Great Barrier Reef -- Mon. 15 May

This is it - the second most important part of our trip. Diving the Great Barrier Reef National Marine Park. We awoke early, checked out of our hotel, and met the representatives of Mike Ball's Dive Expeditions in the hotel's restaurant. The 10 of us then hopped in their bus with our dive gear and headed to the airport. We boarded one of two Cessna 404 turboprops and headed north to Lizard Island, an exclusive resort with its own airstrip. We transferred to the M/V Spoil Sport by inflatable tender boats and got introduced to the crew. We were to head out to the Cod Hole and be diving within two hours, so we all got started setting up our gear. Between my photos and videos and the DVDs we had made of the trip, it's pretty well documented, so I'll have some great show-and-tell stuff when I get back.