Australia – Cairns (Great Barrier Reef)

Great Barrier Reef
Flight 15 of 17
Sunday, April 22 - Tuesday, April 24

Getting pumped for the Great Barrier Reef!

Day 1 (April 22)

On the flight from New Zealand to Australia, we could see parts of the Great Barrier Reef from the airplane. We landed before 10 am in Cairns, Australia – which is the place to go if you’re looking to dive/snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef. We checked into our room which had a great view of the ocean, mountain ranges, and the hotel’s very blue pool! It was a beautiful, warm day and we had a bit of time to spare before our snorkeling adventure, so we walked to “The Esplanade,” the popular street in town filled with restaurants. We had some delicious toasted sandwiches for lunch, then walked to the Reef Fleet Terminal to check in for our cruise to Green Island. Today’s tour was a half day tour (four hours) and tomorrow’s tour will be a full day tour. It took about one hour aboard the “Reef Rocket” to get to Green Island (which is part of the Inner Reef), leaving us about two hours to snorkel once we arrived. After putting on our snorkel gear and wet suits (which are more to protect ourselves from coral since the water temperature was actually quite warm), we headed to the shore.

Ryan getting ready to take a plunge.

During the two hours, we snorkeled at two different places. The first place was filled with beautiful coral and plenty of fish, including a few that looked like miniature swordfish. Kristen even saw a stingray. We had a wonderful time seeing the Great Barrier Reef together for the first time. At the second location, it was very shallow, and we learned how little water you actually need to snorkel! The water was so clear and we were amazed at how close the fish get. After our two hours were up, we headed back to the boat, and spotted a sea turtle in the water. On the cruise back to Cairns, we saw a giant boat called the “Octopus”. This $200 million boat (it’s really more of a ship) belongs to Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft. It has a crew of 60 and even a submarine, which we later saw them lifting out of the water when the ship was docked. We got back to Cairns and explored the town a bit. We waded in the “Lagoon,” a large, free, public pool that’s right on the water. There was live music playing, tons of people hanging around, and lots of activity, which gave Cairns a very carefree feel to it. We had dinner at Rattle & Hum, where “locals and tourists flock together.” Ryan had steak, shrimp, and Australian shiraz, and Kristen had pork ribs. After eating way too much, we headed home, took nice warm showers and got a good night’s sleep for our big day tomorrow.

Paul Allen's $200 million mega-yacht.

Day 2 (April 23)
On Monday, we woke at 7 am. We got some muffins and banana bread at a coffee shop, then checked in with the “Down Under Dive Cruise” for our full day tour. This all day tour takes us to the Outer Reef (which was perfect since we saw the Inner Reef yesterday). We boarded our boat called the Osprey V at 8 am, collected all our scuba/snorkel gear, and even rented an underwater digital camera for the day. There were about 80 people onboard, most in their 20’s, and quite a few backpackers who were a blast to talk with. The day’s agenda included two different stops, with a total of three dives. After we got our gear, we each went to our respective training sessions (Kristen to Scuba, Ryan to snorkel/intro Scuba). Since Kristen was Scuba certified, she would be doing three different dives. Ryan’s plan was to snorkel and attend one the Intro Scuba lessons. Surprisingly, out of the 80 people, only 10 were Scuba certified. Neither of the Outer Reef locations for today were islands; rather they were both in the middle of the ocean, and you had to jump off the boat to explore!

On the way to the reef.

Kristen’s Reef Experience!

Kristen goes "Under the Sea."

Our first stop was Saxton Reef. I dove twice here, each for about 40 minutes. My Scuba “buddy” was a girl named Yew from Malaysia, and along with another pair (including a girl from the Netherlands and a boy from Spain), we followed one of the tour guides (Eric) around to see all the beautiful coral and fish! Our first dive was 45 minutes long and we went down 16 meters. The visibility was at least 10 meters which meant we could see quite a lot! The temperature was 27 degrees Celsius (almost 81 degrees Fahrenheit) which was very comfortable. It had been years since I dove, but once I got down there, it was like riding a bike! I had an amazing time, and saw tons of clownfish (i.e. Nemo), a lion fish, a stingray, sea urchins, and so much beautiful coral. (I didn’t see any sharks, however the other group of divers did!)

Kristen at the best scuba spot in the world!

For the second dive, also at Saxton Reef, we went to a depth of 14 meters for about 35 minutes, and explored a different section of the reef. We would have stayed underwater longer, but the boy from Spain went down too far so we had to cut the dive short! I took tons of pictures and video with our rented underwater camera, and saw tons of fish and coral. Our third dive, at a different location called Hastings Reef, was to a depth of 12 meters for about 45 minutes. We saw plenty more fish and coral, and even went to a few places where we could touch some of the coral and sea urchins. The whole time I was down there, all I could think is “I wish we could stay down here for hours!”

   

Kristen enjoying life "down under."

Ryan’s Reef Experience!

Since I’m not scuba certified, I explored the reef a bit closer to the surface. While Kristen was completing her first dive, I did my first snorkel around Saxton Reef. About half way through, I did an “intro” scuba dive, which used the same scuba equipment as Kristen, but under very controlled and supervised conditions. I didn’t go down nearly as far or as long, but I did get to try my hand at diving a bit further below the surface. After my intro lesson ended, I returned to snorkeling and took some pictures of fish and coral. From time to time, I looked down and maybe even saw Kristen in the depths below! (It’s hard to tell, though, since everyone was wearing blue lycra suits!) The water was very clear, and at times I could even see the bottom.

Around 1pm, I got to lunch first and ate Australian BBQ prepared on the boat. After Kristen’s second dive, she joined me and we ate together as the boat prepared to leave the first location and move to the second. For anyone who’s seen the movie “Open Water,” the last thing you want is to be left behind in the water after your tour boat leaves. Therefore, the staff had very robust procedures to count everyone on board and confirm they were present before departing. We each were assigned a “safety number,” and the staff came around at least three times to account for us before finally departing.

As lunch ended, we arrived at the second location (Hastings Reef) and Kristen got ready for her third dive. I jumped onboard a glass bottom boat tour, and a staff member joined us to narrate and describe what we saw below. He shared how coral goes through cycles and reproduces, and showed examples of the damage recent typhoons had caused. We also saw a clownfish (Nemo!).

We found Nemo!

After returning from the glass bottom boat tour, I grabbed my mask, snorkel, and fins and jumped back in the ocean to continue exploring the reef. This time, I joined a guided snorkel tour in which a crew member swam with the group and pointed out interesting areas around the reef.

Together at Last!

At the end of Kristen’s third dive, she decided to track down Ryan snorkeling in the water. She ventured into the water with the girl she met from the Netherlands. However, we soon discovered that everyone looks the same in their blue lycra suits and snorkel gear. Eventually, time was up and we were all told to head back to the boat. Luckily, right before getting out of the water, we ran into each other. We still had a few minutes, so we enjoyed the little time we had left together in the water. It was unfortunate that we didn’t really get to spend the day together, but we both had a wonderful time exploring the reef. Back on the boat, we had some watermelon, cheese, and wine. We sat on the front of the boat as we sailed back to Cairns, enjoying the sun breeze, and watching the cityscape grow larger. After we docked, we decided to head to the Night Market area where we got $15 full body massages…very relaxing! We headed back to the hotel, enjoyed the hot sauna, cold showers, then headed back out for dinner! After an exhausting day, we grabbed a quick dinner (Ryan had kebabs and Kristen had pizza) then went to bed early.

Ryan spent the day snorkeling, and Kristen joined him at the end.

On Tuesday, we woke at 6:45 am and took a cab to the airport. At the airport, we had Burger King for breakfast (in Australia it’s called Hungry Jack’s), and then boarded our Virgin Australia flight headed to Brisbane!

Enjoying the ocean breeze on the ride back to shore.