Open Water...

I can't believe I've been in Cairns for over a week now...and that the car is still not sold...but first let me update on happier things.

I've just got back from a day on the barrier reef, which was pretty fantastic...admittedly this was just a day-trip, which means I was only taken to the "outer" reef, which is, of course, much visited and damaged by excess traffic, but in spite of that the coral was beautiful, and perhaps because of all the warnings I'd had from marine biologists at my SKM job, telling me not to expect too much, I was wholly impressed. Both reef sites we visited were teeming with fish, and I also saw my first sharks...harmless reef sharks of under a metre long, but sharks nonetheless, swimming with that cool shark motion.

Laura and I took our reef trips separately, for business reasons - she went on wednesday while I showed a girl the car - and I have to admit that, left to my own devices, I behaved like someone not capable of looking after themself: I unequivocally award myself "ditzy blonde of the boat" prize. This started when I boarded the boat. As I stepped on, a crew member took the piece of paper I was clutching, handed to me by the ticket desk: "This number is very important - it's your safety number. That's how the crew keep track of everyone on the boat. Remember it." I nodded obediently, handed him the number and promptly forgot it, which led to a reprimand from the snorkel-hire girl - "What do you mean you don't know it? It's very important, I can't give this to you til you know it...go and ask the skipper." Argh - it took much wandering around the (somewhat overcrowded and smelly) boat to locate my number (136) which the guy next to me then sensibly, if humiliatingly, wrote on my hand.

The incident to which the title of this entry refers occurred at the end of the day, at our second reef site. The snorkelling was fabulous, and although I was getting cold I was determined to make the most of the day, so after jumping out to warm up and grab a coffee, I got back in for a final swim. I was calmly circling the reef, lost in the underwater world, when a little motor-dinghy pulled up beside me, and the guy driving it told me he was there to take me back to the boat. "I'm ok, I'm not drowning or anything," I assured him. "I can swim if you like." "This way's more fun," he replied, before hauling me on board (I assure you that I deported myself most elegantly). It was only when we got back to the main boat that I discovered that they were all ready to leave when they'd realised they were missing one person...they'd been calling my number for ages, and all afternoon people kept saying "Oh, YOU'RE number 136," with mocking smiles on their faces. Of course, I'm grateful that they took the trouble to locate me rather than driving off and leaving me to the sharks...

The best part of the day was undoubtedly my trial scuba-dive - this is where they strap you into all the gear and take you underwater with close supervision, effectively doing all the work for you so that you can experience diving without having to put in the 4 days' training required to become certified. The diet Coke of marine exploration, clearly, but I'm too time and money poor to take the open water course right now...so this was the best I could do. It was wonderful...once I got used to breathing in AND OUT (for some reason it was the latter that caused me the most problems) with the tank I thoroughly enjoyed it. Such a crazy experience, to look up and see the water surface several metres above your head...and to be able to move around the coral without the usual bother of surfacing to clear your snorkel...really fantastic. I loved it.

Yesterday was spent with Laura and Sven (one of the guys we went to Magnetic Island with) on a trip to a very cute little rainforest village called Kuranda. Laura and I have spent way too much time knocking around Cairns trying to sell the car/stressing over the lack of potential buyers for the car, so we decided we needed a break. I'm very glad we went, as the moment we left Cairns city centre we were surrounded by rainforest-covered mountains, which really helped to put the car worries in perspective. We explored the market for which the village is famous and went on a walk through the jungle to a creek. We then tried to walk to a waterfall but took a wrong turn and ended up spending about 3 kilometres walking along a rather uninspiring highway...no matter; as I pointed out, it gave us some exercise, so that when we eventually DROVE to the waterfall we didn't feel as pathetically lazy as perhaps we should have done. I'm glad we got there eventually, as the view was stunning. This year-long trip is so close to an end now, and I reminded myself (and everyone else who would listen, obviously) that I wouldn't always be able to watch the sun set over a spectacular rocky waterfall in the midst of tropical rainforest.

I love the way sunset (and sometimes rise) has become such a normal part of my daily routine. I'd like to keep it up when I get home, if I can locate the sun through that London smog...(on the other hand, I have mosquito bites ALL OVER MY FACE, and it's still raining here; maybe coming home isn't such a bad idea...)

I have more comments to make (mostly whining about the inferior calibre of backpackers in Cairns as opposed to the west coast, whining about English people who just get drunk all the time and whining about people who assume that because I'm English, I just want to get drunk all the time) but only 12 minutes of internet time left, so time to go. How many more updates can I squeeze into my last 2 weeks in Australia? I'll take it as a challenge...