, they came so close I touched one!!

It was then time to head back to Cairns, me and Brad both fell asleep inside until a huge wave went over the top of the boat and shocked us!! Gemma and Wendy were sunbathing outside but luckily didn't get wet! We walked back to the hotel afterwards and cooked a stir fry for dinner. I had a job application due in so I spent the rest of the night trying to get it submitted, Brad helped me out and kept me from going insane!