A holiday visit for Sienna.

Did you know The Great Barrier Reef is the only living thing that can be seen from outer space?I am hoping the maps can be enlarged when you click on them. I have chosen the Great Barrier Reef because I have visited it ~ a long time ago :) ~ & because it's one of those places that everyone who comes to Australia on holiday wants to visit.


The first thing you need to know is that you are never going to see all of it. It is huge. It stretches from the tip of Cape York [that's the spiky bit at the top of Australia] all the way down to Bundaberg ~ 2300Kms! It is larger than Victoria & Tasmania combined. {They are our 2 southernmost states, Tasmania being the island right at the bottom} However it does mean you could have lots of different mini holidays inside one big holiday.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the richest, most complex & diverse ecosystems in the world. It is made up of things like corals, algae, mollusks & sponges & in an ideal environment will grow 100cm a year. There are something like 2800 fish species alone. What that means practically is that scientists are still trying to identify & name all the species of things that live here. Some of the things aren't so nice. I'm not fussed on any sort of shark. Lovely to look at; don't want to share my swimming space with one. Box jelly fish aren't nice either. Their tentacles can be 30 cm long & they wrap round their victim leaving nasty stinging welts & they do kill. The pain is that excruciating. They also come out to play in summer when everyone wants to be in the water. Patrolled beaches usually put up nets & have first aide equipment on hand but just the same you never want to meet one up close & personal. However because the reef is a protected area most of the fish aren't frightened of people so when you go snorkeling they will swim inquisitively right up to you & stare at you through your mask. They will sometimes even let you touch them.

The reef is so big that there are actually islands scattered all along the coast that are within the reef & these are holiday destinations too. Some of the smaller ones are only home to the birds & wildlife. It is a tropical climate so you get a rainy season in summer & summer cyclones, high humidity & high temperatures. It is actually more pleasant to travel in winter when it is not so hot & humid.

I am still trying to convince my mum that she needs to start her own blog because she & my dad holidayed on the reef a lot. They were one of the many sailing boats that cruise the reef during the winter months [winter because summer is our cyclone season] & she knows far more about the reef first hand than I do. My brother & his family are also experienced reef cruisers but they are cruising in Asia at the moment. I don't like cruising because I dislike the way the salt gets into everything ~ your clothes, your hair, your towels & sheets so that you never feel completely dry & always feel scratchy! lol.

My niece homeschools on their boat. When her lessons are done she may go snorkeling, or swimming, or paddle the paddleboard around. It's quite safe. There is no surf inside a reef. My brother also has scuba gear on board so they can do deeper dives. If they want some dry land under their feet they row ashore in their dinghy. Lots of places you can get great shells along the beach. We all have biggish collections of lovely shells. Lots of places also have hiking trails & are designated National Park so there is lots of wildlife to see.The number of boats cruising the reef has really increased. The anchors they have to put out have caused lots of damage to the coral as has the waste products from the boats. A boat's toilet flushes straight into the water & while this is not a problem when numbers are small it becomes more of a problem the more people there are around. Obviously.

Lots of inexperienced people hire houseboats for their holiday on the reef. They come with an anchor & 2 spare anchors. The hire people have got used to getting phone calls on the third night when people can't find any more anchors. Instead of raising the anchor when they want to move on they cut themselves free! They go through a lot of anchors! Duh!

Last year Ditz & I did some marine biology & studied coral. We made these out of cardboard. Cut out your coral shape from good stiff cardboard. Tear tissue paper into small pieces & glue onto tracing paper. Glue the tracing paper [with the tissue paper at the back] to the silhouette & place in a window. With the sun shinning through it it looks just like real coral.

Next week Ditz & I are meant to be going camping at Springbrook, which is in one of our National Parks, so I will keep you in mind & try & gets lots of interesting pictures. Lets hope it doesn't rain. :)