We arrived in Bargara, just North of Bundaberg, yesterday afternoon and found that we had a brand spanking new apartment that overlooked the beach (just about) and that we were pretty much the only ones in the complex. After settling in we got ourselves booked onto a day trip out to Lady Musgrave Island and the Reef for the following day and had a rude awakening when we were told that the shuttle would pick us up outside the apartment at 5:45 in the morning!! One of the reasons we had chosen Bargara was that it wasn't far from the ferry terminal - only problem was that the ferry was in for repairs and we would be making our way all the way up to Agnes Waters and the Town of 1770, some two hours further north!

Knowing that we would all need a very early night we set about finding a suitable establishment to delight our palette's and satisfy our stomachs, so we took a stroll along the waterfront to see what was on offer. A little way along the road we came to a nice looking restaurant called Kacy's and found ourselves a couple of hours later feeling decidedly stuffed!! The food was great and we even tried Morton Bay Bug after asking the waitress which part to eat and how to get it out of its shell.

This morning we were up at the crack of dawn, quite literally, to catch the transfer bus to the ferry. Any hope we had of catching up on some sleep on the way there soon disappeared as we were bundled into a little eight seater mini-bus with about an inch of space between us all. The journey to the ferry was pretty uncomfortable and very hot until about fifteen minutes from the ferry dock when we realised that we hadn't turned the air conditioning on in the back! Along the way our driver pointed out the local sights and sounds, including the Bundaberg rum distillery and a couple of kangaroos for good measure which were the first that Lynn and Leslie had seen in the wild.

When we got to the ferry dock, we clambered aboard and were told that there would also be a Chinese tour group on the boat, which was obviously delightful news! Once we set off the journey was pretty bumpy and of course none of the Chinese party had the sense to take any motion sickness pills, so instead they all sat there with their heads in paper bags throwing up for the entire journey. And they couldn't do it quietly! Oh no. They had to let everyone on board know exactly what was going on such was the volume of their vomiting! Lynn and Leslie had had enough and ventured onto the top deck to get away from the sound, only to get absolutely drenched from head to toe by a rogue wave as the boat sped onwards.

A little less than two hours later and we had reached the pontoon just off the shore of Lady Musgrave Island where we would be docking for the day. The pontoon is a permanent fixture in the water and acts as a dock for not only the boats coming in for the day, but also for the glass bottomed boats and the semi-submersible vessel that they take out around the reef. There is also a small underwater walkway that acts as an observatory where you can walk down to and look out the windows at all the fish swimming around under the water.

Once we had docked we were taken to the island by one of the glass bottomed boat where we were shown around by one of the tour guides, who told us all about the history of the island and the wildlife that inhabits both the island and the surrounding waters. The island is amazing and can be walked around in as little as twenty minutes as it's so small and the reef goes all the way up to the beach so that you can literally walk off the sand and be swimming among the reef and all the fish that inhabit it. After half an hour the tour was finished and it was time to head back to the pontoon for some lunch.

We were advised to help ourselves to the buffet and not to hold back because pretty soon the Chinese party would be back from their tour and "the Chinese woman will get through that in no time" as one of the staff on the boat put it. We duly obliged and got stuck into all that was on offer before heading back onto one of the glass bottomed boats for a tour around some of the reef to try to find some turtles. There were some absolutely enormous pieces of coral with lots of brightly coloured fish swimming around, but it took us some time to find the turtles. However, when we did find them, we stumbled upon a group of five that were resting in the reef just as one of them surfaced for air, which was pretty cool to see. It was a good way to see some of the reef and the first time that Lynn and Leslie had been able to see it outside of an aquarium.

Once we had got back to the pontoon we quickly got ourselves ready for some snorkelling and jumped straight into the water with our underwater cameras at the ready. The new snorkelling gear that David got for his birthday was really good and made the swimming around a lot easier than when we'd been using the standard equipment that is handed out.

There were hundreds of fish of all different shapes, sizes and colours swimming around and eating the coral and we spent a couple of hours just floating around taking it all in. It was a little odd though when the staff of the boat threw some fish food into the water just in front of us and the fish started going mental just in front of our faces! This was on top of having to contend with big fat Chinese men jumping in on top of us while we were in the water!! The worst thing that anyone can do when out at the reef is touch the coral as it takes hundred of years to grow just a few inches and is killed very easily by human touch. With this in mind a couple from the Chinese group decided it would be a brilliant idea to sit on the reef and then freak out and kick away great big lumps the size of footballs when the fish got anywhere need them!

By the time we got out the water it was time to head back to the mainland before the water got too shallow. When we arrived at the pontoon around midday nearly all of the reef was underwater, but as we left we could now see vast areas of coral that were exposed as the water had dropped and the ferry had to steer carefully out between the marked areas. Apparently when the coral becomes exposed to the sun, it secretes its own factor eighty sunscreen to protect itself and this is then washed off when the water rises again.

The journey back wasn't quite as rough as on the way to the island but once again the Chinese group put on a sound and light show for everyone else with their vomiting. Now China might well be a fascinating and beautiful place steeped in culture and history with many amazing sights; and they might also be at the very forefront of technology; and the Chinese people might be some of the nicest on earth, but on this evidence they shouldn't be let out of their own country yet alone anywhere near anything as delicate as the Great Barrier Reef where they can pretend not to understand anything and walk around being rude, obnoxious and complete a*******s!!

When we were back on dry land it was back into the mini-bus for the trip back to Bargara during which our driver did his best to stack us into the nearest tree, or bend in the road or generally anywhere that he could approach at the speed of sound!

Tomorrow we are planning a nice long lie in before a day of doing very little and an evening of turtle spotting just up the road at Mon Repos.