22nd February 2010
The Great Barrier Reef is arguably one of Australia’s most famous tourist attractions with hundreds of boats visiting it every day of the year. The reef stretches from Bundaberg some 2300kms to New Guinea following the outer edge of Australia’s continental plate. The reef runs closer to land as it moves north and is barely 50km from Cairns. Far from being a continuous, unified structure, the nature of the reef varies along its length; the majority is made up by an intricate maze of individual, disconnected patch reefs which sometimes act as anchors for the formation of low sand islands known as cays.
We had selected our particular tour because it was rated number one on the trip advisor website which contains reviews on all things from hotels to tours and sailed on a boat called Ocean Freedom.
The morning was very grey, but although it had been raining this had stopped by the time we reached the boat. We were greeted by the crew and a light breakfast of danish pastries and fruit while everyone got settled. There were 65 passengers on board the boat, along with 12 crew, and believe it or not, that’s a small group for a trip to the reef! The boat had plenty of room to spread out though and it never really felt too crowded except when everyone had to be in the same place for the compulsary safety briefing.
We had plenty of time to sit back and enjoy the ride despite the odd downpour making people head for shelter a few times. Our first stop was at the renowned “Wonder Wall” where there were no other boats in sight. There was an opportunity to do a ’try dive’ here, but we were happy enough to stick to snorkelling. We were given a full briefing on snorkelling and help with putting on our masks, making sure they weren’t too tight which apparently makes them leak more not less. Ed had 4 goes at finding a mask which didn’t leak because it seems he has an odd shaped head, but there were plenty of crew about to help him and even several in the water who I chatted with while waiting for him to get sorted out.
Then it was heads under and away, some really awesome coral and quite a few fish, a myriad of colours. Shoals of tiny fish surrounded us and we spotted some starfish, and a blue starfish along with all the different varieties of coral from large plate-like structures to stuff that looked like brains or broccoli. Unfortunately after about 30 minutes in the water the swell got up and started to stir up the water so our visibility decreased while at the same time the possibility of taking a mouthful of water due to waves washing over our snorkels increased so we got out.
When we got back to the boat and took our masks and fins off we were then able to join a glass bottom boat tour given by one of the crew, so we went off for half an hour around the reef. The guide talked us through how the reef was formed and how it reproduces, along with information about the parrot fish and the little clown fish (nemo). This was a great way to find out some more about the reef.
After a fabulous lunch of fresh prawns, chicken, cold meats and salads we headed for our second destination at Upolu Cay. A small sand island in the middle of the reef. Here we got an even better view of the reef while we were snorkelling, more fish along with a greater variety of fish and coral. We saw a stingray and a cuttlefish and loads of giant clams, angelfish, parrot fish and plenty more that we couldn’t identify in a wide range of shapes and colours.
All was going swimingly until Ed saw a jellyfish in the water, this was the signal for us both to high-tail it back to the boat, trying to avoid touching any of the blobs in the water which seemed now to be everywhere. Back on the boat and the crew told us we had nothing to worry about, they’re called ‘snotties’ and don’t sting. One of the lads even picked one up and put it on his head to prove it to me. I still wasn’t going to touch them though, but we did go back in the water.
On our way back to the Reef Terminal we were fed cheese and biscuits and cake, a yummy way to finish up a great trip.