Day 1
Wednesday, May 30th 2018
Today we arrived at Heron Island. We left the hostel around 12:30 and waited for the ferry for quite a while. I went in really confident that I wouldn't get sick on the ride, but all that evaporated when Edd and Trisha said 8/12 students lost their lunch last year. Yikes! Thankfully, I made it. No puking for me! Along the way, Chase saw a dolphin and Edd saw a flying fish and another dolphin. I missed all three. It all worked out in the end, however, because Heron Island is teeming with wildlife.
As we neared the island, everyone ran to one side of the boat to get a good look at it. After a minute or so, the boat turned enough that the island was situated on the other side of the ferry, and everyone obligingly swapped to the other side. I couldn't help but grin when I saw the island. It is beautiful! We pulled into the dock right past an old shipwreck (which we get to explore tomorrow!) And Edd made sure everyone was on the lookout for cool stuff in the water. Sure enough, before we had even made it off the ferry he had spotted a Black-Tip Reef Shark! It took me a while to find it, but I eventually did. Then we went on a quick tour of the place, and got our bags and beds all sorted out. The beds here are super nice, and I haven't slept on one yet but they seem pretty comfy. I'm impressed.
Alright here's where it gets really crazy. After housekeeping stuff, we went to the beach to watch the sunset. I might not ever enjoy a sunset again. Nothing will compare to the sunsets here. It was absolutely gorgeous. All we could see was ocean and sky. A big portion of us waded into the lagoon a bit and were rewarded with some nice encounters. I saw two Black-Tip Reef Shark's, some of the girls to the right of us spotted a ray, we periodically saw sea turtles poking their heads up, and I even had a massive blue fish that I couldn't identify swim behind me and into deeper water. Are you starting to see a pattern? This place is unreal! I'm seeing things I've always dreamed of encountering left and right like it's nothing. Apart from those aquatic sightings, there are birds everywhere. Some build nests in burrows in the sand, some were just flying all around the island. I am so glad I came here. And I'm really excited to go out in the water tomorrow!