One common theme seems to be early departures from the hotels. We were picked up from the hotel around 7:15 AM Tuesday morning and arrived at the Cairns Marina soon thereafter. After searching for our boat, a two masted power sailboat at the "D" pier, we soon learned that one mast was missing and the new address was the "A" dock. We were early so after dropping our bags we returned to the wharf terminal area for breakfast.
By 8 AM we were aboard the Coral Sea Dreaming and had met the crew:
- Captain: Matt "Matty"
- 1st Mate: Chantell "Chani"
- Host (aka 2nd Mate): Jason
After a quick briefing we were off to the Great Barrier Reef at a whopping 8 knots. During the three hour transit we acclimated to the boat, filled out the disclaimer forms, were shown to our staterooms and basically prepared for the upcoming first snorkeling event.
The day was gray with light winds and the sea was slightly churned, showers were here and there nevertheless we moved on to the first stop, a coral head or "bommy" at a depth of 3 to 20 feet. The crew handed out the snorkeling gear including mask, fins and a full body "stinger" suit made of light blue lycra. The suit is primarily to prevent "stinger" injuries and offer protection from sunburn. As you will see, we were an attractive bunch in the suits. Someone compared us to the "Blue Man Group".
Once properly outfitted and briefed on safety, we either jumped or slithered into the water, nice water, about 86 degrees F. Chani and Jason guided us around the bommy where we saw, touched and held the remarkable creatures of the reef. We saw sea cucumbers, starfish, turtles, many varieties of fish and coral; this was what we had hoped for on the reef. En-route back to the boat several of us saw a 3-4 foot white tip reef shark, with Diane and Greg having a close encounter with this "menace of the depths", unfortunately we did not get the picture. By noon we were back on the boat and moving to our next dive spot.
Jason prepared a nice lunch, including salads, sandwich meats, tuna and chicken. Having completed the first dive, we ate well, even Diane returned for seconds.
By now it was clear that snorkeling was not to be Chris' and Denny's favorite pastime. The crew arranged for their diving trip to be of one day's duration and by mid afternoon they had transferred to a day boat; by Tuesday evening they were back in town for dinner, an air conditioned hotel and a peaceful night of sleep.
Our second dive spot of the day was another coral head where we had stopped for lunch. Jason and I were in the water for this stop. Again so many small to medium sized fish and a wide variety of coral. On both of the dives I had the opportunity to use my nifty new underwater camera as such have been able to post pictures of various underwater sights.
By late afternoon we arrived off shore of a small sand cay; there were more birds per sqft than we've ever seen. On arrival, Matty threw some bread into the water to bring up a dozen or so really large fish, it was interesting to watch them chase the bread and thrash about off the stern. This would be our mooring spot for the night, but first we had our third dive, this time onto the coral reef surrounding the cay. As with the other dives we saw a vast array of fish and coral. The highlight was probably the sighting of a blacktip reef shark. Jack spotted the shark and tried to get my attention but with my head in the water, I wasn't hearing real well. Finally I did hear him and had time to look down and see the shark. I tried to close on the shark for a picture but it tended away from me; of the two photos taken one faintly shows the shark's outline. The other highlight was again between Jack and me; I was at the stern of the boat talking with Jack about the shark; carelessly I dropped my "prescription lens" dive mask and it promptly sunk to the bottom. My first thought was to dive down to retrieve it but I then realized without the prescription lens I couldn't see the mask. Greg confirmed it was below me and Jason dived in to bring up the mask.
By 9:30 PM everyone was in bed and asleep, by 10:30 PM Pat and Jack had changed staterooms to the forward v-berth and Greg had worked through a leg cramp; both cases confirmed that sometimes being tall on a boat is a disadvantage. By 11 PM all were out once again not to be heard of until Greg arose to observe sunrise just after 6 AM Wednesday morning.
On Wednesday the weather was near perfect for water sports, blue skies, puffy white clouds and warm water. After a breakfast of bacon, ham, eggs, cereals, fruits and breads we prepped for the day's dive. But before we go there, let it be known that Diane gave a try to Vegemite on bread; time will tell as to whether visitors to Monroe Manor may see Vegemite on the table.
After moving the boat a few hundred yards we were at our next dive site. Here we snorkeled around several coral heads and reefs. The quantity of fish was amazing, some small some large; again Chani offered towed tours to those interested in seeing, touching and talking about various reef critters.
After everyone was back on board, Matty moved the boat around the sand cay to another reef area. Diane commented on how much she would like to do a tank dive and the next thing you know she and I were in the water with tanks on our backs. Chani had given us a brief but thorough indoctrination into the use of dive gear (equipment, mask clearing, signals, rules, ear pressure equalizing and last but not least, breathing) and within 20 minutes or so we were in the water headed down to see what we could find at a depth for thirty or so feet. After about forty minutes it was back to the surface crossing off one of Diane's "bucket list" items. Along the way we had seen fish and coral similar to the other stops but had also followed a couple of turtles as they swam through the reef. Pat, Jack, Greg and Sheila did one final snorkeling dive after which time we concluded our water activities, prepared for lunch and headed for the barn at Cairns.
It was a beautiful day and we had now completed two days of diving on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Great!
Once back at the hotel in Palm Cove we met up with Chris and Denny; after showers and donning clean clothing, several of us headed off to El Grekos Greek Taverna for what proved to be another excellent meal. Soon thereafter as has been our norm, we were down for the count; no late night partying for this crowd.Here are a few extra photos of the visit to the Great Barrier Reef.
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