After breakfast this morning we went for an explore of the island. It's pretty small so it's not too difficult to cover the whole island in a few hours. Apparently, the original lighthouse on the island was the third lighthouse erected in Queensland and the first in Australia to be constructed of a timber frame clad with iron plates. The original lighthouse was deactivated in 1995 and the light was replaced by a modern skeletal tower standing close to the original lighthouse.
Todays's big event was the glass bottom boat trip which goes out through the reef to deeper water on the eastern side of the island. In addition to coral, we saw dolphins, green turtles and several sharks. At one stage we were able to jump off the boat and do our own snorkelling. It's a spectacular spot.
To get underwater photos you really do need a decent underwater camera - something we don't have. The gift shop on the island came to our rescue with a CD of photos that have been taken by those with better equipment then ours. This is what we saw ....
Each afternoon the fish in the lagoon near our lodge are fed. It's quite a sight. Nate enjoyed sitting in the water with the fish swimming around him.
After dinner, we were back on the glass bottom boat for a night tour of the reef. It's quite a different perspective on what you see in the daytime.
