We arose early from our beds to get ready for a fascinating day ahead of us. We had our bags packed, our room cleaned, and our hopes high. We were going snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef with the professional crew of the Rum Runner IX catamaran!

The bus came in, right on time at 8:15 am. It was a short and anticipatory bus ride to the beach, and a longer but more exciting boat ride to the Great Barrier Reef. It took about one hour to finally get to the spot where we were going to spend the day. After a several minute long lecture about safety and the fitting of masks and fins, we were ready to go.

We took our first jump into what was going to be a spectacular day. The water was very warm, and we swam until we reached the reef and caught our first glance of fish. They were everywhere, swimming and dancing all around us. The coral was amazing. Some were brightly colored; others tanned with a light beige to a darker blue. The scene was filled with swimming fish and colorful coral. We swam around for an hour seeing big fish, little fish, red fish, blue fish. It was truly like a Dr. Seuss poem. If you knew the color, you could find it. Connor saw a turtle that, unfortunately, nobody else saw.

Back on board, we had an awesome lunch, which was included, and we all enjoyed the hot sun. The boat anchored in a new spot and we dove in again, excited to check out the new area. Barry went scuba diving and had a lot of fun. He met up with a damselfish, otherwise known as the farmer fish. We had been told about this fish earlier during our lunch break. The fish fends off anybody who interferes with his garden. He is a vicious little fish! The irony was that Barry also saw a barracuda, but the tenacity of the farmer fish was far more impressive. Connor was disappointed that no one had seen his turtle that morning, but, luckily, Tessa, Connor and Margaret saw another one. We saw many other wonderful sea creatures including spotted blue rays, clownfish, and a large Napoleon wrasse. The day ended much too early, but it was a day we would never forget.

When we got to shore we returned to our hostel, quickly showered, and then headed for Cairns. The drive went quickly and when we got to Cairns, we picked up a pizza at Dominos and enjoyed reminiscing about our adventure.