Great Barrier Reef

Just got back from Cairnes, Australia where we were SCUBA diving along the Great Barrier Reef for the past 3 days. Initially it was only going to be 2 days of diving and one night on the boat, but at the last minute we ended up booking another night and getting in 12 dives over the course of 3 days and spending 2 nights on a boat at sea. It was great, saw sharks, rays, turtles and even an octopus. The whole experience was very surreal, I spent over 6 hours under the water, which is just not natural. Every dive offered new colors, new fish and a new experience. It was very voyeuristic because we just swam along and "intruded" on these fish observing them and it was almost like the were wondering what the heck we were doing there, like they knew we didn't belong. There's really too much to tell about this part of the trip, at least by typing. But below are a few highlights:

• No sea sickness!!!
• White Tipped Reef Sharks!! Really wanted to see a shark or two and got my wish, the last dive I ended up about 2-3 meters from one, very cool
• NEMO!
• Night dives were pretty freaky. Total darkness plays havoc on your senses but the ocean life is awesome when the lights go out. Some fish are smart and follow divers around and use the diver's flashlights (torches) to hunt. Literally, you spot light a smaller fish and these huge fish will bolt past you and eat the little fish. As the divemaster so eloquently put it "spotlight a little fish and death will occur this night."
• Octopus sighting in the day, very rare, apparently these guys are night movers but we were lucky enough to catch one during the day.
• Felt drunk for 2 days after getting off the boat. Turns out 3 days at sea messes up your equilibrium pretty bad, I felt like I was swaying back and forth for quite sometime.

I'll probably have a few picture posts or links when we get back, we got some really good pictures from the boat. Fingers crossed that the underwater camera picks turn out!