Cairnes and the Great Barrier Reef!
The finale to our Australian trip - the Great Barrier Reef, and what a way to finish! We arrived in Sydney at about 8 at night and it was incredibly humid. We had been told that the day we had arrived on was the first of good weather. We stayed in a pretty empty hostel - because of the cyclone not very many people had made it all the way up to Cairns. The next day we went on the hunt for a dive trip. We were looking for a livaboard trip where we would get a transfer to a dive boat, and basically live there for a couple of days, diving in the day. Eventually, we decided on a 3 day 2 night trip, which was actually 1 more day than we expected, and included 2 night dives. The rest of the day we spent on the walks around salt and fresh water lakes looking for crocs. With the amount of warnings and red danger tape you would have expected quite a few. Instead all we found was electric ants and mozzies! We got the bus back in to town and went to a mad made lagoon, right next to the sea, as the beaches in Cairns are actually more like mud flats.
The next morning we were picked up early and taken to the dive shop to fill out loads of forms, where we also found out that the boat was only half full, about 17 of us with only 5 other certified divers! Our transfer to our boat was via a speed boat that took 2 hours to the outer barrier reef. The Kangaroo Explorer, our home for the next 3 days was brilliant! It had a sun deck to chill out on, and where we spent most of our time that was not spent diving, a library, several floors, and dive deck. Our room was probably the best, we got one to ourselves, and it even contained a hot shower, sea views and most importantly next door to the saloon where they served the food.
We had a few minutes to settle in before lunch was served - and it was always good - a buffet with with desert, and they even had a curry night whilst we were there, and the most delicious apple crumble and ice cream. After lunch was our first dive, and the only guided dive - as certified divers, me and Elliott can dive on our own. It was so warm we didn't even need a wet suit, just a lovely full body Lycra stinger suit for protection against the jelly fish. The dive was amazing, there were so many fish, the coral was amazing, and we went through a swim-through - a narrow split in the rocks with massive red Gregorian fans around you. As there was such a limited supply of freshwater, because the boat is not connected to the main land, you only got a 3 second cold freshwater shower after each dive just to wash off the salt. You could however increase your shower time by 3 seconds with each person you can squeeze in to the tiny shower at the same time - we managed 4 of us!
We hung out with our new diving buddies on the sundeck, and even got afternoon tea with chocolate cupcakes! Then headed our for our next dive, this time with no guide but with the new people we had just met. Again, amazing. Its pretty hard to describe what it like down there. Its so beautiful and strange at the same time, watching fish swarming about - often totally unconcerned that you're even there, but the different colours and sizes are incredible. Its not that but the types and colours of coral.
Again we chilled out on the sun deck and ate dinner - you can pretty much see the pattern emerging here, sundeck, food, diving - what more can you want! Our last dive was a night dive which we decided to do guided as our last night dive in Thailand was pretty disastrous and we didn't have the confidence to go ourselves. So when it was finally dark after a spectacular sunset, the 4 of us and the guide dived in to the the pitch black water armed with only a small torch. To be honest the scariest part of the dive was when I though the green belt around my waists was in fact a sea snake - yes I did scream (on the surface) and look incredibly foolish! The dive was one of the best, we saw so much, apart from the usual crustaceans and fish, there was a massive crab with the biggest pincer I've ever seen - over half a meter, a slipper lobster which was just weird looking and what looked like a white tarantula, and it was the first time had seen it before. We got out in the surprising warmth, and watched sharks (the non dangerous type) coming to the surface.
After a rocky nights sleep, we got a wake up call at 5:30am - yes that incredibly did mean in the morning! This was in time for a quick cup of coffee and a dive at 6. This dive me and Elliott did on our own for the first time. It was brilliant. There were a shoal a big silver fish following us so we turned round to have a look and one stared in to Elliotts eyes inches from his face and Elliott looked right back. A photo opportunity and a half, but unfortunately we didn't have a camera. We just took our time and even saw a white tip reef shark swimming below us - amazing. We got back on the boat for breakfast, and had to go for a nap until our next dive, we were awake so early. Diving is surprisingly hard work. You're swimming continuously, and in most of our dives, against the current. A good example of this was our next dive. We had moved to another site on the reef, the current was pretty strong and as a result the visibility was rubbish. We went in a group of 4 where one was actually a dive master. We swam along the surface to where we told we should drop down to. When we did there was nothing but sand, so we swam towards the boat passing very small outcrops of coral but the current was so strong the dive master went to the surface just to check we weren't to far out from the boat. WE continued swimming towards the boat finding nothing, so we did out safety stop which is in the shallower 5m for 3 mins. When we surfaced we realised we had drifted quite far from the boat, so a dingy cam and picked us up. He threw us a rope and towed us along with our masks and breathing equipment - it was a pretty good ride actually, all you could see is bubbles. To make up for the rubbish dive, we went for a snorkel on some close coral, and to be honest tat was amazing enough. We even saw a green turtle swimming about. Wed seen them surfacing briefly next to the boat but never swimming, which was amazing. Also the deeper you go the less colour you see as the water filters it out, so on the surface you can see the vivid and bright colours of especially the coral. That's why a night dive is good, because you can see more colour because you have the light from the torch there with you.
We again moved site and found ourselves in a completely differenet type of coral which was more like a carpet, and only 8m down. There were fewer smaller fish there but the coral itself was worth it, though there was plenty of fire coral which gave you 3rd degree burns if you torched it - not too good for photographing though as we had rented an underwater camera. After dinner was our last night dive which we decided to do ourselves, and I have to say I was pretty scared, but we were pretty safe. Again the scariest part was again was when I was being stupid! We had been told that the torch shows up red eyes and green eyes when its shined on them. Red are crustaceans and green are sharks, except sharks are attracted to your torch light, and get in a bit of a trance and swim towards it. So we were swimming along when I saw 2 big green lights swimming towards us. The sharks are not very dangerous, but that didn't stop me verge of a heart attack. They started swimming closer and closer.... it was then I realised that the green light were in fact a green glow stick a diving instructor had put on his tank, so a group of learners could identify him!!
Again, another ridiculously early morning, a cup of coffee and another dive at another site. This dive was the most exhausting Ive ever done. Even in the deep the current was so strong, we were swimming along and not getting anywhere, desperately trying to take photos, though we did see another shark!. At times we were swimming just to stop ourselves getting swept on to the coral. We were all getting really tired and burning air fast. Once at the the surface matters didn't get much better we had to swim quite a distance to get back to the boat and we were all totally exhausted. After breakfast we had another dive, I was still a still a bit tired and as I jumped in and my fin slipped off ans smacked me in the face - nice! I was just too tired for a dive another dive so soon but the Elliott went on and saw a massive thick 2m moray eel.
Our next dive on a different reef was one of the best. We started at the bottom and circled around a massive area of coral, and also snorkeled the same area. The colours are just amazing that you wouldn't believe, like barbie pink and royal blue - incredible. We absolutely love diving! That was the end of our diving trip, we got a smaller boat back to Cairns and a minibus to our hostel, which was still empty. Our hostel gave free evening meals which we for a bit extra you could upgrade, so we treated ourselves to a massive steak and chips.
The next morning we were up at 6 in order to catch our ongoing flight to Sydney. There we spent the day mainly checking out the Internet and we bought cool boomerangs and the next day we got our flight out of Australia to New Zealand.
We've had an absolutely amazing time in Australia. Its was pretty full on there - it such a massive country with so much to fit in, and the bus times aren't just a few hours but more like 12. That was fine for us though - it meant a free nights accommodation if it was over night! We were pretty sad to leave it, we had made so many friends there, but theres plenty to look forward to in the equally beautiful New Zealand. x
The next morning we were picked up early and taken to the dive shop to fill out loads of forms, where we also found out that the boat was only half full, about 17 of us with only 5 other certified divers! Our transfer to our boat was via a speed boat that took 2 hours to the outer barrier reef. The Kangaroo Explorer, our home for the next 3 days was brilliant! It had a sun deck to chill out on, and where we spent most of our time that was not spent diving, a library, several floors, and dive deck. Our room was probably the best, we got one to ourselves, and it even contained a hot shower, sea views and most importantly next door to the saloon where they served the food.
We had a few minutes to settle in before lunch was served - and it was always good - a buffet with with desert, and they even had a curry night whilst we were there, and the most delicious apple crumble and ice cream. After lunch was our first dive, and the only guided dive - as certified divers, me and Elliott can dive on our own. It was so warm we didn't even need a wet suit, just a lovely full body Lycra stinger suit for protection against the jelly fish. The dive was amazing, there were so many fish, the coral was amazing, and we went through a swim-through - a narrow split in the rocks with massive red Gregorian fans around you. As there was such a limited supply of freshwater, because the boat is not connected to the main land, you only got a 3 second cold freshwater shower after each dive just to wash off the salt. You could however increase your shower time by 3 seconds with each person you can squeeze in to the tiny shower at the same time - we managed 4 of us!
We hung out with our new diving buddies on the sundeck, and even got afternoon tea with chocolate cupcakes! Then headed our for our next dive, this time with no guide but with the new people we had just met. Again, amazing. Its pretty hard to describe what it like down there. Its so beautiful and strange at the same time, watching fish swarming about - often totally unconcerned that you're even there, but the different colours and sizes are incredible. Its not that but the types and colours of coral.
Again we chilled out on the sun deck and ate dinner - you can pretty much see the pattern emerging here, sundeck, food, diving - what more can you want! Our last dive was a night dive which we decided to do guided as our last night dive in Thailand was pretty disastrous and we didn't have the confidence to go ourselves. So when it was finally dark after a spectacular sunset, the 4 of us and the guide dived in to the the pitch black water armed with only a small torch. To be honest the scariest part of the dive was when I though the green belt around my waists was in fact a sea snake - yes I did scream (on the surface) and look incredibly foolish! The dive was one of the best, we saw so much, apart from the usual crustaceans and fish, there was a massive crab with the biggest pincer I've ever seen - over half a meter, a slipper lobster which was just weird looking and what looked like a white tarantula, and it was the first time had seen it before. We got out in the surprising warmth, and watched sharks (the non dangerous type) coming to the surface.
After a rocky nights sleep, we got a wake up call at 5:30am - yes that incredibly did mean in the morning! This was in time for a quick cup of coffee and a dive at 6. This dive me and Elliott did on our own for the first time. It was brilliant. There were a shoal a big silver fish following us so we turned round to have a look and one stared in to Elliotts eyes inches from his face and Elliott looked right back. A photo opportunity and a half, but unfortunately we didn't have a camera. We just took our time and even saw a white tip reef shark swimming below us - amazing. We got back on the boat for breakfast, and had to go for a nap until our next dive, we were awake so early. Diving is surprisingly hard work. You're swimming continuously, and in most of our dives, against the current. A good example of this was our next dive. We had moved to another site on the reef, the current was pretty strong and as a result the visibility was rubbish. We went in a group of 4 where one was actually a dive master. We swam along the surface to where we told we should drop down to. When we did there was nothing but sand, so we swam towards the boat passing very small outcrops of coral but the current was so strong the dive master went to the surface just to check we weren't to far out from the boat. WE continued swimming towards the boat finding nothing, so we did out safety stop which is in the shallower 5m for 3 mins. When we surfaced we realised we had drifted quite far from the boat, so a dingy cam and picked us up. He threw us a rope and towed us along with our masks and breathing equipment - it was a pretty good ride actually, all you could see is bubbles. To make up for the rubbish dive, we went for a snorkel on some close coral, and to be honest tat was amazing enough. We even saw a green turtle swimming about. Wed seen them surfacing briefly next to the boat but never swimming, which was amazing. Also the deeper you go the less colour you see as the water filters it out, so on the surface you can see the vivid and bright colours of especially the coral. That's why a night dive is good, because you can see more colour because you have the light from the torch there with you.
We again moved site and found ourselves in a completely differenet type of coral which was more like a carpet, and only 8m down. There were fewer smaller fish there but the coral itself was worth it, though there was plenty of fire coral which gave you 3rd degree burns if you torched it - not too good for photographing though as we had rented an underwater camera. After dinner was our last night dive which we decided to do ourselves, and I have to say I was pretty scared, but we were pretty safe. Again the scariest part was again was when I was being stupid! We had been told that the torch shows up red eyes and green eyes when its shined on them. Red are crustaceans and green are sharks, except sharks are attracted to your torch light, and get in a bit of a trance and swim towards it. So we were swimming along when I saw 2 big green lights swimming towards us. The sharks are not very dangerous, but that didn't stop me verge of a heart attack. They started swimming closer and closer.... it was then I realised that the green light were in fact a green glow stick a diving instructor had put on his tank, so a group of learners could identify him!!
Again, another ridiculously early morning, a cup of coffee and another dive at another site. This dive was the most exhausting Ive ever done. Even in the deep the current was so strong, we were swimming along and not getting anywhere, desperately trying to take photos, though we did see another shark!. At times we were swimming just to stop ourselves getting swept on to the coral. We were all getting really tired and burning air fast. Once at the the surface matters didn't get much better we had to swim quite a distance to get back to the boat and we were all totally exhausted. After breakfast we had another dive, I was still a still a bit tired and as I jumped in and my fin slipped off ans smacked me in the face - nice! I was just too tired for a dive another dive so soon but the Elliott went on and saw a massive thick 2m moray eel.
Our next dive on a different reef was one of the best. We started at the bottom and circled around a massive area of coral, and also snorkeled the same area. The colours are just amazing that you wouldn't believe, like barbie pink and royal blue - incredible. We absolutely love diving! That was the end of our diving trip, we got a smaller boat back to Cairns and a minibus to our hostel, which was still empty. Our hostel gave free evening meals which we for a bit extra you could upgrade, so we treated ourselves to a massive steak and chips.
The next morning we were up at 6 in order to catch our ongoing flight to Sydney. There we spent the day mainly checking out the Internet and we bought cool boomerangs and the next day we got our flight out of Australia to New Zealand.
We've had an absolutely amazing time in Australia. Its was pretty full on there - it such a massive country with so much to fit in, and the bus times aren't just a few hours but more like 12. That was fine for us though - it meant a free nights accommodation if it was over night! We were pretty sad to leave it, we had made so many friends there, but theres plenty to look forward to in the equally beautiful New Zealand. x
posted by Simone @ 2/12/2007 09:13:00 AM
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