From Reef to Rainforest -Part 1

I have finally finally finally seen, swam and snorkelled on The Great Barrier Reef and I'm still basking in the feeling I got from ticking this one massive thing off my bucket list! For those who grew up swimming and snorkelling in the ocean (and many who didn't) The Great Barrier Reef is something everyone wants to tick off and I have wanted to see it from the moment I saw it on a BBC programme, yes I blame David Attenborough entirely for my obsession with this particular place.

Having heard and read mixed reviews of the reef tours (hugely expensive because of reef tax) we decided to book on to a tour to Green Island instead and pay for snorkelling on top of that. It worked out cheaper this way, and we got the beach thrown in for good measure! Apparently Green Island itself is quite a special place for some of the local aboriginal people: the Guru-Gulu Gungandji. The rainforest grew up out of the sand and now covers almost the entire island bringing with it postcard views and great (though thieving) bird life.

Yes it was amazing and yes I will totally do it again! Even though the water was a little bit cold when we dived in, I soon forgot it as I looked around at the vast expanses of beautiful and colourful coral. We saw everything from blue starfish and stingrays to fish or every single colour and even a couple of turtles! I always find that I tend to focus on one fish and follow that little dude for ages, only to see something cooler and change direction with it.

I honestly felt like I was part of Finding Nemo, it was great. Fun fact: the guys who made finding Nemo actually filmed parts of the Great Barrier Reef which they then turned into animation for the movie to make it as realistic as possible, I thought this was pretty cool. Not so fun fact: apparently when two male clownfish are next to each other one of them turns into a female so that they can reproduce, I don't know about you, but knowing this puts an entirely new spin on the relationship between Nemo and Marivn (his dad) and I'm not sure I will ever be able to watch the film in the same way again!
Anyway it was hands down the best snorkelling I have ever done – but then again it was on the Great Barrier Reef!! And of course I then had no choice but to get an obligatory tourist photo to document it.

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