One of the benefits of travelling is it gives tourists the opportunity to see some of the Wonders of the World in the flesh. However, despite being fairly well-travelled, just a few months ago I had not seen any of them.

Wanting to change that, during my time in Australia I decided to visit the Great Barrier Reef, which was listed as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World by CNN in 1997.

Spanning across the Queensland coastline, travellers can visit parts of the Great Barrier Reef from a wide range of towns and cities. My trip started in Yorkeys Knob which is a part of the Cairns region.

Boarding a substantially-sized speedboat, it took around an hour and a half to reach the part of the reef that is geared for tourists, during which time members of staff talked to us about the creatures that inhabit it.

The talk also served as a reminder that the coral making up the reef is a living thing that, like everything else underwater, must be treated with respect to give it a fighting chance in the face of climate change.

Arriving at a pontoon, there were a number of ways in which tourists could admire the reef and its creatures, including an underwater observatory, glass-bottomed boat rides and, for those particularly brave souls, scuba diving lessons.

That said, more or less all of the tourists on board, myself included, wanted to see the reef first-hand by getting into the water.

Given that my trip coincided with the start of ‘stinger season’, I took no chances and put on one of the wetsuits provided, along with a good set of goggles and a snorkel, before getting into the water.

During my first few minutes in the Great Barrier Reef, all I could think about was making sure I did not touch a single thing. It is illegal to stand on or kick the coral, meaning you need to constantly stay afloat and be mindful of where you are going.

Similarly, to prevent tourists from straying a little too far, there is a designated area in which we were able to swim, with lifeguards on standby to let people know if they were heading too far out.

That said, there was far more to the Great Barrier Reef than red tape. In a short space of time, I saw an incredible range of brightly coloured fish and other interesting little creatures.

I am by no means a marine biologist, however, that did not stop me from admiring the schools of tiny fish swimming past, as well as their much larger counterparts, and a turtle too.

The day trip even inspired me to learn more about the species I managed to spot, allowing me to know my yellowtail fusiliers from my humpback unicornfish.

However, in addition to a curious mind, I would suggest bringing a waterproof camera, such as a GoPro, to capture some of the incredible memories to be made there… and perhaps a good wetsuit.