Lady Elliot Island is a sweet little resort island on the southern end of the GBR. It has some great snorkeling and diving (though not quite up to par with northern GBR) and a great relaxed atmosphere. We made a lot of friends among the staff there during our adventures and parties. I'm not sure if they'd ever celebrated the 4th of July before, but man we had a time that night! The wrails are a lot of fun to play with too.

LEI also started my tradition of getting bitten by local animals (none venomous). I was smacked in the head by a needlefish during a night snorkeling and later played with a noddy determined to defend its nest. Also got my finger snagged by a giant clam and had my walking stick bitten by a small carpet shark in the lagoon. Good times.