SHARK!!!!

Hello dear blogsters..... what an exciting day it has been!

We got up and had a quick breakfast before going down to be fitted for our wetsuits for our day out on the ocean. We had chosen a smaller boat to take us out to the whale-sharks as we felt we might get a little more attention - it turned out to be a wise choice. We were ferried out to the boat in a dingy and then we set off out through the reef.

The blokes on the boat were wonderful - starting our day by making us a cuppa while we sat on the bow of the boat. We went out past the outer reef and then bobbed around in the water for about half an hour, waiting for the spotter plane to make a sighting. The crew used the time to give us instructions about the rules for swimming with the whale sharks. We were not allowed to swim in front of the shark or within 4 meters of its tail. There are a whole lot of rules which have been set up to protect the shark - most of those rules were drafted by the skipper of our boat and then adopted by the Department of Fisheries. They really do need to protect these beautiful fish.

After about half an hour, the radio call came through to say the spotter plane had found a whale shark. Then the race was on - everybody had to move to the front of the boat to keep the front down. The boat raced flat-out to the location - there were three boats operating out there today and the first boat to get to the whale shark and get people in the water gets the first dive. This can be important because the shark may dive and, being a fish, it doesn't need to come up for air so it can just disappear. We beat one boat, but arrived at the same time as another... and the whaleshark turned towards that boat, so they were first in. It didn't matter though - as it wasn't long before it was our turn. We had to be quickly into our snorkels, masks and flippers and standing on the backboard. When it was our turn, our boat moved in closer to the shark and then it was all into the water. We were only in the water a couple of seconds when the whaleshark turned towards us. What an extraordinary experience to be the water with such a beautiful creature and to be allowed to share his space. When it was time to come out of the water, the boat came back in closer and picked us up. All in, we got 4 dives with the whaleshark - each time we were swimming right beside it. An absolutely awesome experience and something none of us will ever forget. Nicola and I took photos with underwater cameras, but we will have to wait to get them developed before I can post them on the blog. So in the meantime, here is a picture of a whaleshark I found.

After the whale shark had finally dived, we set off back towards the calmer waters for lunch. We spotted a huge tiger shark in the water and had a look at him (or her) and we also saw a sea snake in the water. Then, as we were heading back, we saw a huge flock of birds in a frenzy of feeding. The skipper turned the boat to have a look and we were thrilled to find some minke whales feeding on the fish. One of the whales even breached right out of the water - very exciting and unexpected. Unfortunately we didn't get a photo (not quick enough) - but Nic did get a good picture of the birds.We continued on and, as we were re-entering the reef, we saw a dugong feeding. He surfaced several times and didn't seem at all worried about us.We stopped on the reef and all piled over the back for some snorkling. There were fish everywhere and the coral was lovely. I spotted a turtle feeding on the bottom and, before too long he came up for air. Then Bronwyn and I had the wonderful experience of swimming alongside the turtle for about 5 minutes.

At the end of the day, we jumped off the boat at its mooring so that we could see the giant Queenslad Groper which comes out to the boat when it hears the motors, looking for a feed. The groper was ENORMOUS - over 2 metres long. It just lolled around under the boat looking at us as though we were the show it had come to see.

Now, while Nic, Bronwyn and I were out on our whale shark adventure, Mum, Dad and Uncle John went out on a coral viewing tour in a glass bottomed boat.

They were really impressed with the array of coral and the colourful fish. (No seasickness on this trip).When we all got back, we went down to the beach to watch the sunset and drink some of the bubbly stuff. Paddy got a little grumpy because he didn't like the way I played in the sand with him!The bubbles and nibblies were perfect and the sunset gorgeous (golly its hard not to use the "beautiful" word here).Tonight Bronwyn cooked us a magnificent seafood pasta dish with the fish we caught yesterday and some scallops and prawns! What an end to one of the best days of my life!