Another early morning. Up at six, caught the 6:42 bus to central Cairns and were at the boat at 7:30.
Our boat was the Seastar, a large yacht, room for 35 passengers. It prides itself at being the first boat to Michaelma Cay, about an hour from Cairns. Speed comes with a price!
To get there first you have to fast. Going fast in choppy water causes sea sickness, as I and a few others discovered. They do provide great barf bags.
We were the first to the Michaelmas Cay though. This Cay is also a bird sanctuary, which explained the presence of a few bird watchers on this tour. You can identify them by the size of their equipment. The phrase "well hung" comes to mind. Nikon and Canon can be proud.
What is a Cay. It is a sandbar, about 100 m long, and narrow. Because it is the only thing that sticks above the water, within many kilometers, it is a great place for birds to nest. There were several hundred of them, the problem being they all looked the same to me. I was told that there were some "small" boobies. They're the same as the other boobies, only a smaller bill.
Even in the aviary world size counts.
We did get a chance to snorkel. Let me tell you about snorkeling. I have tried it in a swimming pool, and I coped quite well. Snorkeling in the ocean, with good-sized waves, and salt water is nothing like that.
It's like comparing shooting layups in a gym, all by yourself, and shooting layups in a game.
First there is the problem with putting on the flippers. They told us it would be easier from the beach. I don't think so! Pulling on those tight rubber thingies while sand is swirling around, and the undertow is pulling like crazy is not my idea of fun. But I eventually succeeded.
I could not get the breathing right, I took in a fair amount of sea water.
After all that I did get to snorkel, by holding my breath, and looking down through the glasses. What I saw was spectacular. There are a great number of different corals, all sizes, all shapes, many different colours. They don't move, but the movement of the water causes the soft corals to sway, as if they were dancing. At this cay there weren't many fish, but I saw a sea turtle, and a glimpse of a small shark. My favorite was a huge clam, almost a meter in size, with scalloped edges. One of our guides dove down, and as she approached, it closed up. Neat.
Another clam, about half the size had a brilliant blue interior. It was really great.
After lunch, and I actually did eat lunch, we went on the Hastings Reef. Most of the reefs are completely underwater. You can spot them by the fact that the colour of the water changes from a brilliant blue to turquoise or green. You are in the ocean, without anything visible, but the reefs are there.
The boat stopped, and most passengers snorkeled. The bird watchers, all men, played with their equipment, and compared the size of their lenses.
This reef was spectacular. I hadn't imagined that it would be this beautiful. I put my flippers on on the ship. Much easier. I then spent a half an hour or so, drifting around, and looking underwater. This reef had coral that went much deeper, almost like underwater canyons, and a great number of different fish. Unbelievable colours, and a great variety of sizes. There was one school of tiny fish, no nore than half a centimeter, in brilliant iridescent blue, flitting around me. I came across a good sized iridescent blue fish, that changed to iridescent green as I drifted closer. It was just like the movies. I even saw some Nemo fish.
There was also a glass bottomed boat, for those that didn't snorkel. It was neat seeing the coral, but the motor scared away the fish, so there weren't many to be seen.
The trip back took one and a half hours, and wasn't quite as bad as the trip out, but I have to admit it was a long day. Swimming for about an hour was tiring, and I was sore. I have a good sun burn, and everything I wore was covered with salt, from all the sprays.
I must say though that it was very worthwhile. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef was always one of my dreams. It was right up there with Macchu Piccu. I think it would have been a lot easier twenty years ago, but I'm not complaining.
Our boat was the Seastar, a large yacht, room for 35 passengers. It prides itself at being the first boat to Michaelma Cay, about an hour from Cairns. Speed comes with a price!
To get there first you have to fast. Going fast in choppy water causes sea sickness, as I and a few others discovered. They do provide great barf bags.
We were the first to the Michaelmas Cay though. This Cay is also a bird sanctuary, which explained the presence of a few bird watchers on this tour. You can identify them by the size of their equipment. The phrase "well hung" comes to mind. Nikon and Canon can be proud.
What is a Cay. It is a sandbar, about 100 m long, and narrow. Because it is the only thing that sticks above the water, within many kilometers, it is a great place for birds to nest. There were several hundred of them, the problem being they all looked the same to me. I was told that there were some "small" boobies. They're the same as the other boobies, only a smaller bill.
Even in the aviary world size counts.
We did get a chance to snorkel. Let me tell you about snorkeling. I have tried it in a swimming pool, and I coped quite well. Snorkeling in the ocean, with good-sized waves, and salt water is nothing like that.
It's like comparing shooting layups in a gym, all by yourself, and shooting layups in a game.
First there is the problem with putting on the flippers. They told us it would be easier from the beach. I don't think so! Pulling on those tight rubber thingies while sand is swirling around, and the undertow is pulling like crazy is not my idea of fun. But I eventually succeeded.
I could not get the breathing right, I took in a fair amount of sea water.
After all that I did get to snorkel, by holding my breath, and looking down through the glasses. What I saw was spectacular. There are a great number of different corals, all sizes, all shapes, many different colours. They don't move, but the movement of the water causes the soft corals to sway, as if they were dancing. At this cay there weren't many fish, but I saw a sea turtle, and a glimpse of a small shark. My favorite was a huge clam, almost a meter in size, with scalloped edges. One of our guides dove down, and as she approached, it closed up. Neat.
Another clam, about half the size had a brilliant blue interior. It was really great.
After lunch, and I actually did eat lunch, we went on the Hastings Reef. Most of the reefs are completely underwater. You can spot them by the fact that the colour of the water changes from a brilliant blue to turquoise or green. You are in the ocean, without anything visible, but the reefs are there.
The boat stopped, and most passengers snorkeled. The bird watchers, all men, played with their equipment, and compared the size of their lenses.
This reef was spectacular. I hadn't imagined that it would be this beautiful. I put my flippers on on the ship. Much easier. I then spent a half an hour or so, drifting around, and looking underwater. This reef had coral that went much deeper, almost like underwater canyons, and a great number of different fish. Unbelievable colours, and a great variety of sizes. There was one school of tiny fish, no nore than half a centimeter, in brilliant iridescent blue, flitting around me. I came across a good sized iridescent blue fish, that changed to iridescent green as I drifted closer. It was just like the movies. I even saw some Nemo fish.
There was also a glass bottomed boat, for those that didn't snorkel. It was neat seeing the coral, but the motor scared away the fish, so there weren't many to be seen.
The trip back took one and a half hours, and wasn't quite as bad as the trip out, but I have to admit it was a long day. Swimming for about an hour was tiring, and I was sore. I have a good sun burn, and everything I wore was covered with salt, from all the sprays.
I must say though that it was very worthwhile. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef was always one of my dreams. It was right up there with Macchu Piccu. I think it would have been a lot easier twenty years ago, but I'm not complaining.
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