Bit of a delay in updating this but i thought i'd write and tell you all about my trip to the reef last Thursday and what my plans are for the next few weeks before i hit Sydney.
I had been planning to get out to the Great Barrier Reef whilst in Cairns cos i never know if i'll be back here again, however working almost everyday made it difficult to plan a day trip! I'm so so glad i held off though, as my new room mate Tammy let me know about coral spawning season which happens for 3 nights only each year and is meant to be an amazing sight to see - beats the usual day trips! So we booked to go out on the first night of the spawning..i was just snorkelling as i still didn't have the balls to dive, nevermind at night!
We headed out on the boat at around 6pm and it took around 1hr 45 to reach the part of the outer reef called Saxon reef. It was quite choppy as the weather has been less than ideal the last week or so..very surprised no-one got sea-sick as that would have been a nightmare! It was amazing watching the sunset from the boat and then the stars all came out which was really pretty so i just lay on the deck and it kept me entertained!
Once we arrived at the spot, it was actually pitch black and i started to question what i was getting myself into. I've only been snorkelling a handful of times, nevermind jumping off a boat into the dark haha. However we were equipped with glowsticks on our snorkels, hand torches, floatation noodles and once i had poured myself into a stinger suit and a wet suit i was ready to go! The first snorkel was pretty cool, i floated around myself for a bit as i lost my buddy almost right away and it was impossible to stay next to people without being kicked in the face..i managed to see a turtle and what i thought was a shrimp or lobster hiding in the rocks..along with lots of fish species obviously! It was pretty cool as you just had to spot things with your torch and when you seen everyone shining on a certain area you knew it was someting interesting to look at. But no coral spawning to be seen unfortunately..after about 10 mins i decided to latch onto one of the crew's life rings so i could just float along behind him like a water taxi (i felt alot safer doing this given the waves were quite strong and i'm not all that confident in deep water!). We stayed out there for about 25 mins in total then it was time to get back on, wetsuits off and into the dining area for a buffet. I thought this was a bit stupid given we had to get back into water again and it's never good on a full stomach so i tried not to eat too much of the tasty lasagne!
After a quick digestion, it was time for snorkel number 2! Now i was kinda debatng whether to go in again, the thought of squeezing back into a soaking wet suit at 10.30pm was kind of unappealing. Also the fact that literally millions of sea worms had congregated at the back of the boat where the lights were shining..which was where we had to jump back in, made me feel more than a bit sick. But i decided just to go for it as you just had to swim away from them straight away..and i'm so glad that i did because as soon as i got into the water i heard someone shouting "SHARK" and i looked down and there was a white tipped reef shark swimming about 12 metres below us..wow!! These sharks are completely harmless but it's still quite intimidating swimming near them for the first time. Then about 5 minutes later i was just snorkelling along and a beautiful green turtle was swimming around 2 metres beneath me. Everything under water looks 33% bigger so i'm not sure what size it was but it looked a fair size to me :) i was so happy about it and decided nothing would beat seeing a shark and a turtle, so got out of the water..i was tired, cold and wanted to be first in for a hot shower back on the boat hehe!
All in all, an amazing experience and something i think everyone needs to do at some point..the fact it was at night made it more of an adventure and given i probably wouldn't even have jumped off a boat out of my depth during the day before..i was quite proud of myself doing it at night. I'm even thinking about trying to scuba dive again as i have a free dive on this week's trip..it was so cool looking down on the divers while we were floating over them, it looked like an underwater nightclub with all the glow sticks and torches haha! You get to see so much more diving as you get right down and very close to the coral..so i would love to try and do it again as i really feel like i'm missing out.
So today is my last day in Cairns as i'm getting the Greyhound night bus at midnight down to Airlie Beach! I'm feeling a little bit disorganised and really struggled to pack as i've accumulated alot more stuff whilst living here for over a month..but i finally managed to close my bag so i can just chill out today :)
First stop is Airlie Beach which is the jumping off point for the Whitsunday Islands (Google it..looks spectacular!) and i'll be getting on a boat tomorrow afternoon for a 2 day/2night cruise of the islands where i'll be snorkelling and sunbathing most of the time i imagine! Next i'm heading down to Agnes Water - town of 1770 which is a pretty small place but apparently beautiful beaches & cheap surf lessons so i'm sure i'll be keep entertained for a couple of days. After that heading down to Rainbow Beach where i'll stay over for a night then head out to Fraser Island on a 4x4..which i get to drive cos i'm over 26 yeehaaaaa! Fraser is the world's largest sand island and i'll be camping there for 2 nights, should be fun times..and i hope there's no spiders or snakes! The next stop is Noosa, another small beach town which is meant to be gorgeous so i'll be there for 3 nights before heading down to Brisbane for another 2 nights. My final stop is Byron Bay and i'll be staying in a teepee 10 bed dorm for 3 nights which should be interesting (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nomadsweb/3347949587/)
I should hit Sydney on the 19th December and it'll be time to get ready for Christmas..which i still can't believe is going to be here so soon and i'm going to continue blocking it out so i don't get homesick hehe!
I'll be keeping you posted as i stop at all these places down the coast..with some exciting photos hopefully :)
Bye for now xxx
