fishies!

I got to go on a reeeeeeeeef toooooour!

And it was positively spectacular. Seriously, I can only imagine what it must be like to snorkel and dive the Great Barrier Reef when the water is clear and calm (because it was not), since today it was without a doubt the finest and most impressive snorkeling I've ever done. What a great day!

I had to leave really, really early, to be picked up at 7:30, but they took me and a small bus of others from the hostel straight to the boat. In the harbor, the clouds looked really forbidding and not at all promising, but we were going an hour 45 out to the reef, so things could change. Besides, at the tour agency, she booked me on this one specifically because they are a good bet when the weather is iffy. And the weather was largely better once we got out there - a bit of clouds and some rain every now and again, but nothing major and nothing to hide the fish. But the wind was brutal, and it made the trip out really rough.

Everyone asked if I get seasick, and I never have before. But I am a little prone towards some motion sickness at times. Nothing major (except for last year, when I was reacting to some medicine that made me feel somewhat queasy all the time, and like I was in motion constantly. I had to replace my rolling desk chair with a flat one, because I couldn't handle the movement. But I'm not taking the medication anymore), but I still get an occasional nausea.

Today, I was not having the rocking. I didn't get sick, but it was a long trip out of looking at the horizon. Even when we got to the reef site, the boat was tossing a lot back and forth. I was better after lunch, actually, because it got something in my stomach. Plus, about then I also took some ginger pills, so either the wheat rolls or the ginger worked magic, and I was fine the rest of the day.

But the snorkeling! The tours offer intro or certified dives, but I prefer to snorkel, so I stuck to the surface. It's jellyfish season, so I also got to wear a stinger suit (sexay!) and I was cold on the first dive, so on the second I also had a wetsuit on. I was smokin'. But we get to snorkel right off the boat, and the coral is so close that it could not have been better to dive, really. I can't imagine seeing more than I did. there were bright, flourescent fish everywhere. I saw a sea turtle! It was huge and awesome, and we watched him bob up for air. There was some sort of mini squid, some that looked like a long, skinny tube, a giant sea cucumber, MASSIVE giant clams, these big ugly fish with protuberant eyes and a vry lazy attitude, and a Nemo fish (without the wonky fin, though). There were also these fish, maybe 2-3 inches long, with blue and black stripes that act as cleaners for the other fish, eating the barnacles off their gills. They do a little dance to attract the other fish for their services, so I watched that for a while - and then watched them swim INTO THE GILLS of the bigger fish. It was so cool.

Without an underwater camera of being next to me, there isn't really a good way to describe how awesome the day was, but you'll just have to trust me. If not the best day I've had, pretty close to it.

Hilariously, though, I've spent it feeling hungover. And I am so not. Last night was St. Patrick's Day, but because I had to be up early and because I am not 18, I planned an early night. I went out, but was back by midnight and went to bed. I was fine this morning, but a combination of the movement of the boat and the fact that I absolutely did not drink enough water today has left me dehydrated and a bit nauseated - aka, hungover. I didn't even get to drink!

I am better now on the dehydration, but it's been 4 hours, and I still feel like I am in motion. I wish my keyboard would stop swaying side to side....