Tags
Australia, Cairns, coral, feather star, fish, Great Barrier Reef, nature, nature art, ocean, photography, scuba diving, Seastar, Seastar Cruises, sketch, snorkeling
A visit to Australia wouldn’t be complete without visiting the Great Barrier Reef. At least that was what my daughter told us. Visions of swimming through bright corals with beautiful fish in crystal clear water competed with fears of poisonous octopus, sharks, popped ear drums from scuba diving, cool weather and a myriad of other problems. Having never done scuba diving or snorkeling, this would be an adventure indeed! And I’m not the adventurous type…
After much research, we settled on Seastar Cruises and they were great. With much patience, they talked me through my mini-panic attack and I actually did some scuba diving. I saw the giant clam, which was my motivation to overcome my fears, as well as lots of beautiful fish and coral.
It was like entering another world…an alien, beautiful world. I really wanted to take some pictures so I spent the second part of our trip snorkeling. It was quite windy and I was always moving with the waves, so there was some difficulty taking pictures but quite a few of them turned out. I was able to see my daughter do a second dive, snorkelers diving, more clams, fish, and feather stars. I was not expecting the reef to be as big and deep as it was. There were canyons to swim through and everywhere I turned, new things to see and not nearly enough time to explore.
So much to inspire in all the colors, shapes and textures. The three of us did have issues with seasickness so sketching on the boat was not possible. I decided to wait for solid ground for that opportunity. Enjoy!
Coral Reef and shore sketch
© 2017 Karen A Johnson
Karen's Nature Art 
Lovely sketches, Karen, from your amazing observations!
Thanks, Marilyn!
How brave you are! Your photos are so beautiful! You must be very pleased to have been able to overcome your fears and see all these things that so few of us are able to see. And with seasickness! Ugh!
Thanks, Clare! Fortunately, the sea sickness went away once we were in the water. Thank goodness!
What wonderful photos from a different world! Glad you decided to be adventurous and see these undersea creatures. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Marlene! Glad you enjoyed them. It was hard to choose from so many cool things to show everyone.
Lovely images! And you were very brave to get down there so you could see all that color and beauty!
Thanks, Peter!
Wonderful descriptions ! So glad you experienced all of this and made the most your time
Thanks, Alissa! It’s hard to believe we saw so much in such a short time. So fun!
Your pictures are beautiful. Love the colors of the fish, enchanting!
Thanks, OC! Glad you enjoyed them!
Fabulous, Karen! Looking forward to some amazing sketches. 😀
Thanks, Resa! I’m working on it!