Snork the Reef(er)

On Saturday morning it finally happened. Nobody had predicted it, the pessimist in all of us had resigned ourselves to perpetual disappointment. It was like Norwich City winning promotion again. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you guessed it - the sun was shining.

The weather forecast had predicted rain for today, so to see almost clear blue skies and the temperature pushing 30 degrees was, well frankly, why I came here in the first bloody place.

Before venturing out to enjoy the weather, I went online to find myself a room for my arrival in Darwin on Sunday night. A quick perusal of various web sites very quickly indicated a slight problem with this - i.e. there were not any rooms available in Darwin on Sunday night, unless I felt like staying in a dorm at a crack den. A quick ring around of affordable places confirmed this.

Now normally I would have been kicking the nearest small animal and reaching for the bottle when confronted with such news, but on this occasion I was not. Fortunately my flight with Virgin Blue was fully flexible - I simply went online and switched it to Monday, and then booked a room. God bless Richard Branson.

I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon enjoying the glorious weather. Cairns was like a different place - kids splashed around in the water, adults drank copious amounts of cold beer - and I did both.

Today (Sunday) I took advantage of my extra day here to do something the weather had hitherto prevented me from - a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. I caught the 1pm ferry to Green Island (just off Cairns) where I had the opportunity to either go snorkeling or see the Reef from a glass bottom boat. I had promised friends and family that I would overcome my fear of sealife and not pass up the opportunity to swim in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Trouble is, actions always speak louder than words. Tony Blair said he wouldn't go into Iraq without a UN mandate, and look what happened there. I opted for the glass bottom boat.

The sun had retreated and it was now very windy and choppy on the sea, which nearly caused me to puke all over a Japanese tourist on the boat. Aside from that, it was great looking at the Reef from the comfort of the boat - and I got to take pictures and see bigger fish than I would have done through snorkeling. So, there you have it. I'm a sensible pragmatist, and not a coward. Oh no.