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October 4, 2009 - Diving at The Great Barrier Reef

By Melissa Markham on October 4, 2009 5:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today was absolutely spectacular! We were up at 5 (today, Katrina was the one who was the hardest to get out of bed). In spite of the fact that we were ready to leave at 6:35 a.m., it was still 6:50 by the time we got downstairs to the vehicle and out of the building. It was like old home week when we got to the Tusa 5. There were several crew members there today who had been there on Friday and they were all pleased to see us back again. Considering the number of people that take their tours, it was nice to be remembered.

I just want to take a moment here and say that Australians are excellent at customer service and people back in the States should take some lessons. They make a real effort to learn the names of the people on the tours. We had a snack at a cafe after we got off of the boat and one of the ladies came and talked to us and asked us how our vacation was going, where we were from, what we had been up to and before we left she gave us a coupon for a complimentary drink with lunch should we come back. This is pretty indicative of the courtesy we have been extended everywhere in this country. It makes such a big difference to walk into a store, onto a tour, and have people treat you like you are more than just a customer. The funny thing is that here in Australia the minimum wage is twice what it is at home, and people here don't expect tips. But their service is so supreme, we have found ourselves giving tips on several occasions. I just can't stress enough what a wonderful experience it has been to be here and how wonderfully we have been treated.

Now, back to today. We knew our way around the ship today and it was nice to be able to help others when we saw them stuck or looking for something. We settled in and the ride today was calmer than Friday's. I didn't see anyone get sick.

We arrived at today's first spot on the reef and were given 2 hours to snorkel. It was absolutely amazing! We saw so many cool fish and other ocean life! I didn't want to get out at the end of two hours (but I was a little cold). Then we had lunch, a reef lesson, and we were off to another site where we got to snorkel and dive for an hour. If possible, it was more spectacular than the first site. There were these amazing canyons among the coral. I could have spent hours there, but we had to leave.

During our two dives, I saw a stingray, 4 giant clams, and a green sea turtle (I followed him along for about 10 minutes), and tons of other sea life. The kids saw the clams, but missed the turtle and stingray and weren't very happy with me.

Today, we took photos with our underwater camera, but it is 35 mm film and it will be a while before we get it printed. But the photographer was awesome and got some good photos of all of us which I am going to share with you. They also provide pictures of oceanlife on the reef and I will share a couple of those too for fun! Today was soooooo awesome!!!!!!

The Markham clan at 7:40 a.m.

An enthusiastic Yumi - today's activity director.

Daniel is suited up and ready to dive!

Daniel is having fun diving!

Katrina is really a fish!

Jack really got into the snorkeling!

Katrina never misses an opportunity to be in front of the camera!

Here is one of the giant clams I saw! It is huge! I bet as big as a normal size dining room table!

Jack at the second site

The photographer caught up with Melissa at the second dive site

Katrina made a friend on the boat. Lillee from Canaberra, Australia.

This looks like the sea turtle that I wam behind for several minutes.

Watching these creatures in their natural environment. Being part of their world was one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced. The feeling of being totally alone, the thrill of swimming through schools of fish, the joy of watching these fish swim about and eat - all of it is indescribable and I will remember it forever!

So today, I drove us home. I did quite well, except everytime I wanted to turn, I kept turning on the windshield wipers (they are on opposite sides of the steering wheels here). Daniel took a couple of photos to commemorate the occasion...

Melissa driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road and getting away with it!

Jack's response to the knowledge that his mom is driving!(Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jack!)

On the way home, we snapped this photo...I am telling you Australians think of everything! Tired of your family? Got family that just won't go away? Just call the Family Removal Service!