Ok ok you lot....you're all very funny!!! However I'd like to take this opportunity to point out two things. Firstly, the dress was purchased purely for practical reasons, not fashion. And secondly I think you'll find both my dear Father and Husband have both worn dresses far more often than I have and are therefore in no position to take the p**s! But don't worry Justine and Michelle, I don't think there's much risk of me turning into a girly girl - I shall wear the dress with my usual style!!!!!

So, as you are all probably aware, the last 'adventure' we had to do in Aus, was a visit to the Great Barrier Reef......well, it would be rude not to! What can I say? It was frightening, but at the same time fantastic. The water and the reef were a lot different to the snorkelling we did on the Whitsundays boat trip. The ocean was a lot bigger here - no sheltered little beach coves - just the big open ocean!!! Plus it was really strong - I drifted so easily in the current, so had to keep coming up for a look around to check I wasn't miles from the boat (and when I was, it took a lot of effort to swim back over again!). Also the reef itself is huge. And I mean huge! There is such a variety of corals and fish and there are massive 'underwater cliffs' if that makes sense. It really did look like big mountains of coral underwater. When swimming over these 'cliff edges' it was quite scary to see how far down they went (divers could only go to about 30 metres) and you could actually feel a bit of pressure change and the temperature changed too - so I quickly swam back into the more shallow parts - it was safer and warmer there!

As you can see, I took an underwater camera in there with me this time. But please forgive the quality of the photos. It was unbelievably hard to take photographs here. I was just getting bobbed about all the time by the ocean that I couldn't actually get the view finder up to my eye long enough to see what was through it - plus big goggles don't help! And also .... fish move! How rude...you think they'd stay still and pose for a photo when asked. And if it wasn't right in front of you it doesn't pick up, and as there was no flash on the camera the colours haven't been picked up at all - but despite all that, I'm sure you can kind of get the idea!

Ok, I shall now answer the question everyone wants to know. Did we see a shark? (ah hem, drum roll please!......) Yes we saw a shark! Now don't get too excited, it wasn't 'jaws' or anything, it was just a white tip reef shark, but a shark none the less. They're not really dangerous at all. Their mouths aren't big enough to take a big enough chunk out of you (maybe just a couple of fingers!). We saw a variety of fish, loads of different colours and sizes (one was as big as a child!) and also lots of different coral. Also saw a large clam and nemo! (aka a clown fish) but these are hard to see and difficult to get photos of unless you're diving, cause they live in the coral and don't really swim about much. However, the highlight (and I still can't believe it happened) is that while splashing about on my own exploring all the sights of the ocean and following some fish for a while - I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned round just in time to be met by a gorgeous big turtle. It was fab. I managed (again, can't quite believe it worked) to grab a photo of it as it came past me, cause for something so big, these things move mighty fast! Unbelievable! (Do I sound like Steve 'Crikey' Irwin!) Seriously though, it was one of the best things - to swim alongside a wild turtle in the Great Barrier Reef! It was only a brief encounter as he quickly dived down and wasn't seen again - but it was enough for me!

So all in all, a great experience - fish, coral, a shark and a turtle - was pretty lucky eh?

However, to finish off our 'weird' experiences in Australia - we went Toad Racing the other night. Yes, you read it correctly...Toad Racing. Andi and I went into different races so we could compete against each other - but we both lost! It was great fun, although as if it wasn't weird enough, it was with Cane Toads! For those who don't know, these toads are poisonous and kill predators that eat them, but some strange people take to licking their backs as the poison sends you slightly mad!! It's actually an illegal drug in Australia - weird. It was great fun though and the guy running it was hilarious. I called mine Terry the Toad, however I wasn't entirely happy when my loving husband stood up and named his after his wife!!!!!