The Great Barrier Reef

Once we decided to visit the Great Barrier Reef we have had many people say to us..."It's good that you are going now, before it disappears." We are indeed grateful that we made it up to the Reef, although we don't think it is disappearing anytime soon. It's only the largest living thing on the planet. We had perfect weather conditions for viewing the coral and fish and the sites were truly amazing.

This is what they call a semi-submersible. It's basically a submarine that doesn't fully go under water. It has glass windows throughout the inside that provided great views of the reef and fish.

The kids absolutely loved it.

All of us, even Jared, were also able to go snorkeling. They spotted Nemo and his dad and lots of other fish. One of our favourite moments was when the lifeguard started feeding the fish from the platform where Jared and the girls were standing. One enormous blue fish came right up to them and they were able to pet it.

After a day out on the reef John decided that he would try out for the Blue Man Group. OK, not really, the lovely suit he is modeling is called a stinger suit which he was required to wear for the private snorkeling tour he went on. He protested, but in the end he relented under the condition that no pictures would be taken. Hey at least I didn't post the full body picture.

Jared fell asleep during our second ride on the semi-submersible while John was out on his tour. He slept most the way home. It was awesome!

On the way home we were able to see where the continental shelf meets the reef and drops 3200 feet to the ocean floor.