We were told to see the Great Barrier Reef in as many ways as possible. Our first experience was from above. Seeing the reef from a helicopter was surreal. It was exactly and nothing like what we imaged simultaneously. The scale was enormous, especially when we realized we were only seeing a very small portion of the more than 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching over 2,300 kilometers over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometers. The Great Barrier Reef is approximately the same size as Italy, Germany, Malaysia or Japan.
Our second experience was a “Reef-sleep.” This two-day/one-night experience started with a two hour boat ride through the Whitsunday Islands to the Heart Pontoon at Hardy Reef. The captain and crew recommended taking seasickness medication numerous times. The crew said on such days upwards of 20% of passengers can get ill. Sunshine took the medication and it was a good thing she did; the waters were rough. It was a little touch and go, but the medication did its job.
We arrived to the pontoon with at least 100 other guests but knew that only six of us would be spending the night. We decided to try the introductory scuba dive. The twenty-five minute dive was life changing. How could we have missed out on diving for so many years? We decided then and there that we would get certified.
We waited until the boat left and it was only the six guests spending the night before we got back into the water. We snorkeled twice: once in low tide before dark and again in high tide after we woke up.
The sunset was vast and gorgeous and we could see the ocean for miles in all directions.
We slept in swags (an Australian term for a heavy-duty canvas shell that often have a built in mattress) on the upper deck.
After it got dark, we spent time in the underwater observation deck. The highlights included seeing a mature grouper named Maggie, bioluminescent jellyfish and coral blooming right before our eyes. It was a new moon so the night sky was glittering with stars. Although the swag was comfortable, we did not sleep well because we loved staring at the night sky.
Equally as stunning was watching the sun rise and the sky changing from a golden orange to pink to blue.
It was funny when the boat arrived with another group of visitors. This time we just relaxed and enjoyed the vastness of the ocean. The boat ride back was rocky but not as bad as the previous day.
We returned to Airlie Beach (for a quick stay before driving North to Cairns via Townsville for more of the Great Barrier Reef. It was a good thing we planned two nights because our luggage stayed an extra night on Hamilton Island. We stayed in a cute apartment that was a five minute walk into town.
We made two stops on our drive to Townsville. The first was to see the Big Mango in Bowen. Australia is covered in “big things” that make up a collection of roadside attractions. This seven-ton fiberglass mango gives tribute to the many mango orchards in the area. Our second stop was the Mt. Inkerman Lookout (just North of Ayr) for lovely views of area and a short hike. We stayed longer than expected because we started chatting with locals also visiting the lookout. (It had recently been renovated.)
We spent the night in a lovely rental home in a residential area of Townsville. Although we arrived too late to visit Magnetic Island, we wondered into an art gallery showing Rosie Beacon’s exhibition Cockatoo Cavern Fever. It was something to be seen.
We then went to the top of Castle Hill for spectacular views of Townsville. There were many walkers and runners going up and down the hill. Because of our earlier hike, we drove up most of way and walked to the various lookouts.
The following morning we drove four hours to Cairns without stopping to make a 1pm medical appointment. Remember when we said our scuba dive off the pontoon was life changing—well we signed up the open water scuba certification but needed to pass a dive medical (because we are over the age of 45) to participate. We passed the medical and completed the first two days of the training in a pool. We were the oldest by at least twenty years and our instructor Hampus was knowledgeable and patient.
Our third experience to see the reef was on a boat. After completing the two days on land in the ProDive training centre we headed back to the Great Barrier Reef for a three-day, two-night liveaboard adventure to become certified divers. The captain said the waters would be rough and highly suggested taking medication. This was not an understatement. We thought the ride to the pontoon was rough, it was nothing compared this four hour journey over 3 meter swells. As soon as we left the protected area and entered into open ocean passengers started getting sick. It was not long until Sunshine was not well. No amount of medicine would have helped and she was very ill until she got into the water for our first dive. The first five dives (three the first day and two on the second were to complete our training for the PADI Open Water Certification.
We then had one recreational dive. This was the only dive we were allowed to take photos. One person in our group started to run out of air and we got a little lost but we returned to the boat safety. Thank you, Bob (from the Netherlands) for the two close up photos.
Then we started the Adventure Certification so we could dive down to 30m (as opposed to 18m). This meant we had to do three more required dives: a night dive, a deep dive and a navigation dive. The night dive was scary to think about but once we were in the water it was a lot of fun. The hightlight was swimming past a sleeping turtle. Our deep dive was delayed because of bad conditions so instead of getting into the water at 6am we had to a 7:45am. Afterwards, we ate breakfast and got back into the water for our navigation dive. This was our final dive of the trip. The ride back was similar but the wind was behind us and fewer passengers got sick.