02 June 2008

Heron Island


This island is beyond beautiful. Our ferry ride over was rough, with violent ocean. Most of our group spent the ride with their faces in a bag, wishing they didn't eat lunch. I sang. Because the research station burnt down two years ago and they haven't finished rebuilding, we're staying in
'tents' with bunk beds, 8 or 10 to a tent. Just after we dropped our bags the rain stopped, the sun came out and we headed for the beach. Again, it was beautiful. The island is small, you can walk around it in an hour, which is exactly what we did. With free time to explore we stayed on the beach, watching for sea turtles, stingrays and sharks (I saw a lemon shark, yay!) The water is clear blue and you can see everything that swims by. The sunset was beautiful, with the orange and pink light reflecting back onto the clouds, painting the entire sky. At dark we stopped for dinner, then went back out for more exploring. We saw dozens of ghost crabs, more sharks and stingrays, and (so cool) bioluminescent algae. Just sitting on the beach, staring at the milky way -which you can actually see!- and then there was a blue speck in the sand, flashing occasionally, right there between me and Jess.

It's official. I'm going to do research somewhere like this for the rest of my life. I love it!

We went snorkeling after brekky this morning, again, I'm just stunned by the beauty, the variety and the color of everything! Unfortunately, I dropped my underwater camera, it popped open, and promptly shut off. I'm hoping that It'll be okay after drying out, but it might take a few days. :(

Time for lunch!

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