Koala Love

Mike and his (real live) furry friend. :)

(By the way, there are very strict labor laws for koalas -- they can only work two fifteen-minute shifts per day, a max of four days per week, and a max of four years in their lifetimes.  Our bus driver said they must have a great union.)

More reef boat photos below. :)

Back from the Reef

 The seas were a bit calmer on the ride back. James had a ton of energy (much to our surprise), so he was having fun doing pull-ups on the bar on the sun deck.  Matthew, meanwhile, enjoyed some watermelon and ice cream. :)

 

At the Reef

 The tour company has a pontoon out by the reef.  The main attraction is snorkeling, of course, but they also had a semi-submersible (a boat where the seating is underwater, with big glass windows), and a glass-bottomed boat.

Because the waves were high, everyone had to wear life jackets while snorkeling, which was great because we didn't have to worry about keeping afloat.  Matthew loved the snorkeling and got the hang of it very quickly.  (He described it as floating around "without a care in the world.")  James gave it a try, but wasn't quite as fond of it.  He thought the semi-submersible was awesome, though!

Perhaps because of the cloudy weather, the underwater sights weren't quite as colorful as you see in pictures, but we still saw a bunch of different kinds of fish, and even got a glimpse of a turtle when we were on the semi-submersible.

It really was a wonderful day!

The ship photographer with Wally

We don't remember it looking this clear/sunny!