Update!: Great Barrier Reef

I don't know why I've been so lazy in updating this thing, but I guess I'll stop being so lackadaisical. Even though it's been over a month since I went on my epic Easter trip, I should write about it. On the plane ride back I had written every little random thing I could possibly think of into my planner. Thank god I did that or else half my irreplaceable memories would have been lost.

Before departure

Right, so landing in Cairns it was raining. It rained for a good four days straight, in hindsight I suppose it wasn't that bad, but during the downpours I certainly felt like shit. Cairns is a city where it's a total Backpacker's city and more of a gateway to all the adventure activities (white water rafting, horseback riding, skydiving etc..) with lots of hostels. We stayed at Calypso, a funky place with cool walls and colours. Luckily we got our own self contained room with a working air conditioner. The humidity was something else. I don't think I've ever experienced such high humidity. For example, I left out a box of Cheerios (best breakfast food ever) and the air con got switched off. Coming back at night the box was pretty much so moist it was no use. Our wet clothes never dried, in fact it felt like they got wetter if we left them out..The ants in the room were also unwelcomed. I unknowingly dropped a couple of Cheerios on the ground and the ants would swarm it and no jokes, the Cheerio would turn black from all the ants on it. Protein anyone?

(as I'm writing this Chicago just took the lead 2-0 over us in Game 6.. ugh. Damn you Bieksa)

Right, so the first day was spent at Woolshed. Next day basically went into town to see what there was to do on a rainy day.. the answer was sadly, nothing. Ate, shopped at the market a bit, went back to the hostel and read/chilled. Found out Sandy's friend decided to go back to Melbourne early because of the weather. Drastic, but something that didn't even cross my mind. Didn't want to go out because of our Great Barrier Reef trip on Monday.

Great Barrier Reef time. My excitement was building from the moment I woke up. We went on a day cruise offered by Ocean Spirit Cruises. It was one of the cheapest options available, but by no means was it a bad boat. For the first time in two days there was SUNSHINE. The marina where we would board was perfect, even at 7:30 in the morning. Warm, not too humid, and the bright sunshine rejuvenated everyone's spirits. Tea/coffee & cookies were served. There was a significant number of Japanese tourists on the boat, I say this because they hoarded like 20 bags of cookies. Asians living up to their stereotypes, I love it, ha.

(f--ing eh, 3-0 now. This hurts)

Since we were all pretty tired from waking up so early, we napped [uncomfortably] as the boat headed towards our first destination, Oyster Reef. During this we got debriefed on how to breathe underwater for our introductory dive and basic skills and things we should do/know. On land, I thought it was all pretty basic.. until I actually got into the water. We were the first group to go on our dive while other people snorkelled first. The tank + weights were surprisingly heavy as we were strapped in. The stinger suits (to protect us from jellyfish stings as it was jellyfish season) were a bit awkward and they charged us $8 for them. Rape. Once we got into the water, we practiced clearing our mask and breathing properly. I was first. For some reason I could not get the hang of it..and I forgot how to clear my mask. Embarrassing because the instructor seemed to be getting annoyed at me. Oh well, she's being paid to deal with idiots like myself.

The sensation of breathing underwater was something new and a bit scary. You had to take deep breaths and only through your mouth obviously. I'm the type of person to usually only rely on the nose to breathe so that was an adjustment.

Once everyone got used to it, we "dove" down about 12 metres? I think it was.. Something pretty shallow. With my trusty underwater digi cam, I went crazy snapping pictures of everything possible. It was pretty neat. We even got to see this huge stingray! The guide said those are rare to see, it was massive. Nemo was found, I think that was everyone's goal. And the rest of the dive went relatively smoothly. It was sometimes hard trying to avoid hitting the corals as we'd sink down due to the tanks + weights. Kicking continuously seemed to help but I was apparently too fat and started to drag the group lower into the coral. :) I don't think I'm capable of diving, ha.

Stingray!

After that, I started to get seasick.. really bad. For some reason the dive made it worse. There were ginger tablets the boat provided to ease/prevent nausea, I took another two (4 total now for the day) in hopes it would chase it away. Lunch was being served too, sadly I was feeling too nauseated to eat much. Shame too, there was a good selection of fresh salads, fruits and meat. The prawns looked disgusting and made me want to vomit some more.

I snorkelled a bit after, fighting through my weak ass self for being prone to sea sickness. Min had it worse though, she was out for a good hour, ha. Snorkelling was a bit cooler because you could sort of go out on your own to the coral and see the marine life in its full glory. A lot of fish were spotted, none of which I could name or recognise, but it was still awesome.

We departed for Upolu Reef after lunch. During this, it was still relatively sunny, although the boat would literally go through rain clouds, then out into clear, sunny skies, then back again.. this went on the entire day. When it was sunny, I ran out on deck trying to soak in some rays. It was glorious.

So, got to Upolu, and just snorkelled for about a good 45 minutes here. I used a noodle because I was too lazy to swim on my own. Swimming felt good though, I sort of miss it after a couple years of not getting into a pool. More of the same thing as before. A lot of pictures, some failed ones, and just some perfect relaxation out in the ocean looking at the corals and unique fish species. Hard to describe, but this was finally a lifelong dream achieved. I let out 'holy shits' and 'wows' subconsciously many times. Everyone needs to experience this especially with the deteriorating conditions the Reef is in now. It won't be around for much longer with current predictions (I'm learning alllll about this in my Ecology class, it's great).

Had cake and a glass of sparkling wine on our way back to Cairns. The rain started to set in halfway and didn't let up as we were going back to dark, grey clouds. Oh well, the sun was good while it lasted. :( Got off at around 5pm and headed to Woolworth's to get some groceries for dinner. Eating out every night eats a hole into your pocket, well mine especially, when you're trying to save. Pasta + soup was on the menu tonight. Cost us a total of $2.60/each? I think. We left a bowl of leftover pasta in the microwave.. I wonder if anyone actually ate it.

Gorgeous eh?

Again, we had an early day the next day as we would attempt to get to Cape Tribulation. The past couple of days all the tour buses couldn't even get up to the Rainforest because of the massive flooding. The only road leading into Cape Tribulation just so happened to be on top of a creek and because of the torrential rain, water levels prevented many cars from getting across. We had our fingers crossed that it would subside enough by tomorrow to let us go..

Funky pool at Calypso

Okay, update #1 done (EFFING HELL. 4-1 NOW. ASJKHAKSJDHAKSJDHASJKLDHALSD :'(...)
Will update again when I'm not as depressed. (OH GREAT. 5-1)