Saturday- CRUISE! I have never been on a cruise before so it was AWESOME that I was about to board a giant ship (50% bigger than the Titanic!) When we first arrived we sought out our rooms, changed into our swimmers and headed to the top deck. Our suitcases would not arrive until later so we packed a few of the necessities into our carry-ons. We participated in the welcoming/waving goodbye to Brisbane excitement, with live music, line dancing, and more fun! Then almost every single girl grabbed a blue lawn chair, laid out her towel, and got to work; working on a tan that is. For the most part we laid out all day, got dinner, andddddddd…??? Went to the dome, it’s kind of like a “nightclub” but not really. Haha. It was fun though I guess. I think that is about it!
Sunday- AT SEA. Its weird, going to every corner of the boat, and all you see in blue water, everywhere. In all directions, you do not see one, tiny, spot of land. This day at seas was mostly spent out in the sun, once again. I read, ate lunch, laid out, read some more, listened to music, probably fell asleep, then we all went to get ready for dinner that night. We had booked a table in the formal dining room; it was dress-up night! I straightened my hair for the first time in ages, and I put on my little, black dress with my high-heeled shoes and set out on the town… or, I mean, boat. It was nice getting to dress up formally with everyone. I had a five course meal. It was so so so SO good. After dinner we went to an acrobatic and comedian show (or maybe that was the night before).
Monday- Plans got changed. We were headed to the Whitsunday Islands instead of Cairns. This day changed my life, kind of. We got to go scuba diving in the GREAT BARRIER REEF!! We departed from our ship at 700 in the morning to board a smaller boat that drove us over VERY choppy waters, to their pontoon/set-up out in the middle of the ocean. We had the option of going snorkeling (I didn’t choose this option. I hate getting sea water in my mouth, and the waves were a little shoppy). Oh, I forgot to mention it was cloudy and raining…. Of course! If it were to ever rain on anyone it would be us! (I cannot tell you how many times we have heard the phrase, “the weather is NEVER like this!”) Any which way, after signing up for scuba diving they gave us different meeting times. I was the sixth group to go down at 1120. We had an hour and a half to kill so we went on a semi-sub[marine] ride that took us along the GBR. It was pretty cool. It was a little bit harder to see, but we saw a “Dory” and a “Gill” and a lot more other fish! After we got back those of us who still had more time to kill went on ahead and ate a light lunch. We then proceeded to the pontoon, collected and put on our stinger suits (It was stinger/ jellyfish season) and grabbed our flippers. We walked over to the scuba section and they geared us up. First, for us smaller people they placed weights around our stomachs, followed by a MASSIVE and heavy tank that fit on like a backpack. They gave us goggles and had us walked down the stairs into the water. When you walked into the water you walked into a type of chamber basically, underneath the pontoon. This is where we put our flippers on and got used to breathing through a whatcha-ma-callit. It was hard getting used to breathing through your mouth at first. But most of us got used to it (a few backed out all-together, it was a bit overwhelming) I was determined to go scuba diving. I was breathing fine, I think my breaths were still a bit staggered, but I was doing this thing! To my non-surprisement breathing through the regulator was like a second nature. You forgot all about the weirdness of the breathing as soon as you saw that reef. It was so amazing! An instructor took those of us who were uncertified by the hand, and led us around the reef, we really did not have much to do, except enjoy every bit of God’s beauty, under the sea, with out eyes. It was absolutely stunning. I realize it would have been even more marvelous, had the sun been out, but it was still one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. I saw a ton of clams, a “NEMO” in his anemone, many schools of different fish, and more. We swam next to a giant fish that was bigger than even we were! This thing was massive. I think this was also the fish in Finding Nemo that all her little kid-fish swim out of her mouth, following with a “see you after school!” We saw so many more things but I cannot even begin to remember or describe every little thing. I wish I remembered more. I was a bit jealous because the certified divers got to go to a different part of the reef and some of them saw a reef shark, and a puffer fish! Overrall it was an amaxing excursion. We even got to ride a rollercoaster on the way back! (haha, that boat was SO SO SO SO Rocky!!)
Tuesday- Woke up early again, and headed in a shuttle boat to Port Douglas. Can I just say that it was beautiful! Hot, but beautiful. Once we arrived we shopped around just a little. The main street on the way to the beach was really cool. There were a lot of little shops and restaurants. We stopped to get smoothies (some got ice-cream) and it was so good! We spent a lot of our time at the beach, which was GORGEOUS! I felt like I was on a deserted island. It was awesome. We saw a lady sunbathing topless. Haha, this probably brings that count up to a handful now. People don’t like wearing tops in the sun here! Although I assume it would be more comfortable. That day I felt like taking my top off. It felt natural. But I felt as if it would be unacceptable, haha. It would also have been very awkward had someone walked by from our group and seen me. After the beach we walked back through town, stopped and ate, and then headed back for the boats and then on to our ship. That night we got ready and had dinner, and
No comments:
Post a Comment