An early breakfast and then a short taxi drive to take us to the reef terminal to get a tour out to the Great Barrier Reef. The day started with clear blue skies and it got progressively hotter. There were a variety of tours and boats available, the one we had booked was a small catamaran with about 110 other tourists on board. We were taken out about 28 miles to a platform near one of the reefs. The journey out took about 90 minutes in rougher seas than we were expecting, During this time we had a presentation about the reef. The platform was equipped for diving, snorkelling and various other activities. On arrival we took a short tour of the reef in a glass bottom boat which gave us a good view of the different types of coral and the variety of fish, including clown fish and many larger fish. After this we had booked a snorkelling session guided by a marine biologist who talked more about the coral and the fish. We saw a giant clam and the largest resident fish – a Moari Wrasse. After a buffet lunch we took the opportunity for more snorkelling before the return journey. We had a cultural presentation about the didgeridoo, how the instrument was made and how to play it. The colours and variety of corals and fish made a great, but tiring day.
