Mission Australia 2013 - Day 06
Cairns – Green
Island & Great Barrier Reef in SW Pacific Ocean
Today was going
to be one of the milestone days on which I had targeted to add another
adventure sport to my career check list – Scuba Diving! As planned, all of us
got ready in time for breaky, got picked up by the Bus & joined the queue
for check-in to the huge Boat. We had this kind of experience at Bali already
and so I knew I would struggle with the smelly lunch offered soon after. As
soon as we reached Green Island, I was hunted down by the Dive Instructor &
given a briefing with my dive partner. Even after my insistence, Neha had
refused to dive, because she would have to do it without me while I took care
of Ayana. Once aboard the boat after snorkeling for sometime on Green Island, I
was once again hunted down – this time – by the co-Pilot of GBR Helicopter.
Green Island
SW Pacific
Cheers to a Fabulous Dive
As soon as the
time to dive in came closer, I struggled hard to keep my nervousness in check.
I came very close to giving up when my Guide offered me a full refund if I did
not go inside the water. But I decided I had waited too long to do it – I was
not going to give up. And once I went inside with my Guide & Dive Partner
also named ‘Ankit’; it all came naturally to me. I felt very comfortable
touching the giant soft fishes as they swam by. The coral reef was more
beautiful than I had seen so often in the movies & documentaries. I wish I
had more time so that I could spend a week diving in more far-off areas.
Aboard the Glass Bottom Boat
Next destination - Uluru - Ayer's Rock
Launchpad for the GBR Helicopter
Kind of those Islands they show on Australia Tourism ads
Ayana's wail stopped only on Landing
Post Lunch, we had
just enough time to squeeze in the Glass Bottom Boat ride which was a second
grade experience to diving but I wanted Neha & Ayana to take a look
underwater nonetheless. One thing found my interest on the upper deck – a bunch
of boards with the distances to various destinations around the world. We had
just been asked to put on the noise-reducer headphones inside the Helicopter
when Ayana started to wail. Her wailing only eased when we landed at Cairns
Helipad on the other side of the Lagoon.
Daily Aerobics at Dusk
The Lagoon
Ayana found her own PC
