Great...We Should Say So!

Luckily we had rejigged our plans and now had 2 nights in Cairns (only one in HK) and therefore we were able to go on a trip to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). As we have said previously, the GBR is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is actually visible from space (the Great Wall of China isn’t).   It is made up of some 2,900 separate reefs that spread along a 2,000 kilometre stretch of the Australian coast from Bundaberg in the south to above Part Douglas in the north.

Glenn from the hotel had advised us that we should head up to Port Douglas and go to the outer reef from there, and so it was that at 8am we boarded a coach and were heading further north, not on the Bruce Highway but on the Captain Cook Highway and one of the prettiest stretches of road in Queensland.  Glenn had given us the ‘top tip’ to sit the drivers side and we were therefore ideally positioned to admire the beautiful coast as we swept by.

It took 60 minutes to reach the Quicksilver marina and transfer onto the ‘Wavepiercer’ catamaran that would take us to the GBR.  The boat trip to the outer reef took 1½ hours and we just sat back and soaked up a few rays.  

Relaxed and excited (even Samantha) we arrived at the Quicksilver Pontoon at the Agincourt Reef and this would be our base for the next 4 hours.  What a fabulous idea, a permanent floating anchorage that had activities for everyone: helicopter rides, scuba diving; full helmet diving, semisubmersibles, underwater observatory, guided snorkeling, alongside a kitchen, bar and shop.

We treated ourselves to a 10 minutes helicopter ride over the reef (2 helicopter rides in a month – way to go!) and boy are we glad we did, what an experience!  This gave a totally different perspective to the reef, Ash the pilot said it was the most perfect conditions, and the views looked like something right off a postcard.  We went up high to get a birds eye view and then skimmed along the surface going from where the reef is only 1 metre deep across the continental shelf where the reef stops and the ocean floor falls 700 metres straight down (apparently the biggest drop is over 1.5 kilometres!) – what a fantastic start to our day.

As we came back from the helicopter a semisubmersible was just preparing to leave and had 2 seats with our names on them.  This was our first experience of the underwater reef and to be honest it is hard to describe it in words.  We learnt about the different types of coral (they are not plants!) and gauped at the vast array of colours, textures and shapes.  And then there were the fish: big ones, little ones, brightly coloured ones, plain ones, fast ones, slow ones, ones you can eat, ones that might bite you (only joking) – so wonderful.  However, the highlight was still to come.  It was kicked off by a ‘fly by’ from a passing turtle (I’m sure he waved!) and then out of the blue, a shark…not Jaws but a harmless reef shark, but a shark nonetheless.  It just drifted by, probably a little grumpy as they normally sleep during the day, which was why it was such a treat.

It was then time to sit down and catch our breath.  Lunch was served onboard the pontoon and was a lovely fresh buffet.  After lunch it was time for Jonny to go snorkeling, so he donned yet another stinger suit, grasped the underwater digital camera he had hired and took to the water.

The snorkeling area was massive, so not at all crowded.  There was quite a current caused by the nearby cyclone a few days ago, in fact a couple of days earlier an older lady had to be rescued as she had drifted 300 metres away from the pontoon (easily done as you can become mesmerized by what you are seeing below you).  The water clarity and visibility was fantastic.  The coral was beautiful and varied.  The fish were just brilliant…but no sharks!

After nearly an hour and a half bobbing about in the water the boats horn sounded and it was time to get out of the water and prepare for home.

Samantha in the meantime had been to the underwater observatory, done some shopping (old habits die hard even when on the Great Barrier Reef) but had not gone back on the semisubmersible as she couldn’t face the jostling with the old people to get on (they can get quite fierce you know when there are only a few seats left – particularly the Japanese!).

As the boat turned for home, our time on the reef coming to an end, we grabbed a couple of cold ones from the bar, sat back and reflected on what had been such a fantastic day filled with wonderful ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences – our only complaint, we wish we had longer, it really is a ‘Great’ Barrier Reef!

Back in Cairns and it was our last night in Australia, I know they say “all good things must come to an end” but do they really have to?  We walked along the Esplanade, a long strip of restaurants and bars (not brash though) and stumbled across Barnacle Bills.  It was busy, good sign, the menu looked nice, another good point and they could squeeze us in – decision made.  We had a great night although Samantha was a little upset with Jonny for having Skippy (kangaroo) for his starter (he also had crocodile which was much nicer than when he had cooked it at Samantha’s 40^th birthday BBQ).

As we walked back to the hotel we reflected on what a fantastic time we had had.  Tomorrow morning there would just be time for some souvenier shopping before saying au reviour to the land of Oz.