Day 7- Diving Day!

Or not. We woke up and caught the morning ferry over to Magnetic Island looking forward for a nice and easy shore dive. The water was a bit rough so we were glad to have not opted for the 3 hour ride to the "outer reef." We land on the island, catch a bus over to the bay where the dive shop is and then... turned away. The divemaster told us that the visibility was horrible, and there would be no diving today. Rachel and I were both pretty upset. I am actually really bummed about it still. This was the day to go, we will not have another chance because tomorrow I give my talk, the day after we are taking a plane back to Syndey, and the day after that we are heading back to CA. The only thing I wanted to do here was dive the great barrier reef... So, let me tell you my anger on the several levels- this morning we were just pissed because we could have called the dive shop and been told a no on diving- but instead we lugged all of our gear onto a ferry and then onto a bus to find this out. And that meant we had to lug it back to the hotel. Of course if you read my earlier post, you'll also know that we had to spend an extra $300 just to bring the dive bag from Sydney to Townsville and back! And of course, just lugging that thing around all the other flights has just been a total pain. We

decided that we are going to leave the gear at my parents house once we get back to the states. Since that is the most likely place we will go diving next, and then that frees up a back to haul back all the loot Grandpa Joe bought for the boys!

Well, we did try to go in the water despite poor visibility. I got my feet wet and was thinking about going to try and snorkle despite the water and air being pretty cold. A couple others from the group we were with went and tried to snorkle. They came back and reported that they could not see a thing... So, I just went and laid on the beach in depression. Rachel went out for a swim while I wallowed. Finally, we decided that we better just move on and so went back to the hotel. We ended up going downtown and had lunch at a Turkish restaurant. We ordered Pides, which are pretty much pizzas. They both had a salad like on top of them right in the middle. They were actually really good. I had a seafood one, with shrimp anchovies and the like. Rach had a chicken one that I'll be finishing for dinner tonight. Our hotel room has a fridge and so we decided to eat leftovers for dinner tonight since we have so many! Then later in the evening we will head out for a gelato. After lunch we drove to the top of castle hill, a giant hill in the middle of the city. Spectacular views from there, although it is a crappy day so I am sure they are simply amazing in the summer.

Tomorrow then, I give my talk in the morning and listen to others until lunch. Then I will come

and pick up Rachel at the hotel and the group is heading to the Billabong Sanctuary to look at animals and have dinner. Rachel is hoping to actually hold a koala this time!

Me at the cove where we were supposed to dive. If you zoom in you can see me with a thumbs down.