The end is nigh...

Ello Mates-
Can't believe I've been away for over 2 months, it seems like yesterday I was hopping off the plane into New Zealand. This entire experience has been amazing. It's going to take a while for me to process all that's occurred. Lady Elliott was incredible. Studied a lot about Great Barrier Reefs. Went snorkeling in clear blue waters with fish of all sorts of colors and many venomous and poisonous creatures. Saw a shark, a sting ray, lots of turtles and so much more. Earth hour occurred while we were on the island, which started in Sydney a few years ago ands has spread to thousands of places since. All power is turned off for an hour to raise awareness about the am mount of electricity we all use. During earth hour we went out to the beach and watched freshly hatched sea turtles make their way into the ocean- then sat in the candlelit old island bar listening to Billy Joel ( there was a generator running in that one place). The birds were crazy at Lady Elliott, there can be over 170,000 of them at one time on the little island- let's just say good sleep was not to be had- these birds cried like baby monkeys the whole night through. It's necessary though, as most of the coral gets it's nutrients from their waste ( a few of us got a few nutrients on our clothes as well...)An interesting concept we've discussed has been that of shifting baselines...or the failure to notice change as it occurs slowly over time. For example, I wasn't disappointed by going to the GBR and seeing 1 shark and lots of turtles. But if I had known how many more their used to be I might have been. I recommend everyone checking out the website . Pretty amazing info that we could all take something from.
I'm sad to be leaving soon, as I could stay here happily for a while longer, but so thankful for the experiences I've had. I'll be updating more as I continue to have time to reflect!

Cheers