It was an early morning (again) but we were very excited as we were finally going to see the Great Barrier Reef! We boarded the Derwent Hunter, a tallship built in 1946 to set said toward Hayman Island, in the Whitsunday Islands to go and see the reef. The ship was beautiful and the turquoise water was very warm and inviting. We put down anchor and were ferried to the beach where we put on our snorkels and headed into the water. What an amazing sight! The coral was unbelievable and the fish were everywhere; all different colors and sizes. We were impressed with the parrot fish, the sea cucumbers and the amazing clams that we saw. After our first dive, we headed across the straight to Cave Cove where we jumped in again and saw some clown fish, more coral and even more amazing fish. Layla was very upset that she didn't get to see a sea turtle, but what we did see was amazing enough.

After our snorkelling it was back on the boat for a magnificent lunch, drinks, and to set sail for Airlie Beach again. Layla got to help put up and take down the sails which she really enjoyed. Overall, a magnificent day on the water with some amazing snorkelling that we haven't seen anything like.

We are excited for tomorrow as we are going to meet up with Grace, Mary and Steve that we met in Alice Springs during the last vacation and then check out the Airlie Lagoon for a day of relaxing in the sun!