Great Barrier Reef

The highlight and basically the main reason behind heading north to Queensland was, of course, the Great Barrier Reef. It was definitely on our list of "things to do while in Australia." and because snorkeling has become a favorite activity for our family since moving to Sydney, where better to snorkel than the GBR? I have to admit, though, that I was quite nervous. I have never been all that comfortable in the "big deep blue ocean" and I did not know quite what to expect. Of course, I was also worried about my kids, sharks, drowning, you name it! But, we all did just fine and had the time of our life! We saw amazing things, including a reef tip shark! Davis saw Nemo in an anemone and was just as happy as could be. We were lucky to have good weather and the water was clear and blue and actually quite warm.

On the dock ready to go from Port Douglas

Grandma and Grandpa getting ready to board the boat

Hanging out in the captain quarters...we were the only family with small children on the boat and the crew loved the kids! Calypso was a great snorkel tour for kids! We couldn't have asked for anything better!

Stinger suits, snorkel masks, and fins...ready to go!

Davis was Daddy's buddy!

Grandma and Avery were snorkel buddies...

Grandma being silly...we had a few of these pictures!

Avery in the water and ready to go!

Carson is on the right, Daddy and Davis are in the middle swimming. Davis had never put on a snorkel mask before this trip. We gave him a quick lesson, strapped a life jacket on him and away he went! He was thrilled at every thing he saw!

Grandma, probably the most nervous of us all and not a lover of water, did awesome! We were so proud of her!

There goes Braden off the boat...he was fearless! He loved diving down and getting as close as he could to the coral and fish!

Grandpa getting ready to go!

Grandma trying to figure out her new underwater Flip camera. We all had underwater video cameras which we were able to get some amazing videos! I do wish we had a underwater still shot camera, though. That way we could have had some photos of what we saw and not just snorkel faces and backsides!

Heading back to the mainland! I think Grandma and Grandpa had a great time!

Davis was POOPED! He fell asleep next to the boat captain on the way back home!