So we left Tuesday early, early morning at 1am. After a little trouble with the first bus (we broke the baggage compartment door completely off – don’t ask how it happened – I have no idea), we started out. I had pj pants, a comfy t, and flip-flops – I was set! I slept all night – it was nice to get 6 hours of sleep! Then we arrived at Gladstone the next morning in time for the ferry.
We got on the ferry and were warned that the seas were going to be a little rough – uh huh, they were a little rough! I must say, the ferry ride was pretty exciting – I mean, not for the people losing their brekky – but for me, it was like a 2 hour rollercoaster! SWEET! (Thank you God for blessing me with a very stable stomach!) I spent most of the ferry ride on the top outside deck. There were 7 foot swells which we had to drive over, and they splashed up the 20some feet up to the top deck!
I found a fun game where you hold onto the edge of the boat and then leap back when you see the big wave splashes coming for you. I stayed relatively dry :) I really enjoyed the wind against my face – I think my hair looked pretty crazy though – but whatever! Near the end of the ferry ride, God blessed me by showing me a sea turtle! He was lazily floating along as we zipped by him. A REAL SEA TURTLE!Then we arrived…in paradise! It was beautiful – pictures can’t relay how beautiful it was! Heron Island is situated on a huge reef. The entire island can be traversed in less than a half-hour, but the reef is huge! The beaches were white sand and shell-covered, the waters green and blue, the sky clear with a few white puffs of cloud, the air clean and summery. And to top off the ambiance, there was a wrecked ship just offshore! They escorted us to the research center and assigned our rooms – 8 person bunks – no prob. Then we got our first catered meal – it was delicious! The catered food we ate there was so good! She made us fresh bread – fresh vegges – so good! Then we rented some snorkeling gear and tested out the gear. The water was pretty turbulent – the winds were beginning to pick up – so we decided to go on a reef walk. The reef walk was a sand path about knee height in the water through the reef surrounding the island. I went with Miranda and eventually met up with Drew and Katherine. We saw some fish and colorful corals, but the most exciting thing was the sting ray! We walked up to the sting ray to where we were about a foot from him! He didn’t sting us, so that was good ;)
After we returned, we had dinner – delicious again – and learned some disappointing news. The island was being evacuated the next day. Cyclone Ului was going to get to close to the island. Possible waves as high as 13 meters were projected to hit the island. Just to put that in perspective, the island’s highest elevation is only 4 meters! (For those who don’t know meters-feet, that’s 40 foot waves for a 12 foot high island!) Coming to terms with that, we decided we had to do all we could to make the most of our stay. So immediately following dinner, we went to the beach to look for baby sea turtles – we were told it was hatching season up through the middle of April. We enjoyed walking around the island, looking for turtles. From the dock, we saw HUGE adult turtles and a GIANT eagle ray! We were told not to shine our lights on the turtles because it’s not good for them (?) but we were able to make out the outline of the turtles. It is also possible that we shined a light on a few of the turtles so we could see them. They were awesome! (My brother’s favorite animal used to be the turtle, so I have a special place for turtles in my heart, and I’ve always wanted to see them in the wild.) I then crashed for the night.
Alarm went off at 5am. Sunrise time! We figured since we only had a day, we were going to a sunrise. I went with Jourdan and we met up with Charity, Aerin, and Allison at the beach. The sunrise was beautiful! The sky turned golden for about 10 minutes then faded, and figured that was the end – nice but not amazing. THEN…the real sunrise started and the sky started turning pink, and then pinker! The clouds turned a pinkish orange and then the sun emerged below the bottom level of clouds. It was beautiful.
There were even the birds flying in the distance! Then Jourdan saw something in the water, so naturally I went to explore. I was dressed in my bathing suit, so I waded into the water. It was a cool ray/shark! We called it a flounder, but it wasn’t that. Then we saw about 6 other rays just resting in the water. We walked down the beach for a while, and saw two flocks of sting rays going towards each other. I thought they were going to duke it out but they didn’t :( Then it drizzled for a couple minutes and a rainbow appeared! But not just a rainbow – it was a layered rainbow with three full ranges of the colors! And it was almost complete! It was a very pretty sunrise.After brekky, we grabbed our snorkel gear and made for the reef. We snorkeled for about an hour and a half. We saw LOTS of fishes! Then I chilled on the dock for a little and enjoyed the scenery. I saw another sea turtle – the laaast sea turtle. And then I went back for lunch and evacuation.
The boat ride back was fun – just like the ride over, except I got a little more wet. The news was waiting for us when we got off the boat. Several of my classmates were interviewed by the reporters and ended up on the news later that night! We also were in the paper the following morning! When we got to the bus, I changed into my pj’s again and threw on a comfy shirt. The busride was nice. We watched two movies and then I slept. We got back almost exactly 48 hours after we left. 24 hours traveling, 24 hours in paradise. It was well worth it! Our group is so thankful to have had the privilege of going! And we learned that you can volunteer, and stay for a day! If I ever come back to Oz, I am making a point to do this. The island is so worth it! Or if I’m a high roller – I’ll rent a hotel for the $400 it costs each night.
Cyclone Ului is projected to head towards northern Australia, sending big waves to Heron Island. Cyclone Tomas was right behind it and was a concern for my diving trip in Cairns, but it appears to have ‘changed’ it’s mind and turned to travel south east – away from Australia! Thanks God! I am believing for the cyclone to cause minimal disruption to the waters near Cairns so that the waters are clear for our trip. God has already done so much, a little more is no problem!
Conclusion: I am SUPER blessed!
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