Great Barrier Reef - A Bit Like Hollywood

I just got back from an overnight, 6-dive scuba adventure on the Great Barrier Reef... it was really cool.

I'm up in Cairns (pronounced Cans) on the northeast coast of Australia. From Brisbane, in the middle of the east coast, to Cairns, is like driving from Indiana to Colorado - about 22 hours. Australia is huge. I was thankful to fly instead.



Beautiful stars - and the southern cross is here, too! It looks like a kite in the sky - the 4 points of the cross; and is on the NZ and Australian flags...

I didn't get to make it to the middle of the outback - there's a big rock there, called Ayer's...
and I guess it turns a really pretty red color early in the morning when the sun comes up.

But instead of all of these things... I got to do what I really wanted to see/do -
Scuba Dive in the Great Barrier Reef!
So cool.

But you know in all reality of the place - sometimes it's like buying jeans at name brand prices,
just to say you have a certain brand... It was really cool to be in Australia and on the actual GREAT BARRIER REEF... but I think scuba-ing off the Florida Keys was just a cool.

There were beautiful fish, amazing tooth-paste colored water, huge cauliflower-looking coral and other different shapes and colors - pink, green, purple, grey. Some coral was dirty-colored from all the sand sediment.

It looked like someone dropped a bomb and there were ashes everywhere, but it really was crushed shells or coral.

Another coral waved back and forth in the current, or the current I supplied by waving my hand back and forth over it...

I saw a huge clam. When I rubbed its belly (soft, slick, beautiful iridescent-colored muscle in his 'mouth'), I think I tickled it, and it shut. That scared me. I thought my hand was about to get bit off. 

I didn't see any humongous pearls inside. That would have been cool.

The sea turtles were really neat, too. Disney did a really good job with the pictures in Finding Nemo. Watch that and you'll see a lot of what is at the Reef.

But I think you'll probably get better visibility than I saw.

My title, a bit like Hollywood... on tv I think they scuba on the clearest brightest day, w/ no sediment floating around to murkey up the water. When I went out, the water was still really blue, but I was looking through haze... it wasn't as clear or sharp as Hollywood images.

But even with this realization, I am really glad to have done it and experienced being out in the LARGEST living thing to be seen from OUTER SPACE... because the coral reef is living!

Hopefully I can put up some pics of the dives...

I'm at an internet cafe in Cairns, Australia.
I need to leave to go to my hostel so I can get a room.

I fly to Sydney tomorrow morning, and then to INDIA on Friday.

Prayers are GREATLY appreciated... will be volunteering in different locations and my older brother, Craig, who may get to come? We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

Blessings!!!

Ericka :)

ps - I got to buy an opal tonight! I'm so excited. It's my birthstone (October). Really special.
I think I'm going to have it put into a ring when I get home. :) Thank you, God! My souvenir from him for Australia.