Port Douglas & Gt. Barrier Reef

After only a night in Cairns we headed up to Port Douglas which is a beautiful Marina town. The town is very quaint and had the loveliest shops which Katie and Stacey found entertained their time, they just had to remember that its all got to fit in there backpack.....although that's what the postal service is for right??

Our Hostel was nice and really centrally located with friendly laid back staff. One of the main attractions of Port Douglas is the Great Barrier Reef, so we booked ourselves on a snorkeling trip. We were a little disappointed that we wouldn't be able to go scuba diving but due to the time of our flight the next day the pressure wouldn't be any good on our body and we decided that you would all rather have us back as one piece!

We weren't sure what the weather would be like out on the reef due to the Cyclone that was near by and a number of the trips had been cancelled that week but by the time that we went out the weather was a bit better but the boat ride was very choppy. Our first stop off was at a reef called the Playground and the variety of fish were amazing and there was some spectacular purple coral. It was quite hard work snorkeling with the current as it kept pushing us further out but we still managed to see a great deal. The second stop was at a reef named Halloween and if we thought the variety of fish had been spectacular at the first stop then we were in for a nice surprise as they got even better and the water had also calmed down so was much easier to swim around and see them all.

Our final stop was at a reef called Swallow and for this snorkel we had our a reef guide who was excellent, he would dive down and collect different types of fish and coral for us to hold. Unfortunately we don't have any photos so you can all do your homework and find pictures online. The first was a sea cucumber and a pineapple sea cucumber they were strange to touch and when you held them you could feel them pulsate. We also held a mushroom coral which had a harder texture and when lifted out of water and into sunlight it would produce its own natural sunscreen. I think personally that one of the best underwater creatures that we got to hold was the Purple star fish that was bigger than your hands and being able to hold it was fantastic.

A good day was had in the water and if was definitely the best variety of fish that we had ever seen. Our only disappointment was that we never got to find Nemo, just his cousin a black clown fish, so the search continues.

I hope you have enjoyed your underwater experience!

Love you all lots xx