Great Barrier Reef

At last, at last, I got out to the Great Barrier Reef! I was trying so hard not to get my hopes up, since we were so disappointed with the conditions in Townsville two weeks ago. But today's trip was absolutely wonderful. I can cross another item off my life's "to do" list.

The morning started off a little crazily. I had it in my head that we needed to be ready to go for 7am, so mom, dad and I were all up at 6, ate breakfast, got all ready... and then sat outside the hostel, waiting and waiting and waiting for the bus to come get us. I eventually re-checked the flyer, and realized that we didn't need to be ready until 7:45! Oops. So we walked across the street and I bought my folks a coffee. By the time that was done with it was time to ACTUALLY catch the bus, and off we went!

We did our reef tour with a company called Quicksilver, and they operate out of Port Douglas, a town about 35 minutes north of Cairns. We pulled in to the harbour at Port Douglas around 10am, got straight on the catamaran (a HUGE one!), along with around a hundred other people, and headed out to sea. Our destination was a section of the Outer Reef, where the continental shelf drops away into open ocean. Quicksilver owns exclusive rights to this part of the reef, so there were no other boats out with us.

The ride out to the floating platform took about an hour and a half, and during this time the staff played a number of videos, instructing us in safe snorkeling, a history of the reef, and an introduction to some of the fish species we would likely see. I just couldn't wait to get into the water! The ride seemed to take forever.

One of the reasons I chose this company was because they had several activities for people to do that didn't involve getting wet, so my Mom could enjoy the day too. The first thing we did once we arrived at the platform was get into the semi-submersible sub and do a half hour reef tour that way! Mom loved it. Both she and I tried snapping photos through the windows of the sub, but I'm not sure how well they turned out. The sub sure was claustrophobic though, and I'll admit I was glad to get out of it at the end of the tour! Next came lunchtime so we all grabbed something to eat. I would've just gone straight into the water but with Dad's diabetes, it's not a good idea for him to skip a meal. So we ate. As quickly as I could!

I rented those dead-sexy stinger suits for Dad and I to wear, and Mom sure seemed to enjoy taking horribly embarrassing photos of the two of us as we slithered our way into the suits. Then once we'd grabbed fins and a mask for Dad (I'd brought my own), into the water we went! The whole operation was really well put-together. There were these semi-submerged platforms for us to put our fins on, and it was easy to launch from there straight into the water. There was also an underwater viewing platform where Mom spent some time, watching the fish (and the humans!) go by. She tried snapping some photos of me as I swam; we'll just have to wait and see how well they worked.

The snorkeling was incredible. I am so glad we went. The water was much deeper than any other place I've snorkeled so far, and it took some getting used to. But Dad and I paddled all around the swimming area and saw tons and tons of fish. There were giant clams as large as some of my students. There were huge schools of tiny, bright blue damsel fish. Near the platform were all these striped fish who were hanging around, waiting for a handout (the dive staff do two fish feedings near the viewing platform; I missed both of them.) At one point I saw a school of about a hundred triggerfish of some sort, paddling their way along the bottom. And the coral! Coral in all shapes, sizes and colours. There was brilliant blue staghorn coral. There was bubble coral, brain coral, and soft corals too. I saw a sea cucumber (I kid you not) as long and as big around as my entire arm! It was too deep for me to dive down and take a closer look. I also found myself swimming in a school of squid at one point - all of them goggling me with their huge eyes and changing colours in brilliant flashes.

It was great.

Dad tired out after about an hour of swimming, so he and I paddled back to the platform for a rest and a drink (gads seawater tastes bad!). I headed back into the water for the rest of the afternoon on my own. The only reason I came back in to the platform in the end was because I had to - otherwise the boat would've left me behind!

Yep. A totally wonderful day.

The ride back to the mainland was REALLY choppy - some of the folks on the boat got a little seasick. I was really glad we were sitting in one of the inside decks... the spray being kicked up by our boat was pretty intense. And as I sit here, finishing today's blog, I can still feel the waves and the motion of the water. Going to bed tonight is going to be interesting!