Swimming with the Fishes

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Wake up and get to breakky before our 8am boarding on the boat. Our room was the last to get to breakky so we got the last of the eggs (and saussages if you eat them). Everyone moved to the boat and it was pouring rain. : ( we were hoping it would clear up but in case it didnt i was still going to give it a go when snorkeling (i paid for it, i wanna do it even if im frozen).

Everyone sat inside the cabin until the sun started to come out and then some of us moved to the deck, drank goon or beer and relaxed. When we got to our first destination: Border island, for some snorkeling!!! the weather had completely cleared. Here is where we snorkled.










We were told before we went in the water what the signs and signals are for if you are ok, see nemo, or are in trouble. We were also informed that since its not bluey/stinger season we didnt have to wear our sting suits but seeing as how someone got stung last week it might be a good idea. Me and Alyssa opted to wear them, mostly for me to cover up my horrid burns (kinda embarrassing).


I think we look pretty hot personally.....







I jumped in the water instead of sliding in or taking the boat to the snorkeling spot because I was planning on swimming there. Let me tell you, this did not happen. The cold water was such a shock to my body and I am so out of shape that I climbed right back up to the boat and took the motor boat to the snorkel spot. I sooo need to work out when i get home.

Once I got dropped off by the boat in the specific place for snorkeling I had a bit of a panic. I think i had excited myself so much about being in the GBR that I panicked when I went to breath out of the mouthpiece with my face in the water. The first time i ever snorkeled I was totally cool, idk what happened. I told myself to shut up and do it, cuz im paying for it, and then all went well.

Anwyay. the snorkeling was good, there were some nice corals to see and anemones. It was different from when I snorkeling in Puerto Rico which was much more shallow and more plentiful of both fish and coral and much more bright. I was almost a bit disapointed with the GBR bc it was soo deep (i thought swimming closer to the shore would help but it only turned into rocks), hardly any fish, and not so colorful. Every once in a while I would hold my breath and try to swim as far down as I could but I kept floating up and could only dive down so far.

Once we got done with snorkeling we had lunch and relaxed on the boat. Lunch was total crap; sandwhiches (the only tolerable part) with odd veggies and soggy rice and a cold leg of chicken. god awful!

I was still burnt so I tried to keep my towel on as much as possible, and i had a tankini on which helped. Seriously, it looked like I had a skin birth defect bc it was so blotchy and ish.

Our next stop was Whitehaven Beach... i swear this is the beach where angels are born.
We got off the boat and went to an overlook first. soooo beautiful.







There was a tour going on and I over heard her say that the patterns made by the sand in the water change all the time with the currents, you could come here one day and back the next and it wont look the same. Being here just for a couple of hours has proved that not only is this true but the patterns change even as you stay the day.

She also mentioned that the island in the left image is Esk Island, home to a majority of the poisonous snakes in australia. This is comforting knowing that they arent really too many in vicotoria but it makes me wonder if they swim from Esk to this island and are also here??

L: Image of a piece of the group. C: Alyssa, Anu and I, R me (please note how friggin red my legs are, haha)










After the lookout point we walked down to the beach to touch the sand that is such a phenomenon of the island. The 99% silica sand is created by water churning at quarts underneath the island. This island has the highest percent of silica sand and therefore I guess it would be the whitest beach out there? Since the sand is a natural wonderful phenomenon (and makes it one of the top 5 beaches in the world) they dont encourage removing sand for any purposes. However, at one point NASA was given permission to use the sand in making something or other. The sand is good for polishing jewlery, but super bad for you camera bc i is so small.

The sand was kinda like snow. You sank really far in it in some places and other places you walked on top of it. Once you got in the water, unlike normal, you could look down and see your feet from waste deep in the water. Kinda amazing.

I walked the beach a bit until I got to where my roomates were out in the water. Decided to go out to where they were. I got so far and then Claudia started coming in and so I stayed where I was while I waited for her. I was up to my neck at this point, barely touching the floor. Claudia shouted to me that she was having problems reaching me. I tried walking in to the shore and I realized I was being pulled out. I felt down to my thigh and you could feel the current pulling me. It was extremely scary knowing that the water was almost more powerful than myself and there were no lifeguards to save us. A good bit of work later I somehow made it back on land, not really sure how. It was kinda an amazing feeling. Ana was still out there and she was so far away that we werent sure if she was ok or not. A good bit of worrying later and she made her way to claudia and me on the shore.

Alyssa came over and asked where I had been this whole time. We filled her in on what happened. Apparently the strong current was only where we were, she was swimming a couple of yards down and was fine. We took some quick photos (which anu has on her camera and doesnt want to surrender) and then had to walk back to our boat on the other side of the island.

We got back to the Island where we were staying just in time for a quick shower and dinner. They had another theme for the night, jungle fever. They gave you a piece of fabric and you could paint it how you liked. We decided that since we dressed up for the last one we didnt need to wear a piece of cloth and pretend to be from the jungle.

Images of our accommodation and the boat we were on.









Image from our balcony out at the water at sunset.


Instead of spending time getting dressed we had drinks, the lasts of the wine people had brought for the boat. 3 drinks in and I could feel the goon.

Dinner was ok, breaded chicken, pototates, crappy pasta etc. We ate and then our skipper wanted us to stay around for some drinking games. We played two games: 1)skull your beer or snake bite and then pass a string through your clothes. 2) skull your beer or snake bite and then put a coin btwn your butt cheeks and then try and walk and then drop it in a bucket. There were two teams and you played for your team to win the fastest. It was fun and I was a tad bit drunk after that.

Once we were done with the games everyone dispersed to party and drink and be merry with all the other guests on the island. These guests were a bit different from last nights. Not as rowdy, but very loud and proud. take a look for yourself!


Some dancing on the dance floor and a bit of talking to the irish group on our trip and then bed at about 1. I got back to our living place and everyone was chatting, two guys decided to go skinny dipping and then I had to go to sleep if I ever wanted to wake up to catch our boat the next day.