Birthday day

For those romantics out there that are wondering about Leg Shaver Guy, he was one of the first messages I received on my birthday. (Okay, my sister-in-law's cell phone call at 2:20 AM was technically the first!)

Normally, I would grant myself the luxury of sleep on my b-day, but on that day, I had a date with tropical fish and gorgeous ocean water. I was going to the Great Barrier Reef!

Quicksilver is a company that's been offering trips to the Low Isles for 18 years and it's my third time with them. We took off on a boat called Wavedancer. Okay, "boat" isn't the proper word. How about this: a huge blindingly white catamaran with a gigantic blue sail and room for about 150 people (we only had about 80).

Halfway to the Low Isles (inner reef), my cell phone rang! It was my mom, wishing me "happy birthday," so that was nice.

The difference in this Wavedancer snorkeling trip from past years was this year, we were strongly encouraged to wear "stinger suits" aka blue lycra bodysuits. The suit would keep us safe from "stingers," commonly known in the US as Portugese manowar or jellyfish. It also protects against sunburn. Honestly, the outfit included a hood and mitten-type things, so I was pretty much blue top to bottom.

Think Blue Man Group goes swimming!

I didn't care if they put me in armor, I was going out to visit the fishies! And, boy did I see a TON! of them including a sea turtle that swam right up to me! When I came across about a dozen medium-sized (half meter?) fish all chomping down on coral in the same spot like an aquatic McDonalds, I decided it was time for lunch.

The buffet on the Wavedancer was pretty cool with prawns, chicken, three kinds of salads plus a mango-orange drink to wash it all down. Of course, after finishing the full day of snorkeling, I switched to rum and coke (more on that later).

The second round of snorkeling didn't come as easily to me and I kept getting water in my mask. Finally, I got somewhat comfy. Keep in mind that all but approximately two inches of my entire body is encased in blue spandex.

I felt a tiny pinch on the right side of my upper lip, but I didn't see the offending fish (or coral or whatever), but decided the prudent thing would be to call it a day and find out if I was going to die or not (just kidding).

The divemaster told me that I probably got stung by sea lice. How glamorous is that?? A bit of ice on the spot and I should be fine. I decided that a bit of rum and coke would be much better. (The bartender - -a woman- - bought me my first rum and coke for a bday gift.)

Back on the boat, the Wavedancer crew had set up shop with various photos of each of us taken at the Low Isles. Yes, I'm a sucker, so I bought one of me in my famous blue bodysuit. If you bought two photos, you got a CD with fish and other scenes from the reef and our boat. I only wanted one photo, so no go. (But the photographer and I talked for a bit and he found out it was my birthday, so after I paid for my photo, I found he also included the CD as a gift! How cool is that?!)

Back to my apartment/hotel, I was all set to have champagne with Christel and Wolfgang, the German couple who own the complex. When I checked in earlier this week, Christel mentioned that she bought some champagne for my birthday. Is she great or what??

Several toasts later, the five of us (another German couple joined us) had killed only two bottles of bubbly, but it was time for me to go to dinner.

Another wonderful evening in Port Douglas included kangaroo loin in some fabulous au jus plus a passionfruit custard, mango and strawberry dessert. Watergate (the restaurant) is tucked in off the main street with huge palm trees and ferns shrouding it from the noise of the road. The staff was great, even showing me their resident green tree frog. They said I could name it, so I suggested "Cubby." We'll see if that sticks.

On the return trip from the Low Isles, the gang on the Wavedancer had been treated to a solo guitar player and singer. It was magical and I wasn't keen on this evening ending yet, so I found out that the singer was performing a few blocks from Watergate.

I caught the last set and the singer waved to me from behind the mic and said "Happy Birthday MJ!"

Up at 7 am and in bed soon after midnight, a bit more tanned and a tiny bit buzzed. All in all, a pretty fabulous 40th!