We were met at the dock by the first group that had been there and the excitement on their faces got us all pumped up despite our exhaustion from all the travel. The tide was starting to go out and our prof had promised us a snorkel on our first day so we quickly got ourselves suited up and headed into the water. I'd never snorkeled before so I was a bit unsure but it was actually pretty easy to pick up the basics. It was an amazing experience, there seemed like there was nothing but the second we got our heads under the water there were fish, coral, and other lil critters everywhere! Even saw a little Nemo out there, which is of course whats more important than anything else right?We were supposed to be thinking of ideas for a research project but I was too busy looking at the cool stuff all around...
I could go on for ages with everything that we did on the island but I'll try to condense it for this blog post. The food was actually quite good aside from the dubious custard that showed up three nights in row. We knew it was leftover night when we our dessert was jello (they call it jelly), custard, and ice cream. what the heck!? Anywho, the weather the first few days wasn't all that great but we managed to make the best of it. Our project was going to look at the little gobi fishes that lived in little holes in the ground but the wind was making pretty serious waves that we simply couldn't deal with. So along with most of the other groups, we had to change our project. What to you ask? Well like mature college kids that we were, we decided to study the excrement of holothurians, aka sea cucumber poo. It was the best of both worlds, it was not only an easier project but there was an endless stream of jokes to go with it!
We took every opportunity to go snorkeling and it was well worth it. Stingrays, sharks, and turtles. Enough said right there I dare say. The only real disappointment was not seeing Bruce and the other sharks saying, "Fish are friends, not food" during our snorkel to a boat wreck. There was supposed to be a night snorkel, but the weather didn't allow it so instead our tutors organized a marine biology trivia night for us. It shouldn't come as any surprise that of course, myself and the other awesome Dson folk took first place and won a bottle of wine!
On our last night, the weather had cleared up a bit so we went out to the beach and stargazed for hours. Everything was so beautiful and serene on the island you couldn't help but have a great time. Sitting on the beach watching sunrises and sunsets over the ocean horizon were some of the best I've ever seen. The sea turtles starting to mate on the beaches were simply amusing though. There was one particularly unfortunate couple that kept getting flipped over by the waves that had us in stitches for a good ten minutes at least.
Turtle sex aside, by the time our last day came around we were sad to say goodbye to the island. Its not an experience I'll soon forget, thats for sure.
Now for some photos from Heron Island and other places for your viewing pleasure!
This is Maia, Taylor, and myself at the World's Greatest Overlook in the Hinterlands
Sunrise
The triumphant Dream Team of Trivia Night
