Day 35 – Great Barrier Reef: Because How Could I Not?

Continuing on a bit with the water theme I seem to have started, I decided to mention the Great Barrier Reef today. Because, honestly, on a list of natural wonders/natural beauty, how could I not include it? It’s commonly called one of the seven wonders of the natural world. (By the way, so are the northern lights, which I didn’t even realize when I was writing about them the other day!) This makes me think that traveling to all of the seven wonders of the natural world would be a fun goal. I’m already aiming to travel to all seven continents. Yes- even Antarctica! So far I’ve been to four: North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Perhaps someday I can check Australia off of that list by making a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef!

The Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea near Queensland Australia. It is impressive for a number of reasons: it’s the only natural wonder visible and recognizable from outer space, it’s the largest coral reef in the world, and the largest, individual formation created by living organisms in the world! It spans over 1600 miles and consists of over 2900 separate reefs. In other words, they don’t call it “Great” for nothing! Read more about the Great Barrier Reef here: http://sevennaturalwonders.org/the-original/great-barrier-reef/.

Scuba and snorkeling are the best ways to see the Great Barrier Reef. I’ve never been scuba diving, but I want to try it someday. (Although I have a little bit of an irrational fear of sharks. And jellyfish. Oh my god I’m terrified of jellyfish! You’d think since I skydive I could handle scuba diving, too!) I know literally nothing about scuba diving right now except that it allows you to go deeper than and stay underwater longer than snorkeling. Have you ever been scuba diving? If so, where? Dreaming about scuba diving at this beautiful natural wonder was definitely a good way to relax during my morning coffee today!

The Great Barrier Reef as viewed beneath the surface!

 

View of the Great Barrier Reef from Above!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 32 – A Paintbrush Across the Night Sky - The Northern Lights

When I think of natural beauty, one of the first things that comes to mind is the Northern Lights. I have actually seen these in person before, because I lived in Maine when I was young, and on rare occasions you could catch a glimpse of them. I was only about six or seven years old, so I don’t remember them that well. I do remember thinking they were really amazing (or awesome, or cool, or whatever the “it” word was back then).

Now that I am an adult, I would like to go see them again. However, I want to go somewhere farther north than Maine, and see them in their full magnificence. I found a list of places that are good for viewing the Northern Lights: http://www.fodors.com/news/photos/top-10-places-to-see-the-northern-lights#!1-intro. As you might expect, it includes very northern places like Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and so forth.

In case you were wondering (I was), the Northern Lights are caused by collisions between gaseous particles in Earth’s atmosphere with electrically charged particles from the sun that enter Earth’s atmosphere (http://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html). Pale green and pink are the most common colors, but red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have also been reported. Check out this picture of this beautiful display:

What do you think? Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? Is it something you would think is worth the trip to see?

Xoxo,

Diana