Today started off with a abrupt wake up to start snorkeling in the morning. I wasn't expecting the water to be as cold as it was. While out on the reef we got to pass around a big ship wreck. It's times like these where I wish my phone was waterproof so I could take a picture.
After that dive we had to head out to the reef a little while later to do our work for the lab. We got to take quadrants and measure the coral coverage in a certain area. During this trip I unfortunately scraped my knee and punctured my ankle on some coral. After the trip I had to have the wounds cleaned and sprayed with spray plaster. Because I am on an island, any injuries run the risk of getting infected fast, and take a long time to heal. Later on in the day to we got to take a free swim out in the ocean with Edd. During this trip I got to see a lot of sea turtles, including a massive loggerhead turtle, which was almost as tall as me and three times as wide, with a head probably as big as a chicken. This was also the first time I tried diving in the reef, so I got pretty close to the turtles and coral. I should probably mention all of this was happening during the sunset, which is incredibly beautiful here. I'm gonna finish off the post here, I hope I'll become better at writing these as time goes on.
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I am going to keep this post brief because I am on the verge of falling asleep.
It's hard for me to put into words how incredible this day has been. Last night the class stayed in Gladstone Backpackers, which is probably the most cozy place I've ever been. The place had a billiards table, a pool, hammocks, a wood fired oven (from which delicious pizzas were made from that night), darts, and a fire pit. I woke up pretty early and made some breakfast and tried some Vegemite that Edd offered. It was incredibly salty but wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. After chilling at the place for awhile we packed up our bags and headed toward the docks. At this point of the trip I was anxious about getting seasick, despite never having motion sickness in my life ever. I ended up buying some ginger beer (non-alcoholic) at the gift shop at the docks, I did this because I had heard ginger helps with motion sickness. After waiting for a bit we got on the ferry and started heading for heron island. The ferry ride is hopefully something I will never forget in my life. The vastness of the ocean was incredible and listening to some Tame Impala on my phone added to the atmosphere immensely. After a long journey we reached the island and got briefed on safety and rules and started organizing our stuff. After awhile we got to head out and barely see the sun setting on the horizon. The way the water looked reflecting everything above it with the sunset almost felt dreamlike. After the sun had set I looked up and saw the vast amount of stars in the night sky, and noticed the moon which was so bright it cast shadows. We then got to have dinner which was wonderfully cooked by Pat. I've now just realized I should start separating my writings later into paragraphs, but this ended up being a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. I am excited to see what tomorrow brings. |