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Caption: The Great
And Wondrous
Barrier Reef
Caption: On December 2014 I started a long awaited sabbatical. The first trip our family took together was Australia. While all of it was wonderful, the highlight for me was the Great Barrier Reef. The reef is vast and long. Almost impossible to see in one visit. In addition it lies not right off shore but about an hour off the coast of Queensland. You need to visit an island or cruise it to truly experience it.
We decided to do both.
We chose three places to visit:
Hamilton Island and Heron Island. And we finished with a catamaran cruise through the Whitsundays (with its famous Whitehaven Beach),
Here are the pictures of that journey.
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Caption: The only way to get to Heron Island is by either boat or seaplane.
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Caption: Heron Island literally sits on top of the Barrier Reef. As such when you step off the sand you step on to the reef. At high tide that means you can snorkel in about six feet of water. It is often a race to do so because at low tide the reef is exposed. You constantly are watching the reef surface and submerge.
Turtles, rays, reef sharks and tropical fish galore.
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Caption: Reef walking at low tide.
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Caption: They need to come up with more shades of "blue" for Heron.
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Caption: They might need a few more names for the "pink" and "orange", too.
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Caption: Wrecks serve as warnings to sailors.
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Caption: Hamilton Island at high tide.
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Caption: And at low tide.
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Caption: We set sail for a three day cruise aboard a catamaran through the beautiful Whitsundays.
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Caption: Peaceful anchorage.
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Caption: We arrive at wondrous Whitehaven Beach. It's as beautiful as the photos you've seen from others. These photos are virtually unretouched.
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Caption: The sand is so fine NASA bought some of it to polish the Hubble Telescope
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Caption: Walking the sandbars of Whitehaven.
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Caption: Brilliant white sand and turquoise water as far as the eye can see.
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Caption: Please visit me on Instagram @rfeakins. Thank you.
