Thurs, June 9th,9pm.   Swam in Pacific Ocean over part of Great Barrier Reef.  Way out there, took hour and half in very fast catamaran.  In some places the reef is only three feet or so beneath the surface of ocean, at low tide.  Had to be very careful not to kick flippers and hit coral.  Other areas twenty feet down plus and minus.  Where the reef is healthy it is a lot of yellows, greens, blues, reds-mauves... beautiful, of various shapes and sizes: fans, 'rocks' , deer like horns. Antlers, waving in currents, or ridged and unmoving in the ocean.  Many types of fish just like you'd see in a tropical fish tank, and some I've never seen before.  Fish tooth pick sized, others four feet +/-, of many colors and shapes.  Surprised me of the sizes, and colors.  Some only appear in pairs, and if one dies the other stops eating and dies too, according to a lecture by the marine biologist.    Really breathtaking.  But global warming is visible very strongly, there are huge patches of 'dead looking' corals in greys, whites, and grey-browns.  Now that winter is starting down here, the water is cooling off, and if the coral hasn't been too badly, or too long bleached-deadish, there are very small signs of the color peaking thru the grey browns, maybe 10% renewed growth with glimmers of color coming back, but 90% deadish or dead white, grey, grey.browns. so I hope with the cooler water it will reverse significantly.  when swimming the water is comfortably warm, but when you first get in it is a cooler warm on your skin, but in thirty seconds it is a comfortable temp to swim in.  swimming around it is basically luke warm, but every once in the while there is a current of much cooler water, not cold, but cooler.  boy! It's something to see the effects of global warming right in front of your face, it's frightening.  The buffet dinner last nite at the resort was $65.00, so I went to the bar and had a chicken burger and chips (fries) was really good, and filling.  So tonite after we got back to the resort, I hopped on the free bikes (one of the few things that are free-included in the room rate), and did find the Tin Shed a restaurant recommended by the monograms host.  Price was much better, $25.00, and I had a beef dish with an Aussie name, but it was good old corned beef, red cabbage, a different type of brockley, and crushed yellow potatoes.. excellent dinner, and healthy to boot.  Beautiful sunset as I was eating on the porch of the restaurant, porch had 80% of the seating, very few tables inside.  Different way of getting food.  You go to the counter on the right and order and pay for the food, then you go to the counter-bar on the left side and get your drinks and take them to the table yourself.  The dinner is delivered to your table, because you have a large number on a metal rod you brought to the table after you paid for your food.  Left in day light, b but it was pitch dark by the time I got back to the resort on the bike...I'm an old hand by now in navigating the routes from town to the QT Resort where I'm staying.  Got to say Diana at Allied Travel made good choices in picking the resorts, not five star so affordable, but very nice places.  Tomarrow I'm  going to see the tropical rain forest, north Australia is closer to the equator, so warmer, but its winter, so was only in mid-80s or so, but humid, but no where as uncomfortable as Cairo, Dehli or Kathmandu, there it was just HOT and humid!

in the right fin of the catamaran

in the semi-submerrsible

views out of the windows...x 3