Finally back from the Great Barrier Reef! The trip was exhausting, but extremely rewarding. I left Wednesday morning on a bus/train to Brisbane. Once there, I jumped on to a plane heading to Prosperpine which is about 35 minutes from Airlie beach (the launching point for the boat). Once in Airlie, we found our travel agent and confirmed our trip details, and headed to the ship. The 65 foot catamaran that awaited us was called the Pacific Star. The ship was built in 1983, but didn't show much wear and tear. In total, there were 20 passengers and four crew members coming from Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Austria, South Korea, and England. There was a mix of ages, but everybody was extremely open and kind.
Our first night, we headed toward the Whitsunday islands. We were greeted with cheese, crackers, and veggies and a smooth ride into the seemingly endless ocean. I laid on the deck of the ship for hours just staring at the stars and feeling so small in the scheme of life. After finally becoming cold for the first time here in Oz, I made my way below deck to sleep. The almost body sized bed was more comfortable than the hard deck, but for anybody larger than me, it would have been a nightmare.
On Thursday morning, I woke up at 7 am and had some fruit for breakfast, but was welcomed to the day by a just risen sun, crystal clear water, and a sandy cove resting peacefully in the distance. We were told by our crew that we would have a few hours on the island at Betty's Beach(see second pic). We gathered our towels and were then tendered to the island on the 12 person dingy attached to the back of the boat. As we were being brought over, the sight of coral over the edge reminded me I was in a place I have never been before. Betty's beach is unique in the world because it's sand is made up of 98% silica which is extremely high. With this amount of silica, the sand was not only almost white, but was extremely cool and fine grained. Every step I took brought a squeaky-type of noise similar to walking with wet flip-flops on. Once off the beach and into the water, I was engulfed in saltwater as warm as a bath that had sit for 15 minutes, but somehow refreshing. After our few hours were finished on the island we headed out for our first real reef experience.
After about 3 hours of sailing, we reached Bait Reef. The certified divers went off first so we had some time to snorkel around the boat. About 30 meters away was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, only to be surpassed by what I saw the next day. The colors and countless amount of sea life was fascinating. I saw colors I didn't know existed and can't quantify into words. I was snorkeling for what seemed to be minutes, but ended up being around an hour. Once back in the boat, we had lunch, and then I grabbed some sun on the deck, waiting for my turn to dive. My turn finally came, but it was too dark to see anything worth while, so my group got pushed back a day, which at the time stunk, but ended up being a blessing in disguise.
No comments:
Post a Comment