Saturday, February 17, 2018, Cruising Great Barrier Reef

-
Stretching for 1,400 miles along the Queensland coast, the Great Barrier Reef is the only structure composed of living creatures visible from space.  This UNESCO World Heritage Site, often called the Eighth Wonder of the World, encompasses 2,900 separate reefs, 600 islands, and 300 cays.  Each harbors an astonishing variety of marine life, including 360 types of brightly hued hard coral and more than 1,500 species of fish.  The waters in this region of the Coral Sea are remarkably clear, affording a unique glimpses of life underwater, even for ship passengers.  Vibrant coral, green sea turtles, dolphins, and any number of creatures might be seen deep below the aquamarine surface.

Today is a sea day in that we visited Cairns yesterday and tomorrow we will be at Thursday Island.  This evening we observed a beautiful sun set from our dining room window.

 


 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Days 1-2 - Intro 2024 Viking World Cruise/Santa Barbara, CA

-
Image
Snow pictures at noon Tuesday January 9, our original flight day at 3 PM. The pictures above were emailed to us by friends "back home."  We watched forecasts for over a week and did not like our favorite TV weather forecasters.  On Monday (1/8) we had an extremely rushed day!  We were to fly Tuesday (1/9) afternoon, however when our travel agent called Monday morning suggesting we fly that afternoon, we agreed but had to step on the throttle to get to KCI on time.  Part of our jumping thru hoops Monday morning was to cancel KCI hotel reservation.  Thankfully our travel agent made the LAX reservation when she changed our plane reservation from Tuesday to Monday, same times. A few days earlier we made reservations at a KCI hotel to spend Monday night then take a shuttle to the airport the next noon (3 PM flight).  This way our friend would not have had to drive to and from KCI in the snow.  But that all changed,  per paragraph above. ...
Read more

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 103, Apr 21, 2024, Dakar, Senegal, Bandia Reserve Safari

-
Image
  Dakar  is the  capital  and  largest city  of  Senegal . The  department  of Dakar has a population of 1,182,417, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.9 million in 2023. The area around Dakar was colonized by the  Portuguese  in the early 15th century. The  Portuguese  established a presence on the island of  Gorée  off the coast of Cap-Vert and used it as a base for the  Atlantic slave trade .  France  took over the island in 1677. Following the abolition of the slave trade and French annexation of the mainland area in the 19th century, Dakar grew into a major regional port and a major city of the  French colonial empire . In 1902, Dakar replaced  Saint-Louis  as the capital of  French West Africa . From 1959 to 1960, Dakar was the capital of the short-lived  Mali Federation . In 1960, it became the capital of the independent Republic o...
Read more

Days 10-15, Jan 18-23, 2024 Five Sea Days + a Day on Bora Bora, a French Polynesian Island

-
Image
On the fifth sea day of this leg, the night before visiting Bora Bora, we were treated to a marvelous 'surf 'n turf" pool-side lobster tail and beef evening meal.   . Bora Bora  ( French :  Bora-Bora ;  Tahitian :  Pora Pora ) is an island group in the  Leeward Islands  in the  South Pacific . The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the  Society Islands  of  French Polynesia , which is an  overseas collectivity  of the  French Republic  in the  Pacific Ocean . Bora Bora has a total land area of 12 square miles. The  main island , located about 125 nautical miles northwest of  Papeete , is surrounded by a  lagoon  and a  barrier reef . In the center of the island are the remnants of an  extinct volcano , rising to two peaks,  Mount Pahia  and  Mount Otemanu ; the highest point is at 2,385 feet. Bora Bora is part of the  Commune  of...
Read more