sdThat's pretty much all I did today and it was amazing. First swim was at 6:30 this morning. Sidenote: I was kind of dreading having to get up early, but it hasn't been a problem at all. Since the sun goes down so early here (Around 17:15), everyone goes to bed between 9 and 10. I am actually getting on a better sleep schedule here!
But anyway, the first swim was great. The waves were super choppy, but it all added to the adventure of snorkeling in the early morning. We saw fish and sea turtles and stingrays, oh my! After the swim we rinsed off and had breakfast. The food here is amazing. I'm pretty sure Pat, the cook, is a god. I was expecting mediocre greasy camp food, and I have never been more happy to be wrong! We actually eat vegetables and fresh stuff and I am in heaven. We were going to have a lecture today but the projector cord broke and won't be fixed until tomorrow. So we did fieldwork in the ocean instead! Basically we approximated the density of coral as you go farther from the reef line, and wrote a report on it after. I was a little nervous for the actual science part of this trip, but now I feel much better. Edd and Trisha don't just throw us to the sharks (hehe, pun intended) and the labs are actually fun! Some of us explored more of the island on our free time today. We just walked along the beach and oh. my. gosh. I literally feel like I'm in a movie, everything is so beautiful! The water is the most gorgeous shade of teal until you get to the reef line, then it turns the deep blue of the ocean. And when you look at the horizon, the sky is almost a baby blue, but gets deeper as you look higher. Maybe there's always been houses and buildings and mountains in the way, but I've never really noticed that before. This girl is mostly used to mountains and fields of corn and wheat, and I now know what I've been missing out on. Maybe I can be both a mountain and ocean girl? Edd took some of us on an evening swim where we got to watch the sun go down over the ocean. It was magnificent. While on our swim, we saw a huge loggerhead sea turtle. Seriously, it was at least 4 four feet long. Unfortunately I didn't see a shark today. Hopefully tomorrow! It's colder here than I anticipated. I was still in summer mode and didn't want to think about how it's winter here. It gets chilly at night, and the wind on the beach can be pretty cold. But that doesn't stop us from jumping in the water! With our wetsuits, the water actually feels quite nice. But I'm pretty sure I'll have a sick wetsuit tan line by the end! It's already beginning, and will only get worse. Yay! I didn't take any pictures today (I know, shame on me), so I'll post some I took of last night. None of them have been edited, not even a little! The world is such a wondrous place, isn't it?
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Hey guys! I don't know how to start this so I'm just going to go for it.
We left Gladstone today via the Heron Islander around 14:00. It was a two hour boat ride to the island, and I loved it! It was so cool to see us gradually leave behind the mainland until it was just a speck. The water is so blue once you leave the bay! I kept lifting my sunglasses to see if it was still such a clear, deep blue. Once we got to the Island we just got orientated about typical camp stuff. But then we watched the sunset from the beach, and it was absolutely breathtaking. I haven’t spent much time in the ocean before now, so looking out and seeing nothing but water for miles and miles was awe-inspiring. While standing in the water, we saw a turtle (we think), a ray, and a few black tipped reef sharks.The closest shark probably came within 10 feet of us. How crazy is that? Now for the feelings: -I'm so stinkin' excited for the next two weeks! - Stressed about the species I.D. Quiz we have soon. 50 species of coral, fish, etc. and their scientific names (Accepting prayers). -I still can’t believe that I’m here, it’s too wonderful! I just can’t wait to get in the water tomorrow, even if it will be early and cold! By the way, the stars here are amazing. It's weird thinking that I see different stars than everyone back home. |