Mossman
A very exciting day today. Between the three of them, the kids had two things that they wanted to do on this trip. See snow, and the Great Barrier Reef.
Today we went out to the reef, and it was amazing.
We headed out this morning to the water to get on the boat. We went with Quicksilver, and it was fantastic.
Once on the boat we all downed our travel sickness medicine (and boy am I glad we did, but you don’t need all those details, suffice to say no one in our family was unwell). Some got the tablet down easier than others. 
Once we arrived at the pontoon we were spending the afternoon at we went down to the underwater viewing area first to take a look around. There was plenty of coral and lots of fish just to see from there.
Then back up on deck. We started making an attempt at getting our gear together for snorkelling, but before we got much done it was lunch time. Lunch was a buffet, but everyone was so excited at the prospect of getting into the water that it was a rather hurried affair.
After lunch to give our food time to settle we decided to go on the semi-submersible to have a look at the fish and coral while staying dry. While waiting for the boat we finished getting our gear together.
Apparently we picked a perfect day to go out – the temperature was lovely, the water calm and visibility high. Also, the top of the reef was exposed which rarely happens. Look how clear the water was.
Here’s a few shots from down in the semi-submersible (that’s it in the photo above by the way).
Finally it was time to gear up and get in the water.
We all went in the water. Jos club on to Brett’s back, he didn’t really snorkel. But Cayley came with me, holding my hand, and Elisha was fairly self sufficient – but stayed mostly by the ropes. It was amazing. I wish that I had a underwater camera so that I could show you some of what we saw. It was similar to what we saw out of the semi-sub but with no barrier between. Can you pick us Elisha, Cayley and I in the water?
Here Cayley and I are getting our photo taken by one of the ‘roaming’ photographers.
And finally here are Cayley and I, last ones from our family to get out of the water.
We’re not sure if it was the caffeine in the medication (to counter the drowsy effect) but something made Jos hyper. He couldn’t stay still or quiet for the entire two and a half hour trip back. I would have thought after the swimming he’d be a bit worm out.
What a great day. We love seeing God’s amazing creation – and underwater is not something we’ve looked at much on the trip.