For a month in January, Elon gave me the opportunity to travel abroad to Australia. While in Australia, I visited Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, Brisbane, Cairns and a few small cities and towns. One of my favorite parts of the rich cultural trip was Cairns.
Cairns is a small town/ slight city in Tropical Queensland, Australia. While in Cairns, we stayed in a small hotel surrounded by water, sand, cute coffee shops, and immense heat. One of the best parts of being in Cairns was snorkeling The Great Barrier Reef, one of the Seven Great Natural Wonders of the World.
We woke up in the morning and began our trek to one of the local Cairns marina's, where we would leave for a great adventure out to The Great Barrier Reef on a catamaran. Soon enough, we were out on the open ocean, Great Barrier Reef bound. Two hours until we arrived at our destination.
Finally, we arrived at our first spot on The Great Barrier Reef. Flippers, goggles, masks, and wetsuits on to ensure that our bodies were safe from jelly fish, we dove under the surface of the warm Australian and New Zealand waters.
At our first destination we saw countless colorful fish, corals and sea cucumbers. The water was as blue as sea glass, allowing us all to see straight to the bottom. When we boarded the boat once more, everyone took off their gear and prepared to have lunch prepared on board.
Soon, we were off to our next spot which was much more exciting than the first spot. The second spot had a little island, filled with birds of all shapes and sizes. As soon as we dove into the water we were greeted by small, friendly sharks that swam to and fro.
I swam alongside others from my group, searching through the water with our curious eyes that were masked by our tight goggles. Soon enough, I spotted a massive sea turtle. We followed him for a while and named him Crush, from Finding Nemo. Even though it is highly looked down upon, Crush let us graze his shell, feeling what a real life Australian sea turtle felt like.
Arriving back at the marina in Cairns a full ten hours later, I was filled with awe of The Great Barrier Reef. I had experienced one of the Seven Great Natural World Wonders, grateful and excited. Australia was everything and more than I had hoped that it would be.
