The Great Barrier Reef -- Swimming with the Fishes

We had travelled out of the rain that had plagued our stay in the Gold Coast, but by the time we rolled into Cairns, it was drizzling again.  Nevertheless, after that 24-hour train ride, as lovely as it was, it was nice to get out of the train and stretch our legs, so we dug out our umbrellas and set out on the one mile walk to our hostel, and ran into Jake on the way.  After being away from home for 3 weeks already, that was nice -- especially so when there was some rough land to cross and Hans is not quite up to carrying his suitcase, small as it is.  The kids hit the pool immediately, to the amusement of the staff, as it was not exactly a hot afternoon, nor was the pool all that well heated, but it had a slide, so who needed anything more?  I got some laundry done, we enjoyed our pizza, and Jake fell asleep not long after the kids did.  Time for me to repack and rearrange to prepare for our next adventure – the Great Barrier Reef! 

We left the hostel around 6:30am to walk downtown to stash our suitcases at the Reef Encounter’s office, and arrived at the wharf with plenty of time to look around before boarding our boat at 7:30.  The first part of the trip was a day-trip boat which ferried us on a 2-hour ride from Cairns straight out into the ocean.  By 10:00am we were tied up next to a somewhat larger boat, and we (along with six other people) carefully crossed the bridge between the two boats.  After a quick briefing, we were shown to our roomy cabins (one with twin beds for the kids, and one with a full-size bed across the hall from it for Jake and me), it was time to change into swim gear.  Into the water!

The weather was still gray and windy, although it wasn’t raining, for the beginning of our Reef adventure, but the sun did come out intermittently.  It is the beginning of winter here in Australia, and even up in tropical north Queensland the water wasn’t exactly warm, so we wrestled on wetsuits and prepared to jump in the water.  While we are all good swimmers and comfortable in the water, we usually snorkeled with noodle floats, and the kids often wore life jackets…both of these were for me, really, rather than for them – usually while snorkeling I’m too busy watching the kids to really see the fish, so this time, having the extra floatation devices helped me to relax and enjoy the show.  We were 30 miles from land, after all, and the currents were going out to the open sea.  The boat did have look-outs posted, and life guards with whistles and a motor boat at the ready, but sometimes even I can be a bit of a mother bear.  All of that disclaimer to explain why Hans and Miriam have floatation devices on in the pictures!  Reminds me of a joke my dad liked to tell: “Why did the little boy put on a sweater?  Because his mother was cold.”

We spent 3 days and 2 nights on the Reef Encounter, and each day were in the water for 1-hour sessions at sunrise, 8:30, 10:30, 1:30, and 3:30, interspersed by gourmet meals, and changing into dry clothes, with just enough time to drink a cup of tea before pulling our wet swimsuits back on for the next session.  The boat moved between several reefs, so we were able to swim in several different places, and had a chance to see so many different types of coral and sea life.

And the coral!  So many shapes, so many colors.  Even with the bleaching caused by the warming ocean temperatures, they were beautiful.  Spaghetti coral, and mossy ones, and boulders, plate, brain, cauliflower, and elephant ear.  Not very imaginative names, but very descriptive.  The fish were everywhere, it was a little like being immersed in the tropical tank at the dentist’s office – tiny little bright blue fishes, and larger yellow ones.  Huge rainbow fish and parrot fish, some clownfish.  Some beautiful wrasse and several kinds of trout and cod.  A few huge wonderful sea turtles and even two kinds of shark – white tipped and black tipped reef sharks!

The photos in the first collage are pictures we took with our camera. The large collage at the bottom are pictures taken by the professional photographers on board with their fancy cameras.  I’ve included some of the sea life pictures they took, which technically were not the exact things we saw, but which came from their “best of” collection, and since they are the same species we saw, and they give a better idea of what it was like.

In addition to snorkeling, the Reef Encounter offers scuba diving as well, and Jake and Miriam took them up on it.  Miriam is just barely old enough to scuba dive, having just turned 12 a few months ago, but she (naturally) wanted to, and after her two dives, was hooked.  She’s already planning on continuing with diving lessons once we get home and is looking forward to getting her certification in the near future.  (Jake plans to join her, although I am hoping he’ll wait until after his next Ironman before taking up another new hobby.) Miriam is also a great free diver and is capable of diving quite deep just while holding her breath.  We always thought she was part mermaid, and with this adventure we now have photographic proof!

Besides all of the swimming, we took a glass-bottom boat ride over the reef with the skipper there to tell us the different names of the corals and fish.  That was our only time to see a ray, something Hans most wanted to see.  We also got a complete tour of the boat, from the wheelhouse to the desalination system, and even stood on the helicopter’s landing pad.  A wonderful vacation with plenty of time to relax, play games and read, as well as sit in the hot tub and chat with some interesting people from around the world.  If we kept “bucket lists”, the Great Barrier Reef is sure to have been on it, and we had an awesome experience in our encounter.