Snorkelling, Sharks and Stingrays...

It was a bright sunny day, perfect for our snorkelling trip with Lord Howe Island Environmental Tours.  We elected to hang the expense and pay the extra $5 to hire a wetsuit.  What a good decision. There were only four of us on the boat, which took us to four snorkelling spots in the lagoon, each of them only a few hundred metres from the next, but all quite different in coral and marine life.  Before we hopped into the water, Dean (our guide) told us to prepare ourselves mentally, as we would probably see some Galapagos sharks, but not to worry - he had swum with them all his life with no problems. How exciting!  He was right - on our first stop at Erscott's Hole I saw one small shark, and Trev saw two.  He tried to film it on our 'gopro' camera, but something went wrong with the camera and it's now broken, so we have only mental images to take home with us.  

There was lots of staghorn coral, and so many fish of all shapes and sizes, including the Double Header Wrasse.  The next stop, Erscott's Reef, had bright green and red soft coral, luminous yellow and pink hard coral, and fan coral but just as many fish on a deep drop-off shelf.  Comet's Hole was next, and was quite different again with lots of clownfish. We swam with a Galapagos shark at each of our stops. Last was the Horseshoe - again, lots of luminiscent coral and butterfly fish, as well as two sharks, two huge stingrays and a butterfly cod.  What a great finish to a lovely morning.  I was so excited to swim with the sharks and stingrays, even though my heart was in my mouth each time I spotted one.  I had to tell myself 'just breathe, and keep moving' - fantastic!  When we got back to shore, we rinsed our feet in a tub of lovely warm water, and the manager made us a hot cup of milo to warm us up - brilliant.  What a great day out!

After the trip, it was back up to The Anchorage for a good cup of coffee, then home for lunch.  We had dinner at the Anchorage that evening - very nice meals, but a little on the small side.  Dessert (apple and rhubarb crumble for me and blue cheese and guava jam for Trev) was delicious.

Next up - another big walk.