Life’s too short

Koh Tao the turtle island! But ironically it’s the first time I’ve been diving and not seen a turtle for a very long time – I guess that’s just because I’ve been spoilt. Spoilt with so many good times and good experiences! But good doesn’t even begin to cover it – phenomenal – that sounds more appropriate!   
    
     
As I sit on the ferry from Koh Tao back to the mainland on my way up to Bangkok I’m pondering how quickly my year is coming to an end. I’m about to bid farewell to Thailand and see what Bali has to offer and then that’s it – I’m off to sunny (obviously actually not-so-sunny) England and it brings a tear to my eye but I’m not really sure why. I’m no longer dreading being back in England and at university for final year but instead I’m looking forward to the new challenges and to seeing what the year brings and how it will help me grow into graduate life. I’ve always said that life is what you make it and I can proudly say that I’ve always put that belief into my life too – I’ve achieved such a wide variety of things because I’ve put in the leg work! I’ve worked 5 jobs alongside university which has enabled me extend my journey home – and boy was every hour worth it! Even if despite all the worked hours I’ve still ended up in more debt, money will come and go, it always does. But you can never get the time back and you can never take away the memories!

Life is too short to be doing something you don’t absolutely love.

Swimming in the big blue

Having a girls only room most definitely paid off last night as we didn’t have to put up with any of the boys snoring! 
Today we headed out to the Ningaloo Reef, a place I have wanted to go to for over a year now!! Despite the dodgy winds which lead to dodgy tummies it did not disappoint! 

First swim of the day was with the majestic manta rays, this is the second time I’ve swam with them but I don’t think you could ever get bored of these creatures!! They float along as if they have no care in the world moving with such ease and agility.  

    
 Unfortunately it was a pretty cold and windy day so I did spend quite some time feeling sorry for myself over the edge of the boat! Thankfully it had worn off by the time of the next snorkel and I was ready to go searching for some turtles! And I was in luck!! We found a very chilled out little fella who was happy for us to follow him around for some time and watch him attempt to get himself some snacks – even managed to get a few great videos and photos! 

 Although he is looking slightly angry here!
  
 As the day went on I got colder and colder, once you get to the shivering stage (and you’re wet) it is very hard to come back from that but the group were lovely looking after me and Sydney leant me her beautifully warm rain coat which helped a lot!

One final snorkel over the shark cleaning bay – yes this is apparently a real thing and not just from the cartoon movies! – although we only managed to spot a couple reefies. 

All in all it was a fantastic day put on by Coral Bay Eco Tours and I would definitely venture out with them again! Just hopefully the weather would be better next time!

Back to Coral Bay for the most beautiful hot shower and back on the bus for the venture down to Exmouth for our first go at two nights camping!

Dolphin and Turtle spotting

I booked a day trip in advance for today to get my fix of Australian sea life – today we’re off to Moreton Island with Whales in Paradise cruises.

Naturally I slept the whole of the bus journey from Gold Coast to Redcliffe Jetty and then we boarded our vessel to begin our journey. It was a fairly quick journey over although we did manage to spot some majestic Dolphins swimming around in the crystal clear blue waters! We the  arrived at Tangalooma Wrecks where 15 ships have been purposely sunken to provide a break in the water and a safe shelter for boats during storms. A bonus feature of this is the dozens of natural corals which have begun growing off the old shipwrecks – and of course the marine life that comes with!  

         

We spotted many fishies swimming around and even managed to see a turtle come up for air a little later on our Eco-cruise.

Moreton Island is the third largest sand island in Australia after Fraser Ian’s and Stradbroke Island and it is just beautiful!!  

 

Stranded on a desert island

Today was our first full day on the Mantaray Island and we saw a Mantaray, a turtle and pretty much the whole cast of Finding Nemo… But of course that came with a few adventures along the way…

There were two dives in the day but as I am not a certified diver I couldn’t do the first one so instead stayed in the boat, it was probably one of the choppiest days of the year and within 5 minutes I had been sick over the edge three times. Unable to return to the island they instead left me on a stranded desert island on my own before returning to collect me later… I’d be lying if I didn’t wonder if I was about to experience my own castaway movie – luckily I didn’t!!

Anyway once on the boat I ‘manned up’ and went on the second dive. Within minutes of going under we saw a turtle and they are exactly how you expect them to be… Amazing! So relaxed and chilled out, whoever did their research on the characters for the Finding Nemo film did it well!!

Whilst climbing off the boat I managed to do a ‘duck and role’ resulting in me lying flat in the water… Forgetting I had my handbag around me! Thank the lord I didn’t have any valuables in there !!