This is Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef. For the geographers out there, it's a coral cay rather than a continental island. It's where you went for the day if you couldn't afford the trip out to Norman Reef.
Green Island was our second day in Queensland and I nearly cried when I saw the colour of the sea as our boat approached. We took a snorkeling trip out from the jetty, which was a pretty brave move because I'm scared of water, on account of having watched my best friend fall into the Sankey Brook when I was a kid. Sankey Brook looks nothing like this, as the name suggests.
Unlike the rest of the party, I insisted on wearing a full life jacket while snorkeling. I looked nothing like the holiday-makers in my guidebooks, though this was largely down to the size of my arse rather than the life jacket per se.
Having climbed off the boat, I persuaded Darren to go off snorkelling on his own. As soon as he'd gone, I climbed straight back on and headed for the smorgasbord lunch but was rumbled when he came flapping back in his fins. After he persuaded me back into the water I tried to hoodwink him by putting my head under the water and pretending to open my eyes.
"What do you think of the reef?" He said when I emerged.
"Oh it's fab"
"What did you see?"
"Fish, you know, stripey ones, spotty ones. And coral, pink and blue coral"
"That's funny" he continued, pointing to his right. "The reef is way out over there. You had your eyes closed, didn't you?".
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