MTV Cribs // Nemo's Backyard
MTV Cribs // Nemo's Backyard (QLD)
When you think of Australia you think of kangaroos, koalas, Ayers Rock and of course, the Great Barrier Reef (casa del Nemo). Having ticked off kangaroos and not being able to make it to the red centre to see Ayers rock, it was never in doubt that this would be part of my trip.
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I was slightly tentative about getting my hopes up as I had heard about the mass-bleaching event in 2002 that had laid bare large parts of the reef’s once vibrant and multi-coloured corals. However, as a lover of diving I was keen to go for a dip anyway. My sister had come out to visit and we booked a 3-day live-aboard boat run by Pro Dive out of Cairns. We had 11 dives over a variety of dive sites, 2 of which were night dives where we explored the dark depths with only a flashlight to guide us.
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The diving itself was fantastic! Despite the weather not being on our side and causing the viz (dive lingo) to be not as good as it could have been at a couple of the sites. I was definitely aware of the bleached corals and the reef not being in as good a state as I’d seen in pictures from before, but it was still a sight to behold.
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Plenty of turtles (duuude), the odd shark here and there, a 2m long barracuda and countless rays made the trip a great success. The only negative I can think of is the giant condom like suits we had to wear, as it was stinger season (I shall name him squishy and he will be my squishy), but hey, better safe than dead right?
