Monday, November 30, 2009

The Great Barrier Reef

Well I am about to embark on my plane ride home and I am just wasting time waiting for my flight time. I am on my computer so here is the update that I wrote about the Great Barrier Reef. It was written the day I went so that's why it says today. Love you all and see you all soooooon :)

I experienced the Great Barrier Reef today!!!! It was AMAZING!! Actually that word doesn’t even half describe how it was.  It was beyond belief or comprehension. I still don’t think its fully sank in that I just got to see for about a full 5 hours one of the beautiful natural wonders of the world. I mean it was a once in a lifetime experience. There is coral everywhere and even lots of coral in some places, but it was just something about this reef that was breathtaking.

It isn’t anywhere close to the shore so you have to take a boat out there. The sea actually isn’t even that deep where it is and the coral comes up so high in most places that I would be able to touch it with my feet if I would have submerged only a few feet. There are multicolored, multi-shaped and exquisite fish swimming everywhere. They swim around you, away from you and even with you! I was flabbergasted. You don’t think they have much human interaction because they are in the middle of the sea but they didn’t swim away from you. I’m sure that if I was fast enough I would have been able to catch one. But I didn’t try because I didn’t want to disturb the nature peace of the underwater world. Some of the most unique fish I will ever see in my life were there today, and lots of them. One fish was huge, probably about the size of my midsection, and its body was mostly blue and green. There were what looked like big cracks or the edges of where huge scales would be and they were bright orange and pink. It was a neon colored fish but amazing. Nothing like a fish I had ever seen before. I have seen neon colored fish in the aquariums but these fish are incomparable. Their colors were so vivid it was hard to realize they were real fish. They weren’t one solid color either. In fact, I’m not sure I saw one solid colored fish. They were all multi-colored and extraordinarily shaped. You saw fish with the classic shape: round body and two points for a tail. Then you would see fish that had their mouths pointing upward and in place of were it’s hairline would have started, and it’s eyes were much further back and on top of it’s body, like it was constantly looking up. The strangest and coolest looking fish I have ever seen.

I also saw a reef shark! I guess they are afraid of humans though so there wasn’t any threat. I don’t even think it noticed me. It was lying on the bottom of the reef in the sand and it was either just not moving or sleeping because it was motionless. It was a little smaller though and white, or off white. I also saw a stingray or manta ray. It was sand colored because I didn’t see it right away since it was so expertly camouflaged.

Clams look nothing like what they are made out to look like. They just look like huge boulders of coral. There is no breaking point half way up to show that it might house something inside. But they were massive! Some were bigger than a van. In fact more than a couple could house my dads truck, with no problem. Everything in the sea is just so much bigger! It’s like everything is on steroids. Amazing.

The best part was that everything I saw was from snorkeling. I could witness so many amazing things happening all around me and all with just swimming the surface. I signed up to go scuba diving but because of the medicine I am currently taking, I wasn’t allowed, since they didn’t know what it was and the doctor couldn’t examine me to make sure I was ok. Honestly though, that was ok with me. It wasn’t really that deep and I could see everything from the surface so I wasn’t bummed at all actually. It would have been fun but I think I would have been a bit uncomfortable and I was so nervous that I really was a little relieved to find out I couldn’t participate.

On the boat, while we were all waiting to get in the water, a turtle was spotted. I wish I could have seen one in the water, I never did, but I was ecstatic that I got to see one at all. The coolest thing about the Great Barrier Reed is that from the surface, on top of the boat, you would never know that there is a magical world underneath. Just feet below! Nothing sticks out of the water and all you see is blue ocean everywhere. You might see some discoloration from the reef, like green in some areas, but nothing that you think is very neat looking. But just one look in the water, and you have to keep convincing yourself, “yes, this is real.”

            Even the coral was cool. There was coral that looked like brains, flowers, boulders, sticks with spots, or plain coral. Not only were the fish beautifully colored but the coral was also. Some coral I saw was blue but most was white or brownish. Sand colored and I think even pink. There was green stuff growing in some areas too. It looked like deep green lettuce was growing through the coral in some areas. Some coral even looked like a bush but it wasn’t green; it would probably be brown or whitish.

            Overall, the Great Barrier Reef is an adventure I will never forget and definitely one of the most diverse and unique experiences I will even have in my life. I’m so glad I came here and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone!! There were even older people on the trip. Not old people but like my parents age or older. The Great Barrier Reef is for everyone! :) Finally, my dream of seeing the Great Barrier Reef has come true. One of the Seven Natural Wonder of the World I can check off my list! :D 

2 comments:

  1. An absolute joy to read! Katie C

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  2. I hope you get to see the rest of the seven wonders of the world. I know you have seen the Grand Canyon with us when we went to visit your aunt's and uncle in Arizona. LOve you, Mom

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