Reflections on the Reef

Because our underwater experience at the Great Barrier Reef was so amazing, we each wrote our own separate reflection (without looking at each other's) and then joined them here with pictures. Enjoy!

Parrotfish

I’ve been snorkeling before, but this was totally different. I’ve never seen colors or fish like I saw in the Great Barrier Reef. Amazing. We went to four different locations, and each one was incredible. It felt like I was watching a movie; it was hard to believe what I was seeing was real. My favorite things were the giant clams, especially the ones with glowing fluorescent blue dots, watching/hearing the big parrotfish nibble on the coral, and seeing the yellow Moorish Idol fish. I was also excited that we “found” Nemo (saw an orange clownfish), and I found a stingray. No shark or below-water turtle sightings for me, but I had seen those before, so it was okay. I had fun using the underwater camera and took tons of pictures, many of which are posted here. If you want to see lots more, I'll post them on our Shutterfly site soon. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  -Aubree

Moorish Idol fish

Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef was an experience that surpassed my greatest expectations.  Words cannot begin to describe the colors, the differently shaped fish and coral, the way the bright sunlight shone through the water, the warmth of the water, the brilliant blues on the surface, and the different sea creatures.  I had seen pictures and watched The Planet Earth portion featuring the reef, but nothing compares to seeing and experiencing it in person.  My many hours spent snorkeling were topped off by thirty minutes of scuba diving, a whole new adventure and another way to get close to this underwater treasure.  I continue to be in awe of God’s created world!  -Sue

Great Barrier Reef - an underwater assessment.  We’ve all seen those still pictures of vibrantly colored fish, exotic coral formations, and huge prehistoric clams.  You may have seen The Blue Planet or documentaries capturing the magnificent beauty of the natural wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.  Seeing it in person, a completely different sensory experience.   It does not come as a constant barrage or wave after wave of breath-taking beauty . . . after all, this is not a movie resulting from months of photography and weeks of editing.   The beauty comes in brief flashes of quick sightings, several seconds of watching a particularly beautiful school of fish, or minutes of continuous close encounters with magnificent coral formations.  To be surrounded by and interacting with something seen by a rather small percentage of people reinforces just how lucky you are to experience this natural wonder of the world.

Dad goes scuba diving.

To swim among so many absolutely beautiful and wildly colored fish was amazing.  The deep blue-purple sea stars were unreal.  I saw a lionfish, which I guess is a bit of a rarity.  I also had very close and unexpected sighting of a blue spotted ray.   I saw a total of five reef sharks, which pales to Zack’s story of seven. 

Sea Star

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef . . . a must for your bucket list!  -Ray

It is I, Justin.  I was a little skeptical at first about being on a boat for over 24 hours with the only entertainment being snorkeling.  Can snorkeling really be that entertaining where it does not become boring?  The simple answer is “yes.”  It was very easy to get lost in the underwater world and lose all track of time.  I even had to be “rescued” in the small raft boat because we were moving to a new location and everyone else was on board.  I did not see everyone else swim back to the boat, and they were all waiting on me.

Justin gets "rescued."

The coolest part about the reef was that even though it is so vast, it is possible to learn its geography and navigate back to interesting locations.  The captain described where to find the home of a clownfish, so I paid attention and went after it.   I found it fairly easily even though it was a ten-minute swim out to it.  I floated above "Nemo" for about five minutes just watching him swim in and out of his home.  Back at the boat, Aubree said she wanted to see it, so I was able to guide her to it using various coral landmarks of which I had made note. 

My only complaint about the Great Barrier Reef is that the water is salty.  The word “taffy” has to be after ‘salt water’ for it to be tasty.  -Justin

The Great Barrier Reef is a wonder of the world.  It is full of life everywhere you look.  Everything is alive, and it is a constant changing world under the water's surface.  I really wanted to find ‘Nemo’, the adventurous clown fish from Finding Nemo.  I was really disappointed after our first site, "Blue Lagoon," because I was unable to find Nemo.  I was able to see and observe many other fantastic things (don’t think it was too much of a disappointment).  The coral was so vibrant and unique.  The water was so clear; sometimes I even forgot that there was water between me and the reef.  There were plenty of fish, and everywhere you looked there seemed to be one you had never seen before.  The reef was really close to the surface, and sometimes I would just float with the current because I was afraid to use my flippers and possibly hit the coral.  Still, I left still seeking to find Nemo.  Our second site, "360," was pretty remarkable, but after an afternoon and evening of snorkeling, I was still searching for Nemo.  An early morning snorkel proved to be the secret to finding Nemo.  I was able to see the perfect clown fish in the morning, and I felt as though my goal was accomplished, but I knew the reef had so much more the offer.  Our final sites for the day was absolutely astonishing and blew all the other sites "out of the water."  There was so much reef to explore that I frequently found myself snorkeling alone in the vast ocean.  This area had a fantastic sandy bottom and slightly deeper water that allowed for some larger fish and stingrays to hang out.  At one point I looked out of the water to check where the boat was; when I put my head back down, I saw a reef shark swim by.  I followed the shark for a short time until I lost him in the deep waters.  Not too long later, I was able to witness five reef sharks swimming around together!  This was the highlight of snorkeling, and it even gave me chills in the warm water being able to witness it all.

It is really hard to describe how amazing it was to be able to witness life under the water.  You might think it would be boring, but time flew and it was easy to get lost in the world under the surface.  From the surface, the colors of the water ranged from blues to greens, but underneath was a colorful, lively world beyond amazement.  Sometimes when swimming from the boat in deep waters to the reef,  I would wonder what was lurking in the water below.  These thoughts motivated me to swim a little faster!  Of all the amazing things I saw, I know there are so many more amazing and unique things in the reef that I did not see. 

Can you find Nemo?

I was able to find Nemo, but in doing so I found so many other wonderful things that I will not soon forget.  The Great Barrier Reef is truly a wonder.  -Cindy

I think the best way to describe the Great Barrier Reef is to think about a kid’s coloring book.  For most kids (if you’re not me and had to make sure each color was accurate to real life) the entire set of crayons is fair game to fill in the pages.  A dog can be purple, the grass orange, and the sky a kaleidoscope of colors – when you’re young and coloring with a 64 color deluxe set of crayons, reality does not limit you to the colors you use to create the world on a coloring book page.  Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef was like swimming in the pages of a coloring book gone wild.  The colors were bright, vibrant and unafraid to be outrageous, from coral to fish to clams to sea stars, to the blues of the water.  They didn’t have to be that bold and bright, but they were, and every moment in the reef was incredible.  Best coloring book ever!  -Morgan

Koala-ty Time

My sister Morgan wrote this post...

Clearly, my number one goal in Australia had to do with my most favorite lovable marsupial, the koala.  It is no secret that I have been veritably obsessed with the koala since about the age of ten.  I can actually pinpoint the start of my koala collection to an exact moment, but before I tell you this story, I want you to have the image of what I looked like right about then…

11 Year Old Morgan Looking Good!

Now, after selling Girl Scout Cookies while in 5^th grade, I got some kind of points to spend at the Girl Scout store, and chose a koala stuffed animal and tiny pewter koala.  So it began, with the koala collection and knowledge growing quickly.  There were koala t-shirts, koala pins, koala figurines, koala jewelry, posters, calendars, decoupage puzzles, aprons, saved boxes of Koala Yummies, and no less than 25 stuffed animals. 

Coming to Australia has been one of my biggest dreams, and seeing a koala up close needed to happen.  And happen it did…

My first up close encounter was at Maru Wildlife Park, and before I knew it I was being whisked away for one on one time with my first koala.  In the state of Victoria you cannot hold a koala, but I was going to be able to pet a koala and get nice and close.  My first impression was how soft the koala was.  Sleepy and soft.  And THEN I asked the koala’s name.  It was, and I kid you not, MORGAN.  NO WAY.  The very first koala I ever got to pet was named Morgan.  Best coincidence ever.  The time was so fast, but really crazy to finally be so close to a koala.

This koala is named what???!!!

In Kuranda, on our day in the Daintree, my mom and I went to the Kuranda Koala Gardens, and for an all too brief moment, I got to hold a koala.  Her name was Maya, and she was about ten years old.  She was like a big baby in size and weight, and those claws really were large.  She seemed unenthused by being held, but I was pretty darn excited.  A few fast pictures, and before I knew it my koala friend was being whisked away.

A dream comes true.

Koalas - soft, sleepy, and just as cute as I wanted them to be.  I have looked at the pictures more times than I care to admit.  The number is lower than 50, but probably not by much…  Now I hope to see one in the wild!!


~Morgan Dill, Resident Koala Expert and Ambassador for All Things Marsupial

Coming to Cairns

What a 6am flight out of Melbourne looks like.

Sunday morning started bright and early. After getting home at midnight from the Phillip Island tour the night before, and getting to bed at 1am after retrieving the lost piece of luggage from Emily and Adam’s place,we had a 6am flight to catch to Cairns. Imagine the Dill family traipsing across the park in pitch black darkness (with six pieces of luggage) on the way to my apartment at 4am. Then they pressed the wrong buzzer (yes, at 4am) and woke some other poor soul up at that ungodly hour. They finally got it right, and we all caught a taxi to the airport and flew off to tropical Cairns.

Trinity Beach

We arrived to tropical breezes and a warm 85 degree temperature. The city of Cairns reminded us of Hawaii, Puerto Vallarta, and/or Jamaica, depending on who you asked. Mom made us go to church, so we tried to stay awake through the boring sermon. Mom wants me to write that we “started off the day right” by going to church and thanking God for the wonderful blessings we had been given. Of course, she was the one we had to keep poking to stay awake.

We took the bus from Cairns (pronounced “cans”) to where we were staying in Trinity Beach, which is North of the city and much prettier. As we walked along the ocean, we saw a HUGE carpet python on the sand. This was our frightening welcome to Queensland, where you can be killed in several ways if you’re not careful. We passed the Trinity Beach swimming area, which was a small netted area to keep out the stingers (killer jellyfish) and crocodiles.

Home sweet home for a few days.

Then we headed to our rental home, hereafter referred to as “the mansion.” With three floors and four bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and ocean-view balcony, along with marble floors, we were living in luxury. We spent the afternoon lounging in our private pool (which also had an ocean view), taking naps in the sea breeze and living the good life. We just tried to stay away from the various little lizards, large beetles, and giant grasshoppers that tried to invade our space when we opened up the oceanfront wall of patio doors. We went to bed early, lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves, knowing that we had to be up bright and early again the next morning for our sailing adventure.

-Aubree (and Mom)

Meeting the Australian Icons

Here's a post from my mom:

I think Mom is grossed out by the lamb brain option.

Saturday morning we went to the Queen Victoria Market, a fresh vegetable, fruit, meat (kangaroo, lamb, cow tongue, pig hoof, lamb brains), fish (shrimp, prawns, barramundi, octopus), cheese, pastry and souvenir market.  The food choices were amazing, but the souvenir area made me feel like I was in Shipshewana, Indiana.  We ate the most delicious jam doughnuts that were rolled in sugar. A great way to start the day! 

Kookaburra

After that we boarded a Phillip Island bus tour. The first stop was Maru Animal Park.  It was there that we got up close and personal with koalas (more from Morgan on that dream-fulfilling encounter later), wallabies, kangaroos, emus, wombats, Tasmanian devils, and dingoes.  We were able to feed and pet the wallabies and kangaroos, and the emus even stole Cindy’s entire dish of food!  Some of the kangaroos were carrying babies in their pouches, and it looked like some of them needed to “move out” – they were quite big and looked kind of silly when they dove in headfirst and all we could see were long legs hanging out.  It was fun to finally interact with these Australian icons.

Baby, I think it's time to move out!

The next stop was Woolamai Beach where we got to dip our toes in the cold ocean water and play a little Frisbee on the sandy beach.  It felt a little like being home by Lake Michigan, half a world away. 

Next came a walk around the Nobbies, where there was a boardwalk with spectacular views of the ocean. It was surrounded by nesting seabirds that squawked endlessly.  

On our way to our final destination for the day, the penguin march, we saw wallabies in the brush. Aubree had never seen a kangaroo or wallaby in the wild, so she was pretty excited.

Wallaby in the wild

Phillip Island is where about 1400 little penguins, formally called fairy penguins, march ashore every dusk after spending a couple of days swimming in the ocean eating and searching for food to bring back to their babies.  We humans all sat on stadium seating, waiting and watching for the adult penguins to arrive, and we were able to follow some as they waddled their way to their burrows.  It was fun to hear the baby penguins squeal in delight as their parents arrived back home and fed them regurgitated food.  Yum! 

You sit in the stands and watch the penguins come in for the night.

They're really strict about not taking pictures of the penguins.

It was a great first day of our awesome Australian adventure!  -Sue

Zack's Shark Encounter

Zack left early yesterday morning to head to Denver for his brother's wedding, so I'm posting this blog entry for him from a McDonald's in Sydney so he can show his family. It's totally out of order as far as our vacation goes, but we'll be adding new ones about other things we've been up to over the next few days. Enjoy Zack's words for now:

On our third day of vacation, we were on a sailboat called the Vagabond and moored the boat on a section of the Great Barrier Reef. There were no other boats around, just as the previous day, so we had this section of reef all to ourselves. The weather was hot with no clouds in the sky, and the water was clear blue and looked just like the Great Barrier Reef postcards I'd seen at the Australian airports.

On the previous day, I (Zack) had my introductory scuba dive called the 'Dive of a Lifetime'. At the time I thought it was just that, because the feeling of breathing under the sea, getting close to the sea animals and coral, swimming through canyons, and hearing nothing but my breathing was simply amazing.  But it got better.

On the third day, just myself and Duane (our scuba instructor and one cool dude) went down for a dive to the 'Turtle Station'. There are some sea bushes (coral) where turtles nestle in and rub any unwanted debris from their shells, just like a dog squirms on its back for a scratch. And he had seen a reef shark there previously which piqued my interest.

Duane knew I was interested in seeing sharks. I overheard a conversation with him and the captain of the Vagabond where the captain mentioned that sharks are attracted to the sound of crinkling an empty plastic bottle because it sounds like crustaceans. So Duane decided to bring a plastic bottle along with him, though he had never tried this before.

Map of the dive site.

Down we went, for a total of twelve meters. We were swimming along the bottom when I saw the first white tipped reef shark. It was awesome and was about two to three meters in length. The shark was scared of us and darted away after a bit. We continued on and saw a lagoon stingray, a few more reef sharks, a prehistroric looking cuttlefish that was just hovering in the same spot a few feet from the bottom, and lots of beautiful coral and fish. I felt like I was in another world and loved it.

Taken by the Vagabond crew on a previous trip.

Then I pointed out another white tipped reef shark coming diagonally toward us as we came around a large coral wall. He wasn't alone; there were several others, and they just kept coming. The guide kept track, and it was a total of seven white tipped reef sharks that were checking us out! They were only three meters away. Good thing for them that they just kept going, because Duane and I were ready to lay the smackdown on them if they tried anything funny - like eating us!  I wasn't scared, because this was my second dive and I assumed it was normal. So when I surfaced at the end of the dive and told Belle, one of our guides, what we'd seen, she asked if they were "next to the mermaid"-ha! Turns out it is very rare to see so many sharks, as these guys have been diving for years and the most any of them had seen at once was a group of three.

Duane's dive log.

Needless to say, I loved my scuba diving experience and look forward to heading to the next exotic dive site to match the experience of the Great Barrier Reef. I love diving in the still, beautifully clear water, exploring the depths of the ocean searching for the next adventure, and discovering the calmness within myself and peace with the ocean.

Zack had a major "bromance" going with Duane!

We're Still Alive!

The last few days of vacation have been fantastic, though no internet for blogging as we were on a sailboat on the Great Barrier Reef overnight. We will post pics and blogs as soon as we can! Just to give you a brief glimpse into our adventures, I encountered 7 sharks at once while scuba diving today!

Zack

The Dills Are Here!

They are here! My mom, dad, brother Justin, sister-in-law Cindy, and sister Morgan are in Australia. I'll let them write now.

Some nice person waited almost two hours with a fun sign for these folks to finally show up!

We made it!  It's beautiful here, and it's wonderful to be with Aubree (we haven't seen Zack yet - he's at work).  The 15 1/2 hour plane ride from LA to Melbourne wasn't that bad.  With over 200 movies to choose from, snacks and drinks whenever we wanted, plus lots of naps, the time passed fairly quickly.  Let the adventures begin!  Sue

We took a short walk by the bay and enjoyed the sunshine and breeze.  It was so nice to be able to walk and stretch our legs after such a long flight. Today is for relaxing, which is good because I am really tired. Looking forward to an early night and starting some adventures tomorrow! -Cindy

A short tram ride down Fitzroy Street

Coming out of the terminal at the airport on our way to get our luggage, I saw something shiny on the ground.  I bent over to pick it up and discovered it was a silver coin.  I put it in my pocket because I thought I was now rich.  Once we finally got our luggage, minus one bag that is still in Dallas, we finally got to see Aubree.  The first question I asked her was, "What is this coin; am I rich?"  She told me she had no idea.  I think I picked up a 1 yen coin.  I am not rich.  ~Justin

Waving their Aussie flags.

Somehow, I always knew my knowledge of the Australian National Anthem would be worth it, and as you can tell by the Aussie patriotism exhibited by the Dill family, it is certainly worth it. So far the actual koala count is zero, but the koala souvenir count is rising quickly.  Trying to keep it under control...probably not going to do a good job.  Did I mention I was in Australia?  Yeah, that's right. ~Morgan

A great first day of being met at the airport, getting settled in at our rental apartment, a quick walk along St. Kilda's beach, and past St. Kilda's restaurants and pastry shops and bars.  Really, really great to get the whole family together for laughs and stories.  Exchanged early Christmas gifts which felt like cheating just a bit.  Aubree has an Australian dinner planned tonight.  More stories later. ~ Dad Dill

So my family all just headed back to their apartment for some naps before dinner. I might sneak a quick one in myself before I fire up the BBQ for our Australian dinner (lamb skewers, pumpkin soup, sausages, chips, and Tim Tam slams). We'll be hitting up Acland Street for dessert. Lots more to come...