The Great Barrier Reef: More than Great

We arrived home Tuesday evening to find Sydney airport in the  middle of a security breach!  After reflecting on the ease of domestic transport (didn't even have to show a photo ID to get my boarding passes), it was unexpected to find that they had evacuated the entire terminal of all staff and passengers.  Everyone had to be re-screened because 14 or 16 people had gone through security without proper screening.  The airport was "chokkers" with people, and the airspace filled with planes unable to land because of lack of gates and/or ground crew.  An interesting end to an otherwise flawless family holiday.

Starting in Airlie Beach, we enjoyed picture-perfect weather, which has been rare in Queensland this year.  (You may remember they've gotten quite a bit of rain and experienced overwhelming flooding.)  We rented a Moke and drove up the coast.  Kudos to Larry for driving a Very Stripped Down vehicle that maxed out at 80kph and had the gear shift on the left-hand side.

We drove the Moke to Cedar Creek Falls.  Along the way, we felt very adventurous as we drove over a slightly flooded causeway to reach a secluded and stunning waterfall.  We proceeded to break our camera on the rocks lining the falls - thank goodness for camera phones!

Large, striped lizards greeted us in the parking lot. As far as I can tell, they were monitor lizards (aka Goanna lizards), and they were more afraid of us than we were of them.  As soon as you started approaching, they moved rather quickly into the woods.

We also drove up to Bowen to see Horsehoe Beach, a lovely little beach where we ate our lunch with a view of the Coral Sea.  Why is it called the Coral Sea?  Well, along with sea shells, little bits of coral are strewn across the beach.

The next day was our Big Adventure Day.  We boarded the FantaSea Cruises boat and headed 40 miles out to sea where their ReefWorld pontoon awaited us.

Fortified by 2 immodium, a dramamine, and a Xanax, I not only survived the 2-hour boat ride but donned a bright pink stinger suit, goggles, and a life jacket to snorkel with the denizens of the deep.  (I looked like a giant Peep in the pepto-pink stinger suit.)  After mastering the art of breathing through the snorkel, I floated along like a giant piece of seaweed, admiring the flash of blue and green darting around me.  I was most impressed with the giant clams with their brightly-colored "mouths" that opened and closed rhythmically. (Okay, so I didn't take the following two pictures, but what I saw looked exactly like these photos.)

Nicole made her first scuba dive, and the instructor called her "a natural." She positively glowed when she returned from her dive and wanted to go again.  Good onya, Nicole!

The trip out to the Reef was definitely the highlight of our Airlie Beach stay - then it was on to Club Med on Lindeman Island.  Watch for that update on the next post!