An early morning awaited us and we were ready for it.

     An Australian adventure just isn’t complete without snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. The buffet breakfast table waited for us with open arms, but the feeling was not mutual. Already, I was starting to miss my mother’s cooking, but I was grateful to be fed. So I sat down to a breakfast complete with the two most essential food groups: eggs and bacon.

     We started our long bus ride leading to the long ferry ride leading to the Great Barrier Reef. On the ferry I hung out with Jordan, Spencer, Austin, Frankie, Shyam, and Oliver from the California group and from the Texas group I hung out with Nikki and Arlene. I also met three other Texan girls Valen, Cara, and Katy. We arrived at the reefs after a ferry ride filled with jokes, bad Australian accents, laughter, and several rounds of B.S. and Spoons, two cleverly named card and enjoyable games.

     The buffet lunch taunted us because our group was one of the first to go snorkeling. So we had to wait until after wards to eat. We exchanged our coupons for Lycra suits that would protect us from U.V. rays and jellyfish stings. The masks and snorkels helped us see and breathe while our heads were in the water and the fins allowed us to move quickly. We stepped into a loading zone while being briefed by the instructor. Finally we were off, and as I looked around I saw marvelous sights of coral, giant clams and glistening fish. It all looked too amazing to seem real.

     After snorkeling we returned our Lycra suits, masks, snorkels, and fins and rode on a semisubmersible ship. It was a normal ship that had a lower level with windows. This allowed us to soak in the views of the ocean while staying dry.

     After lunch we rode the ferry back to Cairns. At the hotel we went to dinner followed up with some cool time pool time. After swimming in the pool we still had some extra free time, so Cory, Alex, Jordan, and Frankie challenged some Japanese businessmen to round after round of ping-pong.