diving in the Great Barrier Reef - CHECK!!

went to Cairns for one reason and one reason only - diving in the Great Barrier Reef!!! 

the town itself is dead and the hostel crowd at Gilligans i just couldn’t even. everyone is young and gets dolled up to go out and party every night. it’s kinda a stop where young travellers end up and stay for like 4 weeks looking for farm work to extend their visas. i had a day to kill so naturally i hunted down google’s “best eggs benny in cairns”, then strolled around - there is a cute pool there along the water cause you cant swim in the ocean cause crocs - and got a new toooyyyyy, a GO PRO!!!!

 my liveabroad tour was 2 days, 1 night out on the reef, 7 dives. about $520 which isnt too bad because it’s a night of accom and all meals were AMAZINGGGGG. props to the chef. side note what they didnt tell me was it was $15 per dive to have a guide, which is bs. especially for the night dive.

 met my dive buddy/roomie becca and had lots of good inspo and talks about travel because she has been like everywhere in the world. so happy to have met her and had her on this tour!!

 ok the dives!!!! the reef was actually so impressive. so happy to have seen it. saw some turtles, couple small sharks. wish i saw more but whatev. the big thing was this tour made me feel like a legit diver. my dive count went from 8 to 15. did a night dive, where we saw a sleepy turtle, shark, and a million giant black fish that hunt in the light of your flashlight. becca and i both said a year ago we would have been scared to do the night dive, but here we are today just killin it. navigated on my own with a buddy.

 i dont know if i have ever been so exhausted in my life. night dive, then up at 5:45 for sunrise dive when all the animals are waking up. breakfast, then another dive. 1 hour to rest on the deck, then back in it for another dive. soooo draining but felt awesome.

 bucket list check! that’s a wrap on Australia!! current mood: exhausted, happy, ONTO THE NEXT!!