Blogger friends living in Australia, if you want a $5000 holiday in Queensland then get your
holiday thinking cap on and get writing. The Nuffnang crew have a great little
competition running until 10 February - and looking at the comments so far the
chances of winning the prize are pretty good! You just need to write a post on
how you’d blow that sunshine popsicle stand with the five big ones. Personally
I’d go back to my roots and head straight to Cairns, then onto the lush rainforests of
Mossman to hang with my folks and take a trip on the boat to our favourite
snorkelling site, Undine Reef.
Growing up here was like living
the Robinson Crusoe ‘book on tape’ that I listened to at night in my bunk bed
under the mozzie net. It was a very footloose and fancy free childhood. My
parents took us out of school for a week or so at a time to cruise the Coral Sea on Lumi our beautiful old boat. My brother and
I thin, brown salty wafers got very acquainted with the marine life of the Great Barrier Reef.
Looking back, I feel
exceptionally lucky to have been a barefoot urchin-child spending days and
weeks in one of the world’s natural wonders. Something that for many is a once in
a lifetime experience.
One of my favourite things to do when we were out on the
boat was tag along behind my dad while he was spearfishing. I’d follow, just
out of sight, hardly swimming just floating. Even though I probably stood out
like dogs’ balls in my pink lycra stingersuit, I felt like I was stealthy and undetectable.
Swimming along with the shy whitetip reef sharks (who were following the smell
of the coral trout he had speared and hooked to his float-line), was a bright pink kid
talking to herself through the snorkel. It was like it was just me and him in the
whole world. No other voices, traffic noises, nothing - just us and the ocean (and
me talking to myself!).
So do yourself a favour, write a blog post about
your dream $5000 Queensland
holiday and gather a few lovely holiday memories of your own.
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| A minke whale off Osprey Reef - source |
