Great Barrier Reef

15 September
Woke at 4am to hear dad leaving, and rolled back over. Woke again at 5.15 to find dad not home yet, figured the plane was running late. Mum and dad arrived not much later, and I probably really should have gotten out of bed to say hi but just couldn’t do it. Not being able to get back to sleep I got up just before 6, grabbed the camera and headed down to the beach for some sunrise photos. How’s the serenity! Few seagulls, couple of odd locals walking their dogs, the sand and the ocean. Magic. Got back and headed out onto the balcony to watch the sun come over the tops of the trees before it got too hot. Breaky and catch up with mum before we headed to the shops about 10ish (no rush!). Got back and had morning tea (vanilla slice and muffins – gee dad’s a shocker) before I ducked out for a quick waxing appointment to prepare myself for some serious sun! Back for lunch and then headed into Cairns for a walk along the foreshore – except the beach wasn’t really a beach, so they have a man made one, with all these gorgeous tanned 30ish half naked bodies walking and lying around! Feeling very white and overweight we continued our walk down to the water playground, where the kids run in and out of the streams of water coming up, across and down from various different places. They’ve also got these fitness stations, where you can do all sorts of exercises in between your run/walk. Strolling back along the shops it was time to suss out the serious stuff – diving. After lots of information and prices we headed home for chicken and salad (the first home cooked meal all trip I haven’t had to cook!) while I assessed all the information. Decided on a 3 day 3 night cruise up to the Ribbon Reefs on Taka, which departed the following day. Sorted! Great Barrier Reef, here I come!

16th September
Another cruisey morning it took us a while to get going. About 10.30 we eventually got organised enough to head up to Port Douglas, a 50 minute trip with some windy sections. Stopped at a lookout to find... no battery in the camera! Crap. Walked along the streets of Port Douglas, and found a church that I could absolutely get married (should the right guy ever turn up) with a big open window cut out of the back, which overlooked the ocean. Beautiful! Stopping at a few boutiquey shops (and buying a new dress) we stopped at a pub for lunch, and then icecreams (my first of the trip) which was sooo good! Home to pack up and at the dive shop for 3.45... with mum and dad off to find me a new battery for my underwater camera (which I’m sure has felt very neglected this trip). Paperwork done, we were on the bus to the warf. Only half full, the 14 passengers were of all abilities, nationalities and ages, but a great mix. 10 staff on board including the captain, we were going to get spoiled! Sorted out with cabins and equipment before a trip briefing (with chips and dip) in the cabin. Then time for a beer and watch the sunset on the top deck before heading down for tea – a mixture of hot and cold food it was all delicious – George the Chef knew what he was doing, and I had a feeling I was in trouble again! A hot shower (which was good, even if slightly tough with the boat moving) and bed about 10.30 – sea band on for what could be an interesting night!

17th September
Awake just before the morning wake-up call, changed and upstairs (I was sleeping on the bottom deck) to see what was instore. Boat movement overnight hadn’t been too bad, however I was glad to have my bands on. A few of the others were not quite so lucky, some getting very little sleep. For someone religiously won’t eat before a morning dive, the breakfast was far too tempting to let potential sea sickness stand in the way, but I went easy... then had half a travelcalm tablet. Challenger Bay was our first stop, and a dive with Silvie showed us what the Reef really has to offer – White Tip Reef Sharks, Turtles, Nudibranches, with 20 metres of visibility and some spectacular coral. The colours are just amazing. Back on the boat and all the dive logs come out (along with morning tea and you guessed it – muffins!) and we all compare stories of what we did and didn’t see, work out what exactly it was we saw under there and then it’s time for the next briefing. Cod Hole was the next sight, and with some surface chop Mats and I didn’t waste any time getting under the water. 2 minutes later – Potato Cod, which are bigger than I am, swimming straight past us. Mats was great, quite happy to follow me and wait when trying to take ‘that photo’. 50 minute dives in 26 degree water, so just a short arm & leg wetsuit. Back up for lunch, dive logs, photos, stories and back down again... this time to for Cod Feeding, where Ray the engineer took a bucket of tuna down to feed the cod... and the hundreds (probably more like 30) of red bass that must be able to smell the tuna. Just 1 Potato Cod to feed, at one stage he moved in a hurry and I jumped! Beautiful to watch! After 15 minutes and out of tuna we headed off on our own, Mats and I exploring again. Another 50 minute dive, back for afternoon tea, stories, log books, photos (can you see a pattern happening here?). Final dive of the day at dusk, back at Challenger Bay. Awesome visibility, beautiful conditions (still diving in a shorty wetsuit) we saw eels, cuttlefish, worms, batfish and it is just all so amazing. Back on the boat, hot shower and dinner – an absolute feast that George has prepared. Stuff ourselves full, watch the dvd of the diving that Chris (onboard photographer) has taken and then up onto the deck for some ‘fresh air’ (as the 2 sips of wine, copious amount of food and the rocking of the boat weren’t agreeing with me so much). Hung around until about 10.30 and headed to bed.

18th September & 19th September
The next two days we completed another 6 dives in 4 different locations and continued to eat ourselves stupid. We saw everything from white tip reef sharks (which are OK during the day, but when you see them at night... and then they swim into the darkness and you can’t see them anymore, it’s slightly daunting), octopus, cuttlefish, turtles, giant maori wrasse, more varieties of coral than you could ever record, lionfish, leafy, featherstars, giant clams, the list goes on. The weather was perfect (except for some rough seas for about 3 hours on Thursday night... let’s just say I was on deck until midnight when we anchored for the remainder of the night). The crew (Adam, George, Dan, Jessica, Jimmy, Kirsten, Ray and Captain Jack) were all fantastic and the divers really were a great bunch of people. From people who had only done their four open water dives, to dive masters with over 400 logged dives, we were all able to take something different away from the trip (other than the few kilos that most of us would have stacked on!).

We arrived back at 3pm on the 19th, and Mum and Dad had walked down and met us there. Said goodbye to everyone, deciding to meet up at the Rattle and Hum bar in town the following night. Grabbed our bags and headed back to the unit, where I did the slideshow of photos for the folks, before having a nanna nap (I’d had a full tablet that morning, plus two dives, I was due a sleep!). Woke up and went for a quick dip in the pool (which was bloody freezing!) before Steve Hoban, who has been working about 90 minutes from Cairns and was due to head home the next day, came by for tea. Had a drink before heading into town for Mexican, which was pretty good! Walked through the streets and the annual Festival of Cairns was on, so there were street performers and entertainers everywhere. Stopped for a Swiss ice cream before heading back to the unit to watch Geelong wipe the Bulldogs out of the final series. Slept like a baby!