We DID! A scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Lady Musgrave Island is on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef and despite some logistical difficulties we made a dive there.Kim: I realized last Sept that I could not find my NAUI card here or at home in Bolton. We did three dives in Redang, Malaysia in September and they never asked for our cards. They just accepted our word. We did do a refresher lesson in the pool which was very good for Bill and me. Now, one would think that I should have got to work on a replacement card back then - but no, I did not do that. Last week in Australia as we were making arrangements to dive I remembered my lost card!! Dumb but true!
We actually took a chance and drove to a small town called 1770 to do our dive on the GB Reef last Tuesday. They had not sent out the large boat that takes people to the island since the Saturday before because of hurricane weather offshore and very rough seas on the way out. It was very iffy about trips. Finally on Thursday they sent out the boat but it was a very cloudy day and the seas had really been stirred up over the past 2 weeks with the storms. We did some snorkeling, an island tour and a glass bottom boat tour in the morning. The island is a coral and sand island and is a sanctuary to millions of birds - Kim was not a happy traveller. And ... it smelled so badly of guano. But ... it was really interesting & our delightful tour guide kept us entertained and informed. We went for our dive in the afternoon. Our dive master was great. He did his intro lessons with a couple of people in the am and we dove with 3 other experienced divers (very much our level of experience) in the pm. He accepted my word that I was certified. Luck was on my side. The dive was terrific. We saw a small sting ray about 5 feet right below us, a mid sized shark who luckily was not interested in us and glanced with annoyance at us & lazily swam away, a number of turtles - one which also lazily swam away from us. 
The visibility was about 30 to 40 feet. It was a bit murky because of the storms and there was no sun so we did not get the brilliance the sun brings to the reef colours. The reef was still very interesting and there were many beautiful colours on many sections. But, our main goal in Australia was to dive on the Reef and we did. It was great!
All in all it was a wonderful trip. We only had a week so we took a flight to the Gold Coast and didn't try to do too much. Sydney was 1000 km to the south & Cairns was 2000 km to the north. We decided that we would not try to do city tours - we've seen so many wonderful world cities. We made this trip a nature adventure. So, we rented a car and started driving. A day in Surfer's Paradise was exciting and as the guide book says "brash, glib and in your face". The place is full of the young and the beautiful (and Bill). Almost everyone, young and old, is well tattooed and pierced. There is plenty of shopping and the main activity, obviously, is surfing. The beach and the surf are breathtaking The golden sands stretch on for miles and the surf is mesmerizing. We walked for many kilometers along the beach - beautiful!
We travelled up to Hervey Bay on the Sunshine Coast and made a side trip to Tambourine Mountain on the way. Tambourine Mountain is a highland plateau , the name mountain is hyperbolic. It is a string of three small towns scattered among several national parks and conservatories. The villages are home to crafts, art and wineries. There are also several enticing restaurants to be visited. We took a tropical forest walk to a very scenic waterfall at Curtis Falls. It was very serene.Hervey Bay is a sleepy little town that has, as its reasons for existence, the local retirement community and the jumping off point for Fraser Island. In its former capacity it has a local nickname of "God's Waiting Room" - there are so many retired people there. Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and a world heritage site. It is wonderful!
The ride over to the island took about fifty minutes by barge and we landed on the beach, really...see the photos! We toured around on a four wheel drive bus. There are no paved roads on the island. All roads are sand tracks and you could never travel it without a 4 wheel drive. Peter, our driver, is an encyclopedia of knowledge about the local flora, fauna and history. We were treated to a walk in the rain forest, although we had to stick to the sand road. A buffet lunch broke up the trip. We drove at 80 kph on a beach that is a legal main state highway as well as a landing strip for small aircraft. We visited a beach wreck - a large luxury liner that was beached on its way to Japan just before WWII and just left there. We waded through a dazzling fresh water steam - Eli Creek - so refreshing. Everything that day was so new and exciting to us. It was a fabulous day.The next stop was quite further north on the Discovery Coast in a small town/village/park at the end of the headland of 1770. It is so named because it was the first place that Captain Cook set foot on Australia. This and the town of Agnes Water are mere dots on the landscape that serve the fishermen and trips to the Great Barrier Reef.
In Hervey Bay and in 1770 there is LITERALLY almost nothing else to do. In Agnes Water we stayed in a little motel with a very interesting proprietor, Lex. He took time out to show us around at dusk to see the local kangaroos. It is so hot there, the kangaroos sleep in the shade all day and they come out at dusk - 5:30ish - and start grazing. You can see them along many of the side roads, in people's gardens and in fields beside the roads. We spotted so many families of kangaroos. Most just look up and stare at you and seem unfazed by cars or people. The ones we saw are wallabies. They are very passive and are not very dangerous. The large red kangaroos that are quite powerful and will jump at you are much further inland. Lex intends to visit Canada in the next couple of years and we hope we can return his hospitality. The last day was a whirlwind drive back to the Gold Coast with side trips to Noosa, a wonderful upscale version of Surfer's Paradise, and a river cruise in Brisbane. Brisbane is a beautifully well organized and clean city. The downtown core is made up of beautiful architecture and a wonderful, people-oriented waterfront. (OK - so we did one city!)Although we saw only a small part, we would sum up Australia as CLEAN, green and breathtaking! It is a beautiful, inviting place and we would love to return for more extensive explorations. The people we met were so friendly and helpful. We loved our nature adventure!
