Saturday September 20
It's fair to say that I spent a lot of today on my back.
I woke sporadically during the night, as is usually the case when I don't want to oversleep (which I never do anyway). Awake properly at 5 so give up. Go for a walk at 6 and buy some suncream, then a quick walk around, the air fresh, the sun coming up. Check out of the hostel at 640, the sun is up now and it is hot already! Walk along to the Marina to board.
'Boarding begins at 0715' proclaims a sign by the boat, and since that is 25 minutes away I go for a further exploration, up past restaturants to the end of the pier, looking out across high hills. When the time comes, check in and pay $10 for the hire of a wetsuit for the two days and eat a bacon and egg roll (which would turn out to be a bad idea - I should have known, I don't like egg). The boat departs and all is fine, a beautiful view behind us as we pull out of Cairns, gushing waves in the slipstream of the boar, two dolphins leaping out of the water in a carefully designed arc. And then the queasiness begins, so I lie down clutching my camera to my chest and shut my eyes. Bearable. The boat slows as we arrive at the much larger boat where I will be spending the next 24 hours or so. Out baggage is passed over and after a few minutes wait we are shipped round to the other side of the boat to board on a little dinghy with a small motor.
After a brief introduction we are shown our dorms - very small, I'm in a 3 at first with two girls though the offer of another room once clean is there. Decided to stay to be sociable. The room is down some steep steps, and it is, with no irony lost on me subsequently, Room 101. Then, at 1030, the adventure really begins, as we don out wetsuits for the first time and, feeling a little like James Herriot on his first trip to Angus Grier, I descend into the ocean and begin to examine the Great Barrier Reef.
Bizarre and wonderous simultaneously, fish and coral living together, colours changing by the second. Some corals throbbing, others huge and alien like, the fish moving between them - large, small, long, short. One moves past, a lovely turquoise and blue, another similar but more of a shocking purple. What look like Zebra fish, some yellow and black ones. You can swim yourself around, or you can relax and let the current take you where it will. Time has no meaning here, nor should it - I have no idea of how long I am out there but it was probably 45 minutes. All thoughts of queasiness pass.
Back on the ship, however, they soon return, and as I sat down for lunch at 1200 I gave in. I could only hope that the old adage 'What goes up must come down' would not be reversed again. Lunch - a lovely creamy pasta, improves the feeling slightly. Then, before you knew it, I was being breifed for the introductory dive, free though essentially pointless if you didn't go down afterwards. Once here though, there is little point in not doing it! So, after a little panic when I couldn't blow the water out of the mouth piece, I and the others - 4 Norwegians - were ready to go. It was a singular experience. Sinking deeper to see the coral further down. Touched one of the moving corals, picked up by the Danish guide, then we see a Moray Eel! Long, quite tall and thin, hiding in amongst the coral low down. Quite rare apparently in this area. After one more little wobble everything is fine and by the end (25 minutes or so) I am quite relaced and moving nicely - although apparently at one point I kicked the mask off the guy behind me! And then, slowly, with our vests inflated again by the guide, we rise above water. A wonderful experience.
Now the boat moves to a different reef, so I lie down on the sofa in the 'bar area' and shut my eyes, feeling a little delicate. 1530 - a new location, a different coral, more snorkelling. Different this time, the coral much closer to the surface, sometimes I felt as if I was going to fall into it. Followed some heavily blue fish around for a while, but I seem to get cold quicker this time, exit at 1620 and shower, then to the sofa, as I can't seem to stand up without feeling sick. Drift in and out of consciousness as the boat rocks - it's fair to say that I couldn't have been a Pirate Radio DJ.
Tea, curry, then out on the deck to watch some little sharks swimming around the boat, perhaps 2 and a half feet long. Others go for a night dive ($85) but I stay and eavesdrop on a lesson going on - the ins and outs of decompressionn. Four dives maximum a day. At 18m the maximum time you can spend under water is 50 minutes; at 39m it is 5 minutes. All to do with the amount of nitrogen being taken into the body. The deeper you go, the higher the pressure and the more nitrogen you take into your body. Feeling queasy again! Suffering for a great experience. Makes a Whitsundays trip seem a little unlikely.
Monday September 21
After lying down for a rest in the other cabin at 1900 for a rest, I awake to discover that it is 430am the following morning and that, touch wood, I feel a lot better. After lying for an hour, I get up and, with camera, go to the top deck to watch the sunrise. To begin with, just some orange on the clouds, countering the darkness of the sea and sky. Then a burst of light as the sun inches over the horizon. Worth yesterday to see this. A snorkely at 0630, well worth it. Hundreds of little blue fish swimming amongst an open coral, a huge 3ft fish near the boat, a turtle swimming and a 2ft shark! Back to boat for breakfast. Boat moves again so I curl up on the sofa. A snorkely at the final coral of the trip, this one more like you imagine from pictures - cliffs of coral falling down into the murky depths. Breath slows almost to a standstill until you are taken by a large wave and hurled elsewhere to see some more. Larger single corals, some like giant mushrooms, others like an alien eye watching you as you swim past.
Out, dry in the sun, then shower properly before lunch. Transfer to the boat to return - very full, so claim a seat downstairs and, not feeling the last snorkel, pull my hat down over my eyes and retire to the world of Big Finish podcasts to keep me alive for the next 4 hours. God bless Nick Briggs and David Richardson! Very glad to get back on dry, and still, land!
Next time: The Atherton Tablelands
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