My last thorough blog entry left off with me having gone to Moreton Island on March 20 (see blog from Mar 22). Since then, I’ve done a lot. My test went well, even though I didn’t study on Sunday due to my island adventures – (well worth it!). The week went by quicker than usual. The following weekend was the long-awaited Scuba trip, so I had to pack in a little more school work in order to compensate for missing class the following Monday. But I got done with all the things I needed to, thankfully, and was packed and ready to go Thursday evening. In case you don’t remember, we had paid for a 3-day, 2-night live aboard scuba diving boat trip in the Great Barrier Reef, and it was about to begin! We (a lot of us – Drew, Joey, Alan, Allison, Charity, Aerin, Tiffany, Hannah, and me) all crammed into a maxi-taxi bound for the airport, super excited to begin our weekend adventure. The flight went really well, but we landed at midnight in a downpour. We grabbed a taxi to our hostel, and arrived shortly thereafter, found the keys to our rooms, woke up a stranger whose stuff was in one of our beds, and then crashed. The hostel was pretty hot and muggy, but I slept through the night. That was Thursday night.
Friday morning, I awoke and got dressed in my bathing suit. The diving boat company said they would pick us up at 8:30. Having a little extra time, I explored Cairns, even though it was raining. Rain? No problem – I was in my bathing suit already! To say the least, I came back to the hostel soaked and had barely pulled out my towel when the pick-up bus arrived. Off to the boat! We took a boat to the boat, because the live-aboard was already anchored at the reef, the Great Barrier Reef. The boat ride was pretty choppy, but that just made it more fun. I’m always game for a rollercoaster! Once on board the liveaboard, we got the low-down on sleeping arrangement and rules/regs, and then ate lunch – yum! (As a note, the food they fed us on board the boat was AMAZING! Especially Saturday night – which was steak and mashed potatoes, and garlic bread, and freshly cooked veges, and memories of home-cooking.) But to get back to the story…
Our first dive was at 1 pm.
I’m not going to go through each dive individually, just the especially special ones, because there were 9 total plus 3 snorkel sessions – and that’s a lot to right about! By the end of the trip, I counted somewhere close to 480 minutes in the water – that’s 8 hours of diving/snorkeling! So worth the money! So, the first dive was a little hazy. The cyclone had stirred up a bit of sediment and the waves were a little choppy, but it was the Great Barrier Reef, so regardless, it was amazing! After a few dives, Drew and I figured out that we use up our air at almost the same rate, so we were destined to be scuba buddies. That was fine with me because Drew is a great guy, and out of our group, he had the most experience – and knew how to navigate back to the boat! (very helpful) I always dove with Drew and we had a blast. The first night, we were supposed to have a night dive, but conditions were really bad, so we weren’t allowed to go. It was disappointing but we got over it. We were exhausted, so we slept like babies that night. (I actually felt like a baby getting rocked to sleep because of the gentle rocking of the boat.)
The next day was a little better weather – and we moved locations, and the second location was excellent! But before we moved I did another dive – (6am = early) – and went snorkeling (= AWESOME!). I saw a GIANT fish while snorkeling. It was blue and about the size of me – but with a small mouth so I was safe. I also saw a group of 6-inch squids moseying along, as well as TONS of other fish.
When I went diving that afternoon (at the new place = better location, better visibility), it was the first time, I really felt like I was doing what I always pictured scuba diving to be like. While swimming along a reef wall behind Drew, I paused for a few minutes and looked up, down, left right, behind me, and everywhere I looked I saw fish. They we all around me! Corals, big fish, small fish, anemones… other sea things I don’t know the name of. It was breathtaking! I cannot describe. Luckily we took some pictures, so you can get a small taste for it. The colors we so vibrant though! yeah….it was really cool.
The first night, we were not allowed to dive, as they said we would be able to. A storm swept in just before we put our gear on and the conditions in the water were deemed “unsafe” for diving. What actually happened, is the boat was poorly anchored and the change in wind pattern caused the boat to ram into the reef! Yes, it actually hit the reef! So much for avoiding touching the reef or hitting it with our flippers. I didn’t see the damage to the coral but it was probably not pleasant. I am glad I wasn’t trying to scuba between the reef and the boat though! Fortunately, we did get to do the next night dive – and it was a blast! We saw long, narrow fish – arrow fish? – and crabs and squids and such.
The most memorable dive was the second to last, #8.
Drew and I went diving on our own and Drew found a turtle! He was so cool! Finding Nemo does a really good impression of sea turtles – them being all lackadaisical and carefree. At one point, we petted his shell and even held his flipper while he was eating some coral and all he did was slooooowly turn his head to see what was going on behind him and then sloooowly turn it back. If I was a marine animal, I would be a seat turtle.
Our ocean adventure ended mid-afternoon on the 3rd day. I finished it off with a final snorkel, which was pretty awesome as well. We got back to Cairns and dropped our stuff off at the hostel and then meandered around the city looking for a good dinner. The next day we explored some more, and did some much needed homework. The local Mackers (McD’s) had free wifi, so that worked out really well.
For anyone going to Australia, I definitely recommend Cairns. Not so much for the city itself, but for all the trips/adventures you can take from that city. You can go scuba diving, snorkeling, rainforest hiking, bungee jumping, sky diving, and a whole lot more! Even though the visibility was a little low for scuba diving (meaning you couldn’t see as far as you typically can on the GBR), the scuba trip was AMAZING! On a clear weekend, I can’t imagine how brilliant everything would look. Maybe one day I’ll go back to Australia. If so, I’m definitely going back to the Great Barrier Reef!
