The next morning we left to go to the Great Barrier Reef! We took a boat out there which took about 2-2.5 hours. While waiting to arrive at the reef we signed up to Scuba Dive, my first time ever. While filling out the forms and listening to the instructions, we were hit with brutal waves rocking the boat ridiculously, of course individuals became a little seasick. We finally arrived at the reef and Dave, Laurie, Liz, and I had about a half hour to lay around and soak in the sun before we got geared up for our dive. We slipped into our very sexy suits and got geared up with tanks, regulators, you know, all the basics. We then prepared for our first dive where we only went down 3-5meters but we took pictures will Wally there :) Wally is my buddy in the picture here:
We then got to swim around for awhile and take in the colorful coral. Four of us loved it so much that we then decided to sign up for a second dive later that day which allowed us to go deeper, for longer, and basically swim where we want. This was absolutely amazing. We found Nemo too! I once heard the Great Barrier Reef described as a Dr. Seuss book underwater, and trust me, that nickname was also true. My favorite coral was this BRIGHT blue coral that sparkled in the water. We then all loved the 2nd dive so much that we later decided we're going to try to find a place in Sydney where we can get certified to dive!
Day 3: We slept in after a night out at dinner with Saki bombs, clearly an American tradition, and a game of Kings. We woke up scheduled our skydive and got in a van to go whitewater rafting on the Barron River. The river was pretty good with high waters and a few good dips. Our guide decided to take us surfing on the one fall and this is where Josh and I, in the front of the boat, got completely destroyed. Before we even fell out we were completely underwater. The the boat took a jump up and of course I go flying off of the raft and smacking my back on a rock, which proudly left a good indentation on my back. We survived the mighty Barron and made our way back to the hotel where we watched a movie or two and passed out early for the big day ahead.
Day 4: We woke up early to get on our bus at 7AM which took us to Mission Beach, where we would be doing our skydiving! We got to Mission Beach and Shanna, Megan, and I immediately got geared up to go, only to stand around in our harnesses for an hour until being told we were not going. We sat around for another hour before we headed to Coconutz to chill until the weather would be alright for us to dive in, hopefully. While sitting around we got the call, they were taking us up! Everyone rushed to the bus to get breifed on how to skydive and we showed up to the airstrip where we got harnessed in and made some comments to our cameramen. It was showtime. We climbed to about 13,000 feet and then the garage-door looking door opened and it was time, we were in the drop zone. Laurie barrel-rolled out first and all I saw was her completely falling to the ground. Shanna was next. I don't remember any of her departure. Then it was my turn. I scooted my butt onto the floor and next thing I know, I get a push and the back and im falling 13,000ft to the ground. Once my stomach caught back up to me, I could finally enjoy the fall, looking around at the scenery and smiling into the camera. Out of nowhere I felt us starting to slow down, apparently the parachute was let go and I didn't even notice. We began to float to the ground. My instructor even let me turn the parachute! We had an amazing flight and an easy landing. As soon as we landed everyone gave their congratulations and we had to hustle onto another bus just to catch another bus back to Cairns to jump on another plane to come back to Sydney just to jump on another plane tomorrow to go to Bali. Stories of Bali to come soon :)
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