When we started planning our trip to Australia, we debated what we wanted to do and see. The one thing everyone recommended was the Great Barrier Reef. We felt the same way so we were eagerly awaiting the visit to see the coral and fish. We debated which of the many tours to go out on. There were big ships and small boats, long trips and close in reefs, visits to islands and visits to coral cays. We ended up choosing a long trip on a smaller boat to a coral cay.
 |
| Sporting My Sunnies |
 |
| Our Boat |
We got out early and head to Cairns. Siena had her sunnies on as she prepared for an exciting day. Our big girl sat on the bus in a seat belt (look mom no car seat) and watched as we headed south. We reached the dock, hopped on our catamaran and headed out to sea. The weather was overcast and rainy, but we had hopes of brighter skies later in the day. The ride out was bumpy and my girls had a hard time finding their seas legs. Poor little Siena was simply sea sick. Once we arrived at the Michaelmas Cay, Siena had slept off her queasiness and Lisa was feeling better too.
 |
| Feeling a Little Green |
As the boat dropped anchor the sun came out and the reef began to glow beneath the water. The fish were all around the boat and the crew did a quick feeding that brought some huge fish to the surface for a snack. Siena saw the fish and got very excited. She immediately began looking for Nemo.
 |
| Fish! |
Our first stop on the reef was on a semi-submersible vehicle that put us below the water with a view of the reef (if you live in Southern California think of the Nemo ride at Disneyland). Once below the water Siena and I began finding all kinds of neat fish. We chose this tour because it offered the semi-submersible vehicle ride. This would be the best view of the fish and reef for Siena and she and I had a wonderful time finding fish.
After spending some time below the water we decided to head to the cay to see the reef up close. The cay is home to thousands of birds and there was an Australian government park ranger on our trip who was there to count the birds. While we were spending time looking at fish he was studying the birds. When you look at the picture of this beach in the middle of the ocean, think about this, on the ride back in the park ranger told us there are 40,000 birds living on the island (Alfred Hitchcock would have loved this place). Once we hit the beach, Siena wanted to run into the water, she couldn’t wait. We took her out into the water together and floated among the fish. Siena absolutely loved it and let us know that she didn’t want to come out of the water anytime we tried to take a break. The fish were all around us and swimming so close to Siena she could literally reach out and touch them and she tried!
 |
| Siena at the Reef |
 |
| There are fish by my feet |
 |
| The Birds |
After spending some time in the water with Siena, Lisa and I took turns doing a little snorkeling. You didn’t have to go more than 20 feet off shore to be above the reef and some beautiful fish. The Great Barrier Reef is beautiful and though we only got to enjoy a small portion of the reef, it will be a treasured memory from our trip. We never did find Nemo but we found a lot of his fish friends.
 |
| Michaelmas Cay |
On the ride back in the weather was nicer and we sat up on top of the catamaran. This dramatically helped those who struggled on the way out and we enjoyed a fun (although windy) ride back to Cairns. Toward the end of the ride we headed downstairs and enjoyed the entertainment that Phil the entertainer (and life guard on the reef) provided.
 |
| Heading Back - On Top |
 |
| Heading Back |
 |
| Watching Phil |
After such a big day we retired to our room and ordered in from a local restaurant. After a great visit at the Kewarra Beach Resort and the magic beach it was time to pack up our sea shells and continue our journey. We all turned in early for our travel day coming up the next morning as we headed off to our next stop, Melbourne.
