Two of the impossible happened. One-I went three days without internet access and after one mild panic attack, felt wonderful. Two-After a week of torrential downpour, I managed to get sunburned. Thank God for the WhitSunday islands......After I left Noosa (lovely beach town north of Brisbane) I headed further along the coastline seeking sun. I reacquainted myself with the bright orange bulb in the sky in the picture perfect Whit Sunday islands. I had booked my boat, "Powerplay," months in advance. Even though the thought of going 30 meters under water terrified me, I booked a dive boat in hopes that the other passengers would be more hungry for adventure than for drunkenly pole dancing the mast to Brittany Spears. (not that there is anything wrong with pole dancing...in the privacy of your own home....or ahem....Tahoe cabins with friends...but I didn't want to be with wasted strangers f for three days trapped in a boat with a tiny toilet that doubles as a shower and shared beds).
I was not to be disappointed. Upon boarding the boat Paula, the skipper, gave us a long lecture. 'This is NOT a party boat. We get up at 6am, right before sunrise, and bed down after dinner. You'll have a great time if you follow the rules...and trust me you'll be so exhausted from the multiple excursions during the day that come 10pm you won't have any party in ya anyway."
Alcohol of any sort was forbidden until dusk (when a a few oil cans did emerge). And if we failed to follow any of the scuba/ snorkel procedures we would be punished with a teaspoon of Vegemite in the mouth (seriously).
But the rules were worth it. The boat was filled with liked minded adventure seekers and we were so excited about the upcoming cruise through the 
sunshine that we would do anything the crew told us to. (which, actually we did. Many of us were exploited for "Powerplay" marketing photos..yes the photo with us on Whitehaven beach forming a "PP"....all to avoid Vegemite).At first I was going to stick to snorkeling where I could safely see the sea life from oh a safe 2 inches from the water's surface. But then I heard all the stories from the cool "certified" divers. Apparently the "down under" of the Down Under was much better than above! Perhaps I could give the ol' Jacques Cousteau routine a try. We were in the Great Barrier after all. And sure enough I soon found myself in a wetsuit with my own weight in oxygen strapped to my back. Naturally, death thoughts filled my brain. I was going to get lost, lose the group and get found by a flesh eating manta ray. My regulator would become plugged with jellyfish. I would over inflate my vest and float away to Indonesia. Or a shark would mistake my red toenail polish for bloody niblets.
But once I made the dive (down under) I discovered such a beautiful new world (brave new world) that all thoughts of death slipped away. Did you know that there is a type of fish that mates for life? (you can see them swimming in pairs). Or that manta rays are actually afraid of us and swim away? Or that most coral is soft to the touch? Or that some coral, life fire coral, really shouldn't be touched and will leave you with a distinct burning sensation for 35 minutes? Sigh. I saw so many creatures including sea turtles, giant clams, and even little Nemo (aka clown fish) that I was addicted. Ladies and gentlemen, we have another yuppy sport to add to the collection.
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