Location: Underway to the Yongala
This morning, we woke up to the sight of the beautiful white sandy beaches of Whitehaven Beach. After a cereal breakfast to kick start the day, we started with many presentations. This included how-to presentations, destination presentations, and oceanography research project presentations while moving from Whitehaven to a sandbar nearby. We first learned how engines work, and then following that, we learned how to do the wobble in Gumby suits. Now let me tell you this is much harder than it sounds. Gumby suits are used when going overboard into cold waters to keep you warm, so putting these on in 25 degrees Celsius weather is HOT. After learning the dance sequence steps of the wobble, we went on deck, where 11 lucky people put on the available Gumby suits. We then proceeded to climb on top of the chart house and perform the dance. As a participant, I would say it was definitely a highlight of the day, and hopefully, the footage will make us all YouTube famous. After putting away the Gumby suits, we regathered in the saloon for a destination presentation on the Yongala dive site as well as the oceanography research project group presentations. After finishing up all the presentations, it was time for lunch, and everyone was in a great mood, knowing we had a free afternoon to go play on the sandbar beach as well as knowing another class was complete. Some decided to stay on the boat, while others went on shore and walked through the national park nearby, built sandcastles, or lay in the sun. After coming back to the boat, we prepared the boat for our passage to the Yongala dive site, as well as another how-to presentation on how to give a massage after dinner.