Exploring the Great Barrier Reef... literally

When I initially won this incredible competition I was asked if there were any specific activities I was interested in getting involved with. In addition to asking to spend as much time with kangaroos as possible, I also expressed interest in scuba diving in the legendary Great Barrier Reef. Little did I know that this would be the best part of my trip so far.

I recently returned from my 3 day/2 night liveaboard adventure with Prodive Cairns, where I literally lived on a cruise boat with 32 other divers for 3 days.

The trip began with a bumpy ride to the reef - luckily we had great weather and motion sickness pills! I hit it off early with a few passengers my age, but by the end of the trip I had a chance to learn a bit  about everyone.

The trip involved a total of 9 dives throughout 3 days - one dive being a night dive! Learning how to come in and out of the gear was quite confusing at first, but after 9 dives we all seemed to figure it out without needing too much assistance from our instructors.

Our days consisted of waking up shortly after 6 am to start the first dive, followed by a huge buffet breakfast, another dive, huge lunch, another dive... you get the picture.

We pretty much spent the days diving and eating, but we of course made time to work on our tans!

Each dive began with Digby, one of the Prodive instructors, briefing us on how to navigate throughout that particular reef and informing us on what underwater species we should keep an eye out for. He was a big fan of visual aids!

After gearing up and completing our 'buddy checks', we entered the water one at a time - one hand on our weight belts and the other on our mask and mouth piece.

Our skipper Kent safely navigated us from reef to reef where I did multiple dives on both Milln and Flynn reef.

Some of my favorite under water discoveries were sea turtles, sting rays and even a few white tip reef sharks!! Prodive  had a bunch of underwater cameras you could rent out for a dive which quickly became the popular thing to do.

By the end of the tour most of us had become really close and decided to celebrate passing scuba school and getting our certifications with dinner and lots and lots of drinks! The group was a range of all ranges from kids as young as ten and seniors in their sixties. Most of the younger crew made it out to a bar later called The Woolshed, and the real troopers continued celebrating back at Gilligans Hostel.

Overall it was an incredible 3 days in Cairns (pronounced Cans), Australia. The trip could not have been as successful as it was if we didn't have our amazingly entertaining crew.

Thank you Tourism Australia for setting me up with Prodive and giving me an experience I will never forget!