Besides the Great Barrier Reef, we also went further up north and out to Osprey Reef (apparently halfway to PNG!)…very exciting. Here's a map of the journey we took (marked by white ant line). Most of the way, we were surrounded by the open sea, with no land in sight.

And of course we did spend some time in Cairns. One word: HOT. Hotter than Brisbane, hotter than Malaysia. But still, it was very pretty.

No way of covering all that happened during the trip, but here are some highlights:

Out of this world experience - Shark feed @ North Horn, Osprey Reef

This was the highlight of the trip. Simply amazing. An eye-opening experience, which gave me a newfound sense of respect for these creatures.

In hindsight, a description of the shark feed would have given me the heebie-jeebies. The sharks had not been fed for weeks (weather had not permitted the feed so far, so lucky us, the weather was good), we had to swim to the reef and hang on to a rope (before descending simultaneously while more than 40 hungry sharks circled below...talk about shark bait. Nice.

Trent (trip director) setting up the shark feed while we watch in anticipation:
          

The feed begins!!!
         

Scary experience - Getting up the boat after a returning from Half Way Wall, Osprey Reef

The duckboard was rising and falling with the surge about 3 feet. My mask was almost knocked off with my 1^st attempt of getting on it. Very scary indeed. Finally Col (the skipper) managed to pull me (or the tank which was connected to me) on to it. Phew…

(mum actually caught some of it on video…but somehow can’t upload it)

Crazy – getting back from the reef (North Horn & Half Way Wall dives) to the boat

I thought of a name for it: “Underwater skiing”. Due to the boat being moored a fair way away from the reef, and rough weather conditions, we had to be towed to the liveboard with a speedboat. I never imagined it would feel the way it did. It was what I’d imagine being put in a washing machine to be like. Clutching onto the rope, the tiny bubbles from the outboard motor fizzing past…nuts. And we had to do it twice!

 Fun – Cod Feed @ the Cod Hole, Great Barrier Reef

To be honest, I was slightly disappointed. They looked much bigger in those Scuba mags. Maybe it’s the fisheye lenses. Nevertheless, bigger than any cod I have ever seen. Anyway, now I can say I’ve seen Potato Cod. I’ve always wanted to see them, so mission accomplished.  Like the sharks, they had not been fed in awhile. We were really lucky that weather permitted these 2 feeds, otherwise the trip would have been disappointing.

 Cod feed (Trent was feeding again):        

Cod coming in to check us out after the feed:
       

This was also my 1^st time using a digital camera underwater (used to have my old film Nikonos V). It was pretty fun. I like the option of switching from pics to videos occasionally. Anyway here are a couple of vids & pics I like.

Some Barracuda and a school of Trevally circling us:    

An inquisitive Batfish circling sis & I:
       

Cute turtle munching on soft coral:
    
Sharryn (Instructor) & Justin (videographer):
      
Underwater communication by ~jo666666 on deviantART
      
Dusky Nembrotha by ~jo666666 on deviantART
      
Sweetlips,Great Barrier Reef 2 by ~jo666666 on deviantART

Man…I miss diving already. To think I won’t be diving for at least a few more months (uni’s starting soon…*sigh). Now that my dive gear is here with me (thanks to dad for bringing it over), I might be able to squeeze in a dive trip sometime. Hopefully.