Diving on the Great Barrier Reef

I'd booked a day of snorkelling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef on a large boat recommended by my hostel. There were 11 groups of people doing an introduction dive and only six of us doing certified dives. It was really well organised and we got lots of time snorkelling in between the dives. However, the reef wasn't great. A few of the snorkellers saw a turtle and I saw a few bits on my first dive but the visibility was poor and the reef wasn't great compared to some of the diving I've done around the world.

The second dive was better as I paired up with one of the other certified divers and I did my first (I think) buddy dive with no guide. Our navigation around the reef wasn't perfect but we had decided not to go deep as the visibility is better and so is the reef.

We were given wine and cheese on the journey back, then at the hostel I continued the drinking with Jonas and Gaai, my hostel room mates and two girls from the UK, Emma and Holly. I had some wine and beer but the others all had goon, boxes or dirt-cheap disgusting wine.

Later on we all went to one of the main bars in Cairns. There was lots of fun and dancing. While outside in the seating area, I noticed someone I knew from the UK. It was a really close friend of one of my best friends. I hadn't seen her in maybe 10 years but I was pretty sure it was her. She didn't even recognise me but she knew my name and she immediately phoned out mutual friend. It turns out we're both going to a weekend away with our friend back in the UK (where I'll be for the summer). It's a small world!