Day 5

Jan. 24, 2012

         Since we had a long day in the heat while we were golfing, the whole group slept in late until about 11A.M. It was well worth it and we managed to catch a rather large lunch at a restaurant across the street from the bungalow. The whole snorkeling plan was still on track; we needed to head to the hotel office so that we could claim our gear and go. The cool thing was that it was free for all of us, as it was a complimentary part of our hotel stay. Before we even got into our gear and wetsuit, everyone started observing from the shore.We all thought that the reef was going to have beautiful scenery and it really did. None of us have ever seen so many different kinds of fish swimming around near the shore.

         Everyone changed into their gear and prepped up to go into the reef. Exploring the whole reef was a great time and very fascinating. All of our group could even touch some of the interesting specimen. The person who was handling the rest of the tourists told us about all of the preservation they have to do just to keep the reefs in shape. When we got back there was a gift shop was stocked full of souvenirs and things related to the ecosystem by the shore. Our stomachs were starting to growl, thanks to all the swimming around; we decided it was time for dinner.

       Marc saw a restaurant called Bayleaf Balinese on the street by the shore and since we were all very hungry, everyone decided to go and try it out. The cashier at the desk told us that all of the ingredients were native Australian. A weird thing to acknowledge if you every go to Australia is that there are no waiter and subsequently, no tips. You order at the front desk or cash register and pick your food up there. This is true for almost every eatery we've attended. Anyways, our experience was nonetheless great! Plus, it was a new and exciting experience for all of us.The menu even had crocodile on it and Justin ordered a plate of it to try. Everyone ended up trying some of it and it was surprisingly delicious. 


       Snorkeling was probably one of the most exciting things we've done and none of us will forget it anytime soon. Alas, our arrival to the hotel was a welcome sight, mostly because we were completely exhausted from a long and fun-filled day.

Some really cool colorful parts of the reef! These parts are actually alive.













A ton of these types of fish are in the reef. We saw a lot of them.