We returned from Carnarvon Gorge and spent a night at an Anglican retreat centre (former workers camp, with the vibe of an old leper colony or psychiatric sanitarium). We dropped Dr. John, Toby, and Sheree at the airport for their flight back to Brisbane. Tibbits met us for dinner.
It was Bianca's 21st birthday, so there was merriment and drinks among the kids. I was pretty wiped out (and worried about getting sick), so after having a piece of cake, I made my way to my bolted-to-the-wall bed.
The next morning we unloaded the bus and caught the two-hour ferry ride to Heron Island. The emotion from Carnarvon was still heavy with folks (more about that soon when I can write up that adventure), but excitement for the Great Barrier Reef was high.
Due to my exhaustion, borderline cold (and my absolute desire not to repeat my illness of a month ago), the general anarchy of our marine biology field trips, and some equipment malfunctions in mask and snorkels, I have been in a particularly shitty mood. It even got to the point of being noticed among my peers. There was some confusion from my attempts to make amends, so I take comfort that I had not deeply injured anyone. Still, not the person I want to be...
...especially when you are standing on a gorgeous coral cay at the south end of one of the seven wonders of the natural world.
I wanted to post that I was back into the realm of some civilization, admittedly somewhere in the depths of the Pacific off the coast of Australia. It's pretty stunning.
more on that soon, too, hopefully.
No comments:
Post a Comment