Sunny, low 80s, light
breeze
It’s another check of our
“bucket list” as we visit the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns,
Australia. After a 1 ½ hour ride aboard
the jet cat QuickSilver III, we disembarked onto a huge dive platform complete
with two semi-submersibles carrying 30 passengers each, a heliport, an
observation deck below water level and the dive platform for those of us
wishing to explore the world’s largest coral reef.
We had hoped to pick up a
few more Aussie birds out at the dive platform, but all we could garner was a
quick fly-over of by a flock of Black-naped terns. Too quick for photos, but not so quick that we could not get
a definitive look at them.
Otherwise, the birds were at a premium. Go figure.
I did manage to pick up some
pix of the reef and a few of its inhabitants as I packed my little SONY Point
and Shoot into a waterproof bag and shot away. The fish of the day was the Sargeant Major, many of these
little gems floating right by in front of the mask. The coral was as beautiful or moreso than most of the fish I
photographed and ended up making up most of today’s photos.
When we finally arrived back
to Merrano Beach and headed to our cabin, we actually came up with the “Shot of
the Day”. A Wallaby, a smaller
member of the kangaroo family, greeted us at our front door as we walked down
the path to our porch. The wallaby
was as interested in us as we were with him and allowed me to get decent shots
even though all I had was a little point-and-shoot camera.
As we patiently waited for the
wallaby to move into better position for a photo, Sharon noticed a large bird
had come in and landed on our roof.
It turned out to be a Kookaburra,
a fairly large bird found only on the continent of Australia.
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