The Great Barrier Reef

From Uluru i made my way up to Cairns via Melbourne. Not the most direct route but turned out to be the cheapest route. I spent a few days in Melbourne which i have to say i love. In the botanical gardens the childhood house of Captain Cook stands after being removed from Yorkshire brick by brick, shipped over to Melbourne and rebuilt as per the original plans. A quaint 17th Century English cottage in the middle of Melbourne, it is fantastic. Though as i learnt in the Perth shipwreck gallery, Capt. Cook wasn't the first to discover Australia, in fact it was the Dutch in 1606!

Another must see is the Melbourne Museum. I didn't get to see all of it as i got absorbed in the bug section- a complete selection of all native Australian creatures- i am glad i saw this after i camped out at Uluru, otherwise i would have wanted a suit of armour before i would have fallen asleep in the swag!!!

A short visit to Melbourne was followed by a trip to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I signed up for a day of snorkelling on the reef and included in the trip was the chance to do an introductory scuba dive. After the briefing of all the steps to successfully dive and a short history of what can go wrong, i was suited up. The weight belt and the tanks are quite heavy when on land but it is amazing how weightless you feel once you get in the water. It took a while to get used to the breathing and to being completely immersed in water. I don't remember seeing any fish, any coral or much of the reef at all as i was just concentrating on my breathing, not panicking and holding onto the instructor. We were underwater for about 20mins and managed to get down to 9m. At one point we reached the seabed and were standing on the bottom of the deep blue sea- that was the highlight for me. I was on a buzz for the rest of the afternoon. I did get the chance to snorkel later and saw all kinds of coral and fish, the highlight being the Maori Wrasse.