romantic because on the return journey you have a glass of champagne and
watch the sunset. Unfortunately the weather had gone very cold and overcast
by the time we boarded, but at least we would still get the champagne.
Our crew consisted of Donny, driving and narrating, and Peter, selling
drinks and snacks. Due to the weather we all sat inside during the journey out,
it was a bit dull to be honest, and then there was a mad dash to the viewing
area once we reached the reef.
Thanks to our youth, and elbows, Emma and I managed to get a
window each. Donny then told us what we were seeing, switching his
attention from one side of the boat to the other periodically. We could all hear
all his commentary however, which was interesting but also sometimes
confusing:
'Does he mean that fish?'
'No, he means one we cannot see...'
What we did see included barracudas, snappers and grunts. Plus dozens of
types of coral and a stingray. The viewing lasted about 40 minutes, but it felt
like about five - not enough considering the journey was 40 minutes each way
as well.
At least the journey back did include the glass of champagne - or in our case
three glasses each. This was because 40 something year old Peter took a
shine to us, probably because we were chatty and everyone else was fairly
reserved. He invited us to meet him for drinks at 'Pepe's' later that evening,
ostensibly because he had not had chance to chat to us much and the beer
was only a buck. Part of us thought 'yeah right, bye bye strange creepy man',