Once upon a time ......HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY !

                   Happy Australia Day !

Today I salute my amazing country French Blue and Peachy Pink style. I share with you these two images of one of my favourite parts of Australia........The Great Barrier Reef. 

and I will share with you this very funny story.

Once upon a time there was a young bride.  She had been married only a few days and was on her honeymoon with her new husband.
They had chosen to holiday in the warm surrounds of a beautiful Island resort which lies in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
She and her husband sat on a beautiful beach enjoying cocktails and relaxing in the sun and like most newly weds, were very happy.
One fine day they decided to take an adventure and go snorkeling on the reef to see the pretty corals and marine life.

They arrived at the wharf where the boat would take them on the two hour journey to the edge of the reef.  The young bride was super excited to be taking this adventure as it had been something that she had wanted to do her whole life.

The newly married husband was a lover of the sea and had his sea legs from the time he stepped foot on the boat.

The new bride however had begun to feel squirmy in her stomach the moment she sat down to enjoy the journey.

So off the boat sailed.......through the calm waters of the bay and eventually to the wide open body of ocean that would lead them to the edge of the reef where they would snorkel.

The young bride looked out at the water, her face as green as the sea in which she sailed upon.  Her lovely adventure was feeling more like torture.  The beautiful seafood banquet that was being prepared on the lower deck was not helping the situation. Smells of rich sauce and lobster cooking was making her stomach turn.
She wanted to click her heels and be back on dry land again.

After a very long 2 hours the boat arrived at the reef.  After much coaxing, her husband and the crew encouraged the young bride to hop off the boat and into the water. They promised her that she would feel so much better when she was in the water.

SO the young bride popped her swimmers on, a pair of flippers and her goggles and sat on the edge of the boat. 
Thinking somehow that magically the boat was on the very edge of the reef and she would be swimming in only in water a couple of metres deep she enthusiasticallyly jumped right on in. SPLASH !  The water was cold and it woke her up to the very inch of her soul !
In seconds she realised that she needed to swim in very deep ocean for quite a few minutes before reaching the reef.   Scenes of the movie JAWS raced through her head.......oh my goodness she had never swam so fast in her entire life ! 

Heart racing and breathing heavily because of her faster than the speed of sound swimming she finally reached the reef.

and it was one of the most beautiful sites that she ever seen !

As if by magic, her queasy stomach had been replaced with feelings of pure amazement in the scene that lay before her.
Beautiful bright blue and yellow tropical fish swam with her side by side. Tiny bubbles of air catapulted her into a state of wonderment.  She had surely caught a glimpse of heaven.

Happily she floated along with her new found fish friends who seemed to be just as curious and happy to swim with her.
This place was magical ! 

Soon it was time to once again board the boat for the journey back to the Island.  There was to be a beautiful seafood banquet to be served and champagne to be sipped.

The young bride wasn't feeling up to eating very much at all due to her 'not so good sea legs'.  But the thoughts in her head of the magical world she had just visited would be enough to keep her mesmerised for the remainder of her journey.

She sat on the top deck of the boat while the others ate.  She felt the wind in her hair and the salt spray in her mouth and reflected on how truly lucky she was to live in such a beautiful country.  There was the sunshine, the vast bushland and the beautiful coastal communities.  People were warm and friendly and were only too happy to help their fellow Aussie neighbours.
They welcomed migrants from faraway lands and embraced the cultural diversity.  There was no war, there was freedom of speech and there was always a cheerful greeting from a stranger when you walked down the street.  It was the Land Down Under and one that many held in their hearts as a treasure.

It was a beautiful day for this young woman and one that she would always remember.

After all this was what being Australian was always about.

                           HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY !

This little wonder of nature lies in the Great Barrier Reef in the waters of Australia.  It is a little piece of love that mother nature shared with us all to remind us all of how blessed we are to live in this beautiful country.

Happy Australia Day