Cairns: Day Thirty-One (19 November)

Hurrah, we finally made it to the famous Great Barrier Reef. There are tours from Cairns but we went up to Port Douglas and joined the boat there. Because of the cyclone, there was a strong wind warning in place (20 to 30 knots) so it was quite a bumpy ride.

It took an hour and a half to reach the part of the reef we were visiting, which has a permanent platform moored over it with an underwater observatory. We looked round this first and then went on a semi-submersible through the coral. The views were amazing even though it was a cloudy day.

Because of the clouds and the choppy sea, we decided not to go snorkelling or diving (they don't make diving masks for teddy bears anyway). We did send a postcard from the special platform post box though.

Barnaby