Out of my point of view: North Queensland - Day 3. Or: The day I dived the Great Barrier Reef!

On day three Andrea and I set out for what I consider to be the main event of this holiday. The Great Barrier Reef! We booked ourselves on a large tour boat that headed out to a pontoon at the reef and let you snorkel and explore for hours.

What we did not know was that the Chinese had invaded for the Chinese new year. I have never really been surrounded by a couple of hundred Chinese people before, so it was a new experience to me. They were so strange! There was a fantastic culture clash between Andrea and I (and the other four or five non-Chinese tourists) and the Chinese. Here are some examples of my study of Chinese behaviour:

- Finding a seat is to the Chinese apparently a matter of life and death.
- They don't seem to comprehend the concept of holding the door for people, or acknowledging when other people hold the door for them.
- If a person is holding a flipper from the flipper bin whilst looking for the other one, it is to a Chinese ok to grab it and run.
- If there is a buffet the Chinese will load up mountains of food and only eat half, leaving no food for the people at the end of the queue.

It was like being part of an absurd comedy movie, completely surreal. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the Chinese and they did make for a good holiday story. They were just so STRANGE.

Anyway. As the boat set off after it's first stop at Fitzroy Island I spotted a sign that said you could scuba dive at the reef without any experience. Quickly, before I had a chance to change my mind, I ran down do the booking desk and booked my spot. I did it. I WENT SCUBA DIVING!

Now, those who know me will know that I would rather chew my left arm off than swim in a lake, or hop off a boat into the sea, or lower myself into the dark under a boat in the coral sea. I am not particularly afraid of sharks or other potentially hungry creatures. It's an irrational fear, but those are the worst ones.

But I did it. I just did it. Ten minuted of briefing from the instructor, on with the scuba gear, and down under the boat we went. As the sea was quite rough on the day I could not practise any skills on the pontoon in shallow water, instead I had to lower myself down a rope into the actual sea and there practise taking my mouthpiece out, dropping it, finding it, and putting it back in my mouth. And I did it - just like that.

Off I went, gliding through the water, past giant clams and schools of colourful fish. It seems a bit like a dream now, it seems unreal somehow. I scuba dived at the Great Barrier Reef! All the time I was watched over by my friendly and competent instructor Neil. Thanks to his matter-of-fact attitude and no time for nonsense, I was completely confident and enjoyed every second.

Meanwhile the Chinese were getting stranger. Firstly, as I mentioned, the sea was very choppy and it did not seem to agree with them. People were being sick left right and centre. Secondly half of them, sick or not, had gone to sleep. There were bodies everywhere, across seats, on the floor, under the seats. It was like a giant casualty ward. They clearly did not share our view that we had to make the best of the trip and snorkel every minute. As an alternative to sleeping Andrea and I enjoyed a guided snorkel tour with Ted the marine biologist. We learnt a lot and got sufficiently sun burnt.