Wednesday, July 22, 2015

The Outer Great Barrier Reef - Cairns

The final adventure of our 2 week trip up the east coast of Australia was to the Outer Great Barrier Reef. We booked with Sunlover Cruises and travelled the couple of hours (via Fitzroy Island) by large catamaran out to their fixed pontoon at Moore Reef .



Chy and the boys proactively took some pills for the possibility of seasickness 
(it felt like we may have some of the only people that didn't throw up on the boat ride there or back:)


The resort at Fitzroy Island

We passed some kayakers at Fitzroy


We arrived at Moore Reef and were amazed at how clear the water was when the sun was out.

The fish were ready for us to get in the water with them

We hopped on board the semi-submersible boat for a quick ride around to look under the water




After that, we checked out the underwater viewing room of the pontoon






It was time to get in the water. We geared up with snorkelling gear and lifejackets and jumped in!




Click the video below to watch the massive surprise we got in the water!


"Wally" is a giant Maori Wrasse that the tour operator described as like "a big labrador dog." We were petting him and he was swimming up against us. We were all a little freaked out at first - but then it was really interesting.

Liam and Bryce had a "swim" in the area just off the pontoon overlooking the snorkelling area


Here is a video that I took with my "Action Camera." A bit shaky since I'm just holding my camera in one hand as I swam - but some amazing fish (including a large Queensland Grouper). When the sun comes out, all the colours of the reef do too!

The boys had a chance to feed the fish from the pontoon





We said 'goodbye' to the Great Barrier Reef - what an incredible experience!


...and that was the final activity on our East Coast Australia Trip!

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