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Great Barrier Reef
November 22, 2005
Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia
When planning our time in Australia, Emily and I wanted to make sure to get up to Northern Queensland to see the Great Barrier Reef. The most popular spot to access the reef is Cairns, but we opted instead for Magnetic Island, which is further south, just off the coast of Townsville. Magnetic Island is a nice, quiet little island with lots of wildlife. There are lots of exotic birds everywhere, like parakeets and cockatoos and those damn laughing kookaburras. One day a group from our hostel went to feed the little rock wallabies, which was interesting. They are really noisy eaters, and it is fun to watch them bounce around effortlessly on the jagged rocks. Magnetic Island also has some nice beaches, but we were a bit afraid to go in the water since it is the season for the box jellyfish, which happen to be one of the most lethal creatures in the world. But we survived and even had time for a little entertainment - on our first night, we both entered a bar contest and rode the mechanical surfboard. I won't say we had the best showing, but it was fun and not the kind of thing you can do back home...
Snorkelling on the Reef
Emily and I took a day trip out to Wheeler Reef, the closest part of the Great Barrier Reef to Magnetic Island. It wasn't really "close" though, it is 48 nautical miles from shore and took about 2-3 hours to get to by boat. We lucked out with a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the water was almost like glass. The snorkelling was absolutely amazing. It easily surpassed Koh Phi Phi Ley as the best snorkelling in my life. The reef ranged from 5 feet below us to about 30 or so, but you could easily dive down and look under the coral shelves whenever you wanted to. The coral itself was beautiful, in every shape and color imaginable. There were some shades of coral that I don't think I had ever seen before like a bright, glowing blue. And the fish were the most amazing part. There were so many different species of colorful fish that it was like swimming in a big tropical aquarium. I can't even begin to describe or even remember everything that we saw there. All I can say is that it was amazing.
Posted by tim at November 22, 2005 10:31 PM