Another WOW day.

We were worried all morning because it was pretty cloudy and we really wanted sun for our afternoon snorkeling outing.  We got lucky and the sun shone brightly almost the whole time.

It took us over an hour to get to the north end of Hook Island on a big and comfortable catamaran.  A very pleasant ride through the Whitsunday Islands which are so picturesque – all green cliffs and little sandy alcove beaches.

But the best time of all was when we spent an hour snorkeling on the soft coral reef around the island.  The water was 27C and the air temperature was 28C.

And the fish!  We have never ever seen so many different and such brightly-coloured species.  All around us and often close enough to touch.  And sometimes, we were actually swimming in a school of them, and I had several swim right up close to my face with some serious eye contact!

The variety of fish was much greater than we’ve ever seen in other areas of the world, and everyone on the tour seemed to feel the same way.

I only wish I’d had an underwater camera.  I concentrated so hard for the first 15 minutes or so, trying to remember each one but after a while, I just lost count.

And the coral was equally spectacular.  All different shapes and sizes, and some that was absolutely fluorescent in colour.

The tour we were on gave us great equipment, so the mask and snorkel worked as they were supposed to.  We were all dressed in black lycra stinger suits in case of “stinger” jellyfish so that also helped keep us warm.  I lasted almost a whole hour without cooling too much, which is an all-time record for me.

We got back just as sunset was dying and Peter bbq’d some amazing steaks for dinner. For once, he wouldn’t dare ask for fish!