Magical

Our catamaran glided out of the Cairns Marina at 8:15 to begin our Great Barrier Reef dive/snorkeling quest. I've never really wanted to dive. I tend to get claustrophobic in small, enclosed places and assumed scuba gear would affect me the same way. Dive - Barrier Reef was at the top of Greg's dwindling bucket list. He jumped out of a plane with me, I figured I could dive with him.

Sat through our instructional "class" (I use the term very loosely) as we made our way out to the tiny piece of this magnificent natural wonder. And then we were certified for an introductory dive. Greg put on a wet suit; I chose not to as we just beat the stinger (jellyfish) season; they're expecting it to start any day. As we waited our turn, I kept going over the important stuff: breath normally (!); if water gets in mask, two finger push between eyebrows, blow through nose; hold nose and gently blow to stabilize ear pressure, if regulator hose comes out of mouth, put back in and say "two"; hand signal for ok, in trouble, need to go up...and then it was time to test ourselves in the water. Geared up, tank on back, flippers on, mask on, just step off. Into the freakin' ocean. 

Held on to a bar and practiced. Breathing, signals, mask clearing. I was having to do that a LOT and did NOT like the "drowning" feeling I got because of it. Instructor got me a smaller mask and voilà, not so much, here we go. Our instructor hooked arms with me on one side and Greg on the other and down, down, down we went.

It. Was. Magical. As soon we got within site of the reef, the other stuff kinda became second nature. To see the varied plants and brightly colored fishies right THERE, inches away and around me...was awesome. My eyes were aware of the incredible variety of life and movement but my ears only heard the bubbles from my breathing. That combination made for a sorta surreal, out-of-body experience. 

Yes, I had an underwater camera but it's the old fashioned kind, so I really have no idea if I captured anything. I'm skeptical any still shot will adequately reflect what we saw. And then we were being guided up, up, up. Wow.

Went out in a glass bottomed boat. Views were less than impressive after diving so close, but the guide was passionate, educational, and entertaining. Ate lunch. Boat moved to new location. We snorkeled. Greg teased me because I went out with the first group and came in with the last. Just wanted to see as much as I could. Toward the end I got caught in a strong current and I was a bit tired, but the crew was aware and scooped up us stragglers in a dingy and took us back to the mother ship for ride back in.

What a day!