Diving

So on Saturday the 13th we went out to scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. We went on a big boat with our whole group plus lots of others. They told us it would be about a 90 minute boat ride to get to the reef. Once we got there people could snorkel, take a helicopter tour, sea walk, dive, whatever! Everybody was looking forward to it. So we met with Erica, our tour guide, in the lobby this morning. She told everyone that it had stormed last night, so the water could be pretty rough. She told us that she had never been seasick a day in her life, but she was going to take dramamine because she was worried about it.

So Dad, ever prepared with pharmaceuticals, gave Jake, our BFFs Paul and Edna, and myself dramamine patches. I have never in my life been seasick. Ever. But I figured better safe than sorry. So we get to the boat, go downstairs, fill out our dive paperwork, and hang out for the ride to the reef. About 20 minutes in I start to get woozy. I had to take deep breaths and look out the window at the horizon. Then I start hearing it. People throwing up left and right. The crew of the boat was just walking around with barf bags and rubber gloves. Somebody threw up, they collected the barf bag and gave you a new one. I felt terrible, but I really thought I would make it. Of course, Dad and Jake think this is the most hilarious thing they have ever seen, so they are making fun of me and taking pictures of me clutching an open barf bag. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE around us was puking. Then all of I sudden, during my deep breathing technique, I hear puking right beside me. Oh yeah, Dad was the first to go. So I started laughing and then I started puking. I have never in my life laughed while puking, so this was a first. Not 2 minutes after that, it was Jake's turn. It was literally one of the funniest scenes I have ever witnessed. People were puking everywhere!! All I kept thinking about was that scene in the Goonies where Chunk is telling the story of how he faked puked in the movie theater and it made everyone puke for real. It was so gross and so funny! Jake said he had been trying not to throw up and he kept thinking about the scene in Weird Science where Bill Paxton talks about serving a "greasy pork sandwich in a dirty ashtray." We decided to name our excursion our trip to the Great Barrier RALPH! Or the Great BARFier Reef. Out of 120 people on the boat, about 100 lost it. Good times I tell you. Nothing bonds a group of people like throwing up in unison

So, after the great vomit incident, we got to the inside of the reef where there were no more waves!! We ended up being the only 3 certified divers on the boat, so we got to choose our dives. The visibility wasn't the greatest because of the storms that had passed through, but it was still beautiful! The colors of the coral were amazing, and we got to see tons of fish and a sea turtle! No sharks, thank goodness. But our dive master did talk us into doing a shark dive when we get to Fiji.

After we got back from the boat we went to dinner at an authentic Australian restaurant. Dad and Jake were ambitious and ordered the Aussie Sampler which had kangaroo, crocodile, and emu. I ordered the tuna. I love tuna and I was hungry! But I did taste their food and I have to say - kangaroo is pretty tasty.

So now it is off to bed. I still feel like I am on a boat, but hopefully there will not be another puking incident. Funny as it was, I'm still kind of mad about it. Much like Jerry Seinfeld, I had a great throw up record going on. I hadn't thrown up in like 6 years! Now it is ruined and I have to start from scratch. But I guess it was worth it to see the Great Barfier Reef