Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

During my first few trips out to the Great Barrier Reef from our anchored boat, I literally had to tell myself to keep swimming and swim as fast as you can until you reach the reef. Since we were on a decently sized boat, we couldn’t anchor too close to the reef. Plus, we had to create an atmosphere that was beneficial for the divers and snorkelers. However, having read many shark tales of Australia and having my nervous-nelly mother reiterate to me that Australia is known for their sharks and to “be careful, be careful, be careful,” the swim over the open water of the deep seas with zero visibility was outright frightening.

When I shared my fear, the on-board staff explained how the sharks are harmless and are not interested in us humans. It is different when you are swimming amongst them rather than on a surfboard. The reason is that when only your legs are hanging over the surfboard you do look like prey and you are also vulnerable to attack because you cannot see them (sharks love the covert operation, it is their way of hunting and makes for a better meal in the end when it was stealthily achieved). That being said, when you are swimming with them, you are a part of their world and would make for a terrible attack. Not to mention, they hate the bubbles our snorkels and dive equipment make. It confuses them. Also, I was swimming with reef sharks and the largest fish they would be hunting is way less than a meter long – so we are just too big and out of the ordinary for them.

After this extended explanation one of the dive masters added, “plus, they hate the taste of humans and human blood – they don’t want to eat us, they may bite but their intentions are never to fully eat.” SWEET! I was getting over my fear of the sharks and you tell me they may bite but don’t want to eat me. Well I don’t want to get bitten either!!

My fear didn’t really subside the first day and my nervousness may or may not have lead to me “warming up” my wetsuit a few times. Later that night the divers took a night dive (around 9PM) under the stars and pitch-black surroundings. We were the only boat in site, alone, in the middle of the ocean. During their dive some staffers took out the leftover dinner and chucked it into the water to “freak out” the divers. Sure enough, heaps of fish and sharks (coming to eat the fish which were going for the food – great example of the food pyramid minus the human food element) all surrounded the divers and attacked the food and fish. It was insane!! When the sharks noticed the divers, though, they scurried and the food was left for the fish. It was interesting and refreshing to see how truly scared the sharks are of the humans. This gave me great reassurance for my next day in the ocean.

Sure enough, my first dip in the ocean was heightened to a new level with the presence of sharks. By my third dip, I was following the sharks around to get good shots on my camera – I had to show everyone I swam with the scariest creature of the sea!



Shark!


Shark


Swim away from he sharks!!




Where am I?

“Life Under the Sea is Better Than Anything They Got Up There ...

Just look at the world around you, right here on the ocean floor, such wonderful things around you; what more are you looking for? Under the Sea, under the sea, under the sea! Darling its better, down where it’s wetter – take it from me!”


Not to your surprise I have Little Mermaid on my laptop, which I enjoyed watching in my hotel room the last night in Cairns. It put me in such great spirits having just experienced the world under the sea for two days – early morning swimming with sharks, mid-afternoon gallivanting with Nemo and early evening dives to witness feeding time.

The grandiosity of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is truly remarkable. It is actually comprised of about 2,900 reefs and is equal in length of the drive from Australia to New Zealand (it would take you about three days of straight driving to cover from the top of the reef to the bottom).

For a couple of days, I lived on a vessel that anchored itself beside different areas of the GBR. The boat was gorgeous. It boasted a sundeck, heli-pad, hot tub, dinning room, bar, TV area, multiple hangout spots, not to mention the array of underwater gear off the stern. The boat can house about eighty passengers plus crew but when I took the trip there were about thirty of us including the crew.

The best part of living aboard was that I was, at some points, the only one in the water. We all went diving and snorkeling at fairly different times so it was likely I was in the water alone and if there were others in the water it never maxed four people at a time. This is quite different from most day trips where you have thirty or forty passengers all jumping in the water at once, which scares most fish, at least the good ones. This is the reason why I was able to discover such phenomenal life under the sea. I was simply observing their life, not disturbing.

I hope the photos and the videos somewhat do it justice. It is easy to see why the Great Barrier Reef is one of the Wonders of the World - checking off the wonders day by day!! Great Wall of China, Niagara Falls, Great Barrier Reef, all checked and next week I will cross off the Taj Mahal!



Taxi boat to get to the "live aboard" boat


Beautiful morning


Captain


Home for two days


In the middle of the ocean


Getting ready to climb over!


Our room


Under the sea












Gorgeous


Nemo










Hot tub time machine




Anyone out there??








Lounge


Dining Area


Bar


Gearing up






Barney


















Tanning on the deck


Heli-pad




Goodbye GBR!


Hello Cairns!


Cairns

Bali: Lance Armstrong Style

My Aunt Liza and I went on a bike-ride down the narrow roads and through many small villages and hundreds of rice paddies of Ubud. It was a beautiful ride and quite the workout! The best part was witnessing a gathering and march to the temple for a Hindu Ceremony for the first time since entering Bali, but it surely was not the last I’d observe – it became a daily observance as the Hindus of Bali celebrate something everyday. There is even a local joke that foreigners move to Bali to start a business because they love the culture then complain that their workers are always taking off for ceremonies. The locals’ response, “but we thought you loved the culture!”



















Drying the rice






Bathing in the water...




Adorable Indo kids


Walking to the Temple for the Ceremony








Yum, lunch!








Temple inside the family compound