Recovering from my earlier ordeal, I lay on the boat and caught with an old friend of mine, Mr Sunshine. He will occasionally give you a hard time, should you abuse his time or disrespect him, but generally speaking he will stroke you gently, soothe you and make you feel and look beautiful. Basking in his glory I hear a whisper from the evil ocean: 'pssst'
'Feck off', I say, 'You are mean, Im not interested'
'Im sorry', he says, 'let me make it up to you. Let me show you my hidden treasures, display my inner beauty and gently lap over your warm skin.'
Hmmm, I think, it does sound tempting...

And so, continuing on my quest to become at one with the warrior I find myself donning a snorkel and mask and pair of fins.
In I slip, on goes the mask... immediate terror and and panic is triggered. It feels entirely unnatural breathing through a plastic tube, and Ive got to float face down... on purpose??!! What if I accidentally venture into a sea ghetto and see a hungry shark?!

Reminding myself that I am not a wimpy sissy girly pants I force myself to relax, breathe slowly, float, and open my eyes....
What lay before me took my breath away... literally.. I was so surprised I started choking and had to come up to adjust my mask.
How was it possible that the whole time I had been swimming I had never taken the opportunity to look down and notice the vast array of colour and life just a few feet below me?

And that was it, instant love, instant wonder... interspersed with tiny moments of 'shite, what the hell was that... do sharks eat those?'
There I was, ME, the girl terrified of the ocean swimming amongst schools of bright yellow fish and watching the coral dance with the currents.
I felt as if I was in Finding Nemo, the real life version. It was incredible, utterly addictive and entirely enthralling.

Lots of love from 'a little bit pleased with myself' Tanya x