Today's excursion is out to Low Iles, an hour and a bit off Port Douglas on the inner reef. The plan all along was to go snorkeling on the Barrier Reef, so we'd been looking forward to it for many weeks; every time we contemplated things like a helicopter ride over Katherine Gorge, we'd decide to walk away and save the money for a trip out to the reef. In the end it was soooo worth it!
The weather was absolutely perfect for snorkeling - no wind for the last few days meant clear water and the sun was out for the 'postcard' photos. We saw lots of coral, fish large and small, as well as quite a few small reef sharks (plus at least one big shark that I didn't even see; I saw it later when reviewing the video!) Even though we were swimming in the ocean, and been within a metre of reef sharks, we were surprisingly not scared of them. To be honest I was very concerned about meeting a shark that might want to eat me. However all that fear disappeared after the first shark swam past without showing any interest in me at all.
The tour company put on a fabulous smorgasbord lunch, but to be honest we put off eating until the last possible moment, because we didn't want to leave the water!
Relaxing with a drink on the trip back, while watching the colours of the ocean change as the sun started to go down, was a lovely way to cap off the day. Unfortunately the lack of wind that gave us the clear water, meant that we couldn't use the sails.
There's no doubt that this will be a day we'll talk about for years!
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