D75 -- Great Barrier Reef

Today we'd scheduled a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef on a powered catamaran called “Passions of Paradise.” Nice boat, goofy name. It took us two hours to reach the reef, and to pass the time I was reading the Rough Guide to Spain. A British couple saw it and told us that they travel there all the time. They ended up talking to us for 30 minutes or so and giving us some great advice about where to go. Then a little later a young woman came up to me and asked me if I was going to Spain. It turned out she and her partner were from Barcelona and they ended up giving us great advice, too. As an added bonus I got to practice my Spanish a bit. Travel books sure are great conversation starters!

We finally arrived at the outer part of the reef and were able to get in the water. Our first stop, Paradise Reef, didn't have any of the turquoise water we were expecting. The coral was 6-10 feet below the surface, so the water was a deep blue, but it turned out to be beautiful. We have snorkeled in the Seychelles, Maldives, and British Virgin Islands, but the reefs there were not really colorful because of coral bleaching that has occurred as a result of rising ocean temperatures. (Hmmm... perhaps there is a link with global warming? Notice, I said PERHAPS. Bush would be proud.) At the Great Barrier Reef you could actually see at least some colorful, LIVE coral. Ironically, I think the other countries had more colorful and plentiful fish. Our favorite sight at this spot was the clownfish (Nemo!) hanging out in their anemones. We snorkeled together for a while, and then Thomas left to go scuba diving. I thought about giving it another shot (I've tried twice) but was foiled again by my freakishly severe gag reflex. I started gagging just watching the first group of scuba divers getting ready to go!

After a buffet lunch we moved on to Michaelmas Cay, a tiny island in the reef that is home to several bird colonies. We finally saw those beautiful turquoise waters we were expecting, and snorkeled there together for about 45 minutes. Favorites here included two manta rays and an ENORMOUS and colorful giant clam.

The boat ride back to Cairns was long but enjoyable as we soaked up the sun while laying out on the front of the boat. Unfortunately, it got a little choppy, and several times we hit large swells that splashed water up on deck. No matter where on deck I moved I seemed to be the only one getting soaked. I could be right next to Thomas and he would remain totally dry while I would look like someone threw a bucket of water on me. Man that guy is lucky! I finally huddled up against the cabin with a towel over me and that seemed to do the trick. Before we disembarked we bought photos of us from the underwater photographer...

We decided to leave Cairns fairly early in the day tomorrow, as we heard a storm was coming . . .

-Elva