Time to find Nemo!

June 20, 2010 - It's 6am as we awake just prior to sunrise. I'm excited for what lies ahead...my first dive in the World famous Great Barrier Reef!! The bus scoops us up at 8am outside our Mango Tree accommodations and it's just a short drive to the marina where our home for the day will depart. As we walk up to the Poseidon vessel, my nerves are shaky and my heart beats just a tick faster. Why you ask? Not because what Olivia and I may see under the water, but what our experiences will be above water. The weather is still calling for 25-30 knot winds, which will equate to strong surge and surf on the way out and back. We both have our motion sickness patches tucked firmly behind our ear, but will it work? Only time will tell.

As the huge dive vessel begins its journey, we're both anxious but the patch seems to be working. An hour and half later we're at the Agincourt ribbon reefs of the Great Barrier and we're ready to take the plunge! Fifty minutes later, we emerge from the Coral Sea safe and sound, but are truly disappointed. While the other group on the boat saw 2 white tip reef sharks, 1 turtle and a stingray, we were stuck only witnessing 2 giant clams...yay! =/ The next dive was no better and got more disappointing as stories were swapped again..."Did you see that shark?" - "No, we just saw a giant clam." The last dive of the day held similar results. My editorial...our dive master had no sense of direction or is deathly scared of sharks, because he steered us clear of any big marine life and was content showing us giant clams and little Nemos.

The trip back home was even rougher and even with medicinal support, Olivia almost blew chunks (as an aside one girl threw up about 10x during our all day adventure). We got back to the dock at 4:30pm and headed home for some dinner and relaxation.

On tap for tomorrow - Daintree rain forest tour! Hopefully that yields more fun results. Stay tuned!