Sea creatures

I burnt my butt. I forgot that when you snorkel your butt needs lots of sunblock. Whoops.

Snorkeling was absolutely awesome. I went snorkeling once before (in the Bahamas) and found it quite difficult. Water kept getting in my mask and I felt like I was drowning. And if I remember correctly, we might have been drinking a bit of that mysterious rum punch beforehand? Maybe it was just a hangover. Or maybe it was residual drunkenness from the day before? Do any of my Bahamian spring breakers remember?

Anyway, this time all my gear was worked well and my head was sober and unhungover.

Not to mention it was the GREAT BARRIER REEF we were looking at. The night before my snorkel trip I went to a program called Reef Teach. This is a 2 hour long presentation where you learn about the fish, sharks, whales, turtles and corals that you could encounter out on the reef. You learn how to identify different creatures, where to find them, what is ok to touch, and what to swim like hell away from. The girl doing the presenting was American (woohoo!) so I didn't have to do any sort of accent or phrase translations as she spoke. I'd recommend attending this if you ever find yourself in Cairns about to go out on the reef.

The boat ride out to the reef was about an hour and a half. We did about an hour or so of snorkeling and then we had the option to hop onto another boat with a glass bottom for a ride around where you could check out the reef without actually being underwater. Then we hopped back on our big boat for lunch. Next we sailed out to another location where the tide was going out and revealing a sand cay. We snorkeled out to the cay, hung out a bit and snorkeled back to the boat.

I saw Nemo and Dora. I saw a sea turtle from the boat but didn't get to swim next to one--although others on the boat did get to do this. I held a blue starfish and a cucumber fish.

Every way you turn there Is something new to see. And it usually comes in colors that are shocking to believe occur in nature.

I'll be snorkeling again next week in the Whitsunday Islands and am very much looking forward to it.

On Sunday I started the first leg of my long journey on the greyhound. I bought a hop on hop off pass from Cairns to Sydney. The pass is good for 6 months and I can get on and off the bus as many times as I want between those two locations. Each time I want to get onto a bus I go onto the Greyhound website and book myself a seat on the particular bus I will get on. There are usually about 4 buses a day leaving from any location along the route so you have your choice of times. The other two bus companies, Oz Experience and Premier, offer only 1 bus a day and sometimes only one bus every 2 days. Which means that with them you have to go when the bus is going.
With me, I like to make the rules.

Anyway, what I was getting at was that on Sunday morning I started my bus pass and took the bus 2 hours to Mission Beach. Now this is where traveling light actually becomes important. The hostel I was staying at was called Absolute Backpackers and was located 200 meters down the road from the bus stop. Therefore this hostel does not offer a pick up service. And I can't call a cab to take me the equivalent of about 2 city blocks. So I have to be able to put one foot in front of the other for 200 meters--and not end up with a hump on my back. This walk would be the first test of truly traveling like a backpacker. That morning I'd eaten as much oatmeal and raisins and I could in an effort to drop a few ounces from my food bag. So with my big bag on my back, boots hanging off the side and sleeping bag underneath, and my little backpack on my front, and a medium sized pocket book in one hand and a green canvas grocery bag (filled with my tree planting clothes) in the other hand I set off
I arrived about 10 minutes later with cramps in all kinds of crazy places.. but with all belongings still in hand.

I've been trying to figure out if I actually have more stuff than other people. Most people have two backpacks and a grocery bag, just like me. But everyone comments that they can't see me under my bags. But I think I have the same amount of stuff as others... I just have less surface area on my body on which to carry it all.

So I passed the first luggage test. But I will still be ditching a few more items here. My rule is, if I don't use it in 3 weeks then I don't need it--except for a few long term necessities like 9 months worth of contact lenses.

There is not much in Mission Beach, and especially not much in Wongaling Beach where I am actually staying. This is where people come to skydive. Mission Beach is the only place in Australia that you can skydive onto the beach. Since I'm going to be skipping that activity, l will instead being going White Water Rafting on Tuesday on the Tully River in grade 4 rapids with two Welsh girls I met yesterday.

Today I walked the 5 km along the beach to the tiny town of Mission Beach, checked out every single shop in town, and walked the 5 km back along the beach. The beach was like walking into a postcard. There are very little people around here so during my 5 km walk I encountered maybe 12 people, about 5 of whom I watched arrive on the beach via parachute, and 1 of whom was a completely nude guy standing at the edge of the rainforest.

It was an excellent slow and timelineless day. But tomorrow will be exactly the opposite.