A Great Barrier Reef Trip Dedicated to Bumpie

As soon as I got the e-mail from Jenn to call Dad's cell as soon as possible, I knew. It wasn't until I heard the words that Bumpie had left us from my father that it really hit me. The guilt set in fast that I wasn't there, but the consoling words from my family made it a little easier. My Dad told me that I had the same sense of adventure that Bumpie did and that he was so proud of me for doing this. Elliot and I spent the rest of the evening talking about Bumpie and some of my best memories that I've had with him growing up. Anyone who knows me well knows how much time I spent with my grandparents on weekends at their cottage at Schurman's Point and waking up to Bumpie building a fire and making the best scrambled eggs I've ever tasted. He also taught me to play crazy 8's and we played often. He was such gentle, kind and loving man who always has a story to tell. All you had to do was ask and he wouldn't hesitate to share his life experiences with you. I'm so happy to share that my father has some of the same qualities. I love you so much Dad.

I said good-bye and celebrated Bumpie at a reef spot appropriately called "The Three Sisters". I placed some beautiful flowers in the water and it seemed perfect. I knows he's with me and I can't wait to take him to all the beautiful places I want to explore. He told me that his Dad always wanted to go to New Zealand and although that has always been our plan we are more bound and determined than ever to go for him.

The Reef was beautiful. It is everything you read about. We have some seriously cool pictures because we rented an underwater camera. I mean you might as well go all out right? On our first day of the trip we did our first intro scuba dive. Which, was nonetheless a little scary because of all the things that can go wrong. Elliot went down like a pro and although it took me a minute to compose myself, I went down as well. Because you had to pay to do more diving, unless you were a certified diver, Elliot I spent the rest of the trip snorkeling. As you can see, we got some seriously cool shots and a few scares! When Elliot spotted the Reef Shark it was the first day and I froze when I saw it but was actually quite calm. I honestly have the belief with animals that if you leave them alone they won't bother you and so far it's worked out for me. It wasn't until Elliot started to follow the shark to take a better picture that it started to really scare me! My favorites were the Sea Turtle and the Nemo's (for Paige because I took her to see the movie!) properly called Clown Fish.

We docked the boat and spent the night at a place at the Reef called "the Whale". The sunset and sunrise were beautiful and the food was surprisingly delicious! Our sixteen passenger, five crew boat was very multicultural with people from Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, England, Japan, America, Australia and of course, Canada! There were six Canadians aboard counting Elliot and I and two of them were brothers from Fredericton. Small world we live in.

A few other notes to let you know about are that Elliot and I bought a car! A 93 Mitsubishi Magna station wagon with some camping gear in the back. Shalyn and Ryan have booked their tickets to Australia! We are meeting them back in Brisbane on the 9th of May and neither of us can wait to go exploring with them!

The last few days we have been hanging out with Logan Ceretti from Borden, a childhood friend of Elliot's that has been showing us around Cairns. We have been having so much fun but that is a whole other post.

Missing all of you,

Love, Amy & Elliot x